Toyo 45AII for wide-angle use?

[rpagliari]

Hi all,
I'm considering the Toyo 45AII, because I need a fairly rigid body (in addition to a good tripod) for long exposure architectural photography.

I've got a 75mm lens (schneider) so far.

I'd like to know if I can use the standard bellows with it, and how much raise/fall do I realistically get with such lens (I don't really need the other movements).

I'm also planning to buy a 50mm later on. Does anyone know how much movements would I get with it and if I need a special lens board or a different bellows?

Thank you,

[Peter De Smidt]

Bellows aren't interchangeable. There are recessed lens boards, but I'm not sure that a 50mm would be all that easy to use. I have a Toyo AX, which isn't all that different than the 45A11. If it were me, I'd be thinking of an Toyo VX125 or an Arca f-line with a bag bellows, or similar, for your purpose.

[rpagliari]

The issue with those is that they are either too expensive or too big. The 45AII is fairly compact; if I could just get, say, 10mm raise/fall with a 50mm lens, that would be perfect.

[Peter De Smidt]

What 50mm lens, btw? I know of 47mm, 55mm....? Have you ever tried to use a lens on a small but deeply recessed lens board? It's no fun.

[Mark Sampson]

If you're going to use very wide lenses with movements on 4x5, you'll want a camera with a bag bellows. Preferably a monorail camera- field cameras are at their limits in that application. I used a Zone VI field camera to shoot architecture commercially for some years (with a 75mm lens and a bag bellows). It did the job but things went much easier after I bought a used Sinar.

[rpagliari]

Which Sinar did you get?

[Peter De Smidt]

Or a Cambo Wide, or similar. I agree with Mark. I have a whole bunch of Sinars, and my main landscape camera is a Toyo 45AX. I would never choose the Toyo over one of the Sinars for the application you're talking about. These, though, are bulkier than my earlier suggestions.

[B.S.Kumar]

The Toyo does not have interchangeable bellows. Wista metal field cameras have them, though it can take some time to find them. The older Toyo D45M on a 6" rail with a bag bellows is only slightly larger and heavier and much more versatile than a field camera.

Kumar

[scm]

This is about what a 45A is going to look like with a 50mm lens on the deepest recessed board that I've see, a 25mm. I don't have a 50mm len (or anything close to it) so I was just guessing at the bellows extension, around 6mm rise/fall was all the I could get.



Using any lens on a 25mm recessed board is going to be a chore, I would need a flashlight and magnifying glasses just to set the aperture

[Mark Sampson]

rpagliari, I bought a well-used Sinar Norma, for personal photography. (I don't shoot architecture professionally with a 4x5 any more-does anyone?)
In your place I'd look for a Sinar F2 and replace the rail clamp with the more compact Norma part. Doesn't have to be a Sinar- there are several other brands that would do as well. Cambo, Horseman, Toyo, Arca-Swiss, Linhof all come to mind. But Sinars were popular (in the USA at least) so cameras and parts are easy to find. A budget alternative would be the Calumet CC-402 wide-angle camera- a real workhorse. Very wide-angle lenses on field cameras are a recipe for frustration.