Wanderlust Travelwide - still alive?

[Drew Bedo]

And my "fix" was to permanently glue in the front plate with epoxy. Makes it usable, but that is not really a fix. Maybe if the retaining piece could be made from brass . . .

Everyone recognized that the plastic GG was unusable for anything but initial focus calibration at best. That was both a frustration and disappointment for the creators. I had a GG made from a salvaged GG screen and an old film holder.

The creators did hot realize that shooters would try to mount Grafmstic film magazines or roll film backs. They wopn't work on a standard TravelWide. Some shooters made DIY shop-mods to allow this, by removing material and using shock cord to hold it all together.

Years ago there was a very similar camera made from metal . . ."Globus" I think. Expensive and low volume. I have only ever seen one picture.

[tdicorcia]

[Responding to Nelari's Post with links to various sources of LF hand-held cameras/designs]

Following these kickstarter type initiatives gives one an appreciation of what is involved in making a real, sustainable company and the price that must be set to keep the whole system going. I'm pleased that there are new models of design and manufacturing emerging. Of course there are growing pains. I'm not denying that it can be very painful for an individual to make an investment and not get what was promised. But, let's face it, there is never going to be a huge demand for sheet film hand-held cameras, so I am glad that there are individuals out there designing things and sharing their work.

I have some Mercury Camera components. Very nice people. They are certainly not doing it full-time. As near as I can tell, it is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and perhaps some students. Morten Kolve (another one of the links you kindly provided above) is very generous with his designs and a generous contributor to the DIY camera Facebook group.

[Tin Can]

I use a Graflex Optar 90mm f6.8 on my TW

Here are many images made by OTHER people publicly shared on Flickr made with this wonderful lens

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/G...2090mm%20f6.8/

[Drew Bedo]

My father-in-law was involved with marketing and sales from the end of WW-II through the mid 1980s. One day I was blathering on about some bright idea of mine. Folks here who have read some of my posts know whatI mean by that.

After a bit of this he looked at me and said, " There are as lot og good ideas out there. The problem is always money. Not having enough to start out with, and not getting enough to keep going." Then he went back to reading the news paper.

I think that appled to TravelWide and to a lot of great sounding Kickstarter efforts.

[Corran]

https://mercurycamera.com/
Mercury Camera is odd in that I can't see any information on the company. Malefic is from Italy, Europe. Will Travel, a DIY alternative, is from Norway, Europe.

I have and use several Mercury cameras.

Email Zach, the creator, he will be happy to discuss. Understand the Mercury is more of a custom system, with parts built for your needs, rather than a camera that is designed for one class of lens alone like the Travelwide.

My most used Mercury cameras are a 4x5 custom made for my 47mm XL that I can also swap a 38mm XL for 6x12 shots onto, a 6x9 camera with that same 38mm XL, and a 5x7 designed for my 72mm XL (seeing a theme? ). I haven't used the 5x7 as much as it ended up being a bit large for the use I envisioned.

[Nelari]

I have some Mercury Camera components. Very nice people. They are certainly not doing it full-time. As near as I can tell, it is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and perhaps some students. Morten Kolve (another one of the links you kindly provided above) is very generous with his designs and a generous contributor to the DIY camera Facebook group.

After some searching, I submit it is Pittsburgh, not Carnegie Mellon: https://www.filmandmedia.pitt.edu/people/zach-horton

[rfesk]

I have purchased several items from Mercury Camera and am satisfied. However, it has been a real pain FOR ME to figure out how and where to order things from them.

That said, the Travelwide is a great camera for what it is. I have two and may sell one if someone is interested.

[Frank_E]

I have used my Travelwide on and off for a while. It is till all intact. I treat it carefully because it does feel a bit fragile. Attached is a flickr album with 6 images if anyone is interested. These are scans of darkroom prints. I have the schneider angulon 90mm lens. https://www.flickr.com/photos/feberd...h/23521772933/

[Drew Bedo]

TW seems to be a great camera for shooting LF where no tripods are allowed.

[rfesk]

TW seems to be a great camera for shooting LF where no tripods are allowed.

It's also handy when traveling on foot with others and/or you don't have time to set up a tripod.