Linhof Super Technika V 5X7 vs Shen-Hao 5X7

[ekdek]

Hello Again!
I use to shoot with a Linhof Super Technika V (5x7) and a saw on the internet some photographers talking about the Shen-Hao 5X7 and another lighter cameras (made on wood).
Someone had tested both?
What do you think about it?
Thanks!

[boris]

i have i linhof and played once with a shen hao 5x7.
if you don't shoot wider than 120mm and weight isn't the most important to you linhof is a much better camera. i am able to set it up in 10 seconds, it is very rigid, with a tele xenar 5.5/500, and the design is idiot proof!
if you really want a light 5x7 look for a chamonix, i think the camera weights less than 2kg (one third of the technika)
as a side note, the price for a technika v in the 70s was equal to a mid class mercedes benz.

[Greg Y]

I use a 5x7 Deardorff from 1938, & as a back-up camera I have a Chamonix horizontal 5x7. Very light, easy & fast to set up. Lots of bellows & sturdy with bid older shutters.
I like it a lot. That's my personal opinion from using the Deardorff for more than 10 years, and adjusting to a new camera.....

[ekdek]

And do you find easily 13x18 color sheets?
Do you know some internet page where we can buy these kind of film in Europe?
Thanks very much guys!

[Valdecus]

as a side note, the price for a technika v in the 70s was equal to a mid class mercedes benz.

Boris, the cheapest Mercedes in the mid-70s was selling at around 15,000 DM, the Linhof Technika V including a lens was going for less than one third of this.

My Technika V 5x7 including a Schneider Symmar 210mm lens sold for appr. 3,000 DM in 1968. At the same time, the entry level Mercedes W 115 (200 D/8) had a list price of 12,000 DM, roughly four times as much.

Still, Linhofs were not cheap, true. BTW, 3,000 DM in 1968 were about as much as 4,300 Euros or 6,000 USD nowadays.

Cheers,
Andreas

[Frank Petronio]

50 sheets of Kodak Portra 160 Color Negative film costs $319.95 USd at B&H Photo in NYC.

For comparison, 8x10 costs $119.95 and 4x5 costs $28.95 for 10 sheets, so the per sheet cost is approximately proportionate.

I have used the Linhof 5x7 and it is very solid and finely built. It requires a heavier tripod as well.

Some people find the earlier pre-WW2 Linhof 5x7s, which are simpler cameras with wooden housings, and restore them to have a lighter camera with less movements. I have not seen one of these in person yet.

[rknewcomb]

just for the record...
pre war Linhofs were made of metal not wood. At least the few I have, including a 5x7 are made of metal.
And, I believe that about the only thing one could "complain" about the post war 5x7 Linhof Technika is the weight. And even then, the rest of it is so good it makes you forgive its weight "problem".
Robert N.

[Frank Petronio]

Thanks and sorry, I read that misinformation somewhere and perpetuated it. Stupid internet....

[Bob Salomon]

50 ....
Some people find the earlier pre-WW2 Linhof 5x7s, which are simpler cameras with wooden housings, and restore them to have a lighter camera with less movements. I have not seen one of these in person yet.

Valentin Linhof died in 1929. When he died the Linhof factory was producing all metal cameras and shutters. In 1934 Nikolaus Karpf joined the Linhof factory and he is credited as inventing the all metal swing and tilt frame which was awarded a German Patent in 1934 and that was the basis of the Technika prototype. There was never a wood Technika camera.

From the founding of Linhof in 1887 through Valentin Linhof's death in 1929 Linhof made between the lens shutters and later some cameras. Including ones made from teak. As of 1909 all Linhof cameras were made entirely from metal.

So no Technika was ever made from wood and even Linhof cameras made for about 25 years prior to the first Technika were also not made from wood. So you will never see one Frank.

[cdholden]

That's too bad. We are past due for a flimsy matchstick camera rant.