Green Monster or The Intrepid 8x10?

**mdarnton** · 31-Mar-2018, 13:16

I have an Agfa-Ansco view, 12 pounds, and it never goes anywhere. I bought an Intrepid, which has not come yet, to take out. If I don't see the sense in taking out my 12 pound camera, you know what I think about taking out the Calumet!

**John Layton** · 31-Mar-2018, 13:30

Yeah...but if you get buried in surf with the Green Monster - you can just do like Cole Weston did and simply hose it off! (just take that lens off first!)

**Luis-F-S** · 31-Mar-2018, 16:23

Originally Posted by Jim Noel

I would choose the Calumet with a 360 mm lens. That is if the weight isn't too much for you. I gave mine up at 75.

+1!! Would be my choice it’s a real camera designed in the golden age of view cameras.

**AJ Edmondson** · 31-Mar-2018, 17:02

I had (at the same time) a Wista 810 and an old Calumet C (the earliest version)... invariably I would end up carrying the Calumet despite the weight difference because of the longer bellows and the solidity with which it would lock down. I have often wondered if I am just a glutton for punishment but of all of the 8x10 cameras I have owned (B&J, Kodak, Wista) the Calumet - to this day - remains my favorite!
Joel

**popdoc** · 31-Mar-2018, 21:37

Have/had both.

Surely the attraction of bigger is better/more testosterone needed/wooden ships sailing the seas/etc. favors the green monster....

Realistically, if ease and speed of set up, transporting your photo kit anywhere more than 500 yards from your mode of transportation, your new camera will be the winner.

After my Wista arrived, the Green Monster never left the closet.

Both are great, but....

You’ve got a lovely camera coming your way, and I believe you’ll be pleased with your choice once you use it in the field.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**neil poulsen** · 31-Mar-2018, 21:40

I've not used one, but a friend recently purchased the green (Mg) monster in quite nice condition.

Very nice camera, and light enough so as not to need a huge Linhof or a Gitzo Giant Studex 5 tripod for support. My friend also purchased a Feisol 3472 CF tripod and the Manfrotto 229 (formerly 3039) head that looks like it'll hold the camera just fine. The green monster weighs only a little more than a Deardorff, but in my opinion, it's a more sturdy camera. Having had a Deardorrf, the green Monster would be my preference.

Thumbs Up for the green monster.

**Duolab123** · 1-Apr-2018, 10:30

The tale I heard, when the insurance underwriter figured out Calumet was using Magnesium, they forced the switch to Aluminum??? Myth, who knows. Calumet 8x10 is a hell of a camera.

**G Benaim** · 1-Apr-2018, 21:39

I used a c-1 when I first started out and found it an excellent camera once it's set up on a tripod and w lenses over 19". It's a little too bulky to carry more than a few steps un mounted and the back rail is a pain w shorter lenses. I've never used the intrepid but from what I've seen and read online long lenses might be too much to ask, and there still seem to be glitches that need working out. If your budget will allow, I would recommend a Kodak Master View. It's about the same weight as a green c-1 but folds down to a very compact clamshell, and I've used it successfully w a 24" artar in an ilex 5 shutter, so plenty rigid for that length at least, which is as far as the original bellows extends.