I have used the Rittreck View for many many years with the 5 X 7, whole plate and recently with the 6 X 10 back. I also have a 4 x 10 back that I adapted. I had an 8 X 10 back but it was clumsy and vignetted with longer lenses and I sold it. The 6 X 10 back is great to use. Camera is heavy but is rigid and as has been said is built like a tank.
I don't know the source of this ad - probably one of the big monthlies like Asahi Camera or Nippon Camera. Note that there was a 6x9 rollholder adapter as well as the other formats, and that 6x10 and 8x10 were apparently not yet offered when this ad appeared.
I had a Rittreck outfit with the 4x5, 5x7, yatsugiri (WP) and sort-of-6x10 backs. I say "sort-of-6x10" because the holders were enough smaller in both dimensions that it required two cuts to a sheet of 8x10 film to fit, not one, which was a nuisance.
Thank you!Originally Posted by Tin Can
I have the 4x5, 5x7, 6x9 rollfilm (a sliding back), and 6.5x8.5 (WP) backs. I haven't used the 4x5 or 6x9 backs but use the 6.5x8.5 almost as much as the 5x7. Yes, it is heavy but very stable. I have sent a PDF of the manual to quite a few folks on the list.
Hello Chauncey
I have just purchased a (*) Rittreck View with the 4x5 and 5x7 backs. I've started using it with 4x5 because film and holders were more immediately available, but 5x7 film and holders are in the mail as I type.
I'd appreciate if you could send me a copy of the manual for these cameras, they have many adjustments!
(*) I ended up with three (3) Rittreck View cameras! Only one has a bellows that is light tight, the other two have bellows that are in various stages of decay. The working camera came with a half-plate back, so I went looking for a 4x5 back and discovered that separately they seem to sell for about the same price as a whole camera with back, so I ended up with a second Rittreck with a torn bellows. I then found another camera with a 5x7 back that the seller thought was whole plate that was priced about half of what 5x7 backs alone sell for. Hence I ended up with three. My plan is to get a new bellows and get one of the other two working again.
Last edited by Vaughan; 4-Mar-2021 at 17:21.
I've rebuilt two Rittreck 5x7 over the past two years, both with the help of a machinist friend. FWIW, the weight with the factory 5x7 back is 9 pounds 6 ounces. Looking over early issues of View Camera magazine, Wista was advertising new Rittreck 5x7 for sale as late as 1990.
The bellows on both cameras were questionable at best, so I replaced both of them with Rittreck pattern bellows made by the bellows people out of Hong Kong who advertise on EBay. Their bellows fit and work. The trick is that the front part of the bellows attaches to a smaller rotating piece of metal that in turn attaches to the front standard with some screws. Remove that and glue the front part of the bellows to it, then reattach with its screws.
The front standard on one Rittreck locks in place squarely but the other is off parallel by 1-2 mm. That causes some right side softness on negatives and the lack of good parallelism was not readily repairable working on the front standard - perhaps it was damaged or dropped at some earlier time. I found that the easiest workable solution was to just square it carefully using the rear swing and then scribe a new zero reference mark on the rear standard.
It's a bit of a heavy beast, about 3 pounds heavier than a similar 4x5 box, but not unreasonable for a 5x7 all-metal field camera with all movements except rear rise/fall. It is a solid camera.
One other trick that I learned is that it's possible to use a 14" lens on a flat board with the 5x7 Rittreck by removing the stops on the front rail. It's pretty unlikely that you will pull the front standard off and it's easy to remount if you do. By doing this, you can focus to about 10 feet with a 14"/360mm lens in Copal 3 shutter.
Rittreck made a decent dedicated compendium lens shade and a useful Technika board to Rittreck adapter.
Great tip regarding removing the stops. I think the chrome cover latch piece will prevent the front standard from being pulled off the track.
I managed to pick up both the compendium hood and the Technica adaptor board, both came bundled with other items I wanted (4x5 back and several flat lens boards). The hood becomes a bit unwieldy when the front standard has a heavy lens and significant till and swing have been set, but is otherwise excellent (and cheap too).
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