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Thread: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

  1. #31
    Corran's Avatar
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    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    65mm f/8 SA
    90mm f/6.8 Angulon
    150mm f/9 G-Claron
    300mm f/9 Nikkor-M

    Adjust to taste.

    My new Intrepid weighs 2.5 pounds, my lightweight CF tripod + head is about 3 pounds, I use Grafmatics for hiking usually which are lighter per sheet (or a Kinematic if I want best weight-to-sheet ratio). Total pack weight for the kit is about 8-10 pounds.

    A bunch of small weight penalties can add up. I disagree with the sentiment that cutting a little bit of weight here or there isn't helpful, at least in certain situations. Depends on your other gear, where / how far you are going, etc.
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  2. #32

    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    Quote Originally Posted by Corran View Post
    65mm f/8 SA
    90mm f/6.8 Angulon
    150mm f/9 G-Claron
    300mm f/9 Nikkor-M

    Adjust to taste.

    My new Intrepid weighs 2.5 pounds, my lightweight CF tripod + head is about 3 pounds, I use Grafmatics for hiking usually which are lighter per sheet (or a Kinematic if I want best weight-to-sheet ratio). Total pack weight for the kit is about 8-10 pounds.

    A bunch of small weight penalties can add up. I disagree with the sentiment that cutting a little bit of weight here or there isn't helpful, at least in certain situations. Depends on your other gear, where / how far you are going, etc.
    I cut a little bit of weight during lockdown, I have managed to lose 14lbs of blubber and increased my fitness. That should make carrying my large format kit easier for me. Need to lose another half stone to reach my target weight.

  3. #33

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    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    Daniel, my Feisol model # is 3441T...so different from yours. At any rate...my Feisol continues to perform well in the cold, wet, etc. - both here in Vermont and along the Maine coast, where it occasionally finds itself partially submerged in cold seawater. I admit that my Gitzo 1375CF is a different animal, but also much heavier and so not relevant to this thread.

  4. #34
    Corran's Avatar
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    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    Good for you Norm! I am working on my own weight gain since a new job that is a lot of desk work started last year.

    I sure do feel a difference though when carrying a 10 vs. 25 pound pack...or the 50 pound one for camping!
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  5. #35
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    Quote Originally Posted by John Layton View Post
    ...
    I'm a couple inches shorter than Vaughn...but at 6'1" - I find the Feisol "Tall Traveler" CF tripod to be a perfect combo when out and about with either my Calumet/Gowland ultralight 4x5..."
    I tried my Calumet/Gowland ultralight 4x5 with a 2 pound CF tripod. Besides being too short, the whole combo with the darkcloth was maybe 6 pounds -- usable with great care...perhaps I am too clumsy with such a light set-up. I like a tripod I can use to help me cross creeks.

    Anyone use those wood tripods that came with the Speed Graphics?
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  6. #36

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    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    I tried my Calumet/Gowland ultralight 4x5 with a 2 pound CF tripod. Besides being too short, the whole combo with the darkcloth was maybe 6 pounds -- usable with great care...perhaps I am too clumsy with such a light set-up. I like a tripod I can use to help me cross creeks.

    Anyone use those wood tripods that came with the Speed Graphics?
    Maybe I do -- the tripod I use has "Sharman Camera Works San Francisco" on the top plate, where the camera or head would mount. It is 33" long unextended, and weighs about 3.5 pounds. In a pinch, it has worked as a crutch for crossing streams, but when it's strapped to my pack, I swear it catches on every willow I pass by. I paid $30 for it about 30 years ago, still going strong. I think the Thalhammer's came with the Speed Graphics, but the Sharmans are circa 1940's or so as far as I know, so they could be informally tied to Graflex stuff.

  7. #37

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    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    I have an old wooden (1930's?) Thallhammer tripod which I do use occasionally. Smooth as silk and just works and works.

  8. #38
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    Except for shorter focal lengths, as noted on a previous post, the German selection of modern lightwt lenses was almost nonexistent. With Nikon there was the M series (below the 450, at least); with Fuji, both C and A series are especially light, excluding the rare older 600 and 1200 A's.
    Tripods are a different topic. One way to save weight and increase stability - don't use a tripod head at all. I've explained it many times before, and it's worked well for me for several decades now. Conserving weight during long haul backpacking is going to be more and more a priority factor for me as I get further into my 70's. And when I refer to backpacking, I mean not just a camera pack, but all the necessary gear, food, and supplies for a week or two in the mountains. But compromising weight by resorting to a less than ideally stable set of tripod legs would be counterproductive. I have two appropriate carbon fibers tripods for both 8x10 and 4x5 and smaller use, as well as two different Ries wooden tripods for the same respective range of usages, still preferring wood for day hiking when weight is not a main priority.

  9. #39
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    Quote Originally Posted by mmerig View Post
    Maybe I do -- the tripod I use has "Sharman Camera Works San Francisco" ...
    The one I have unused (mint condition...I should use it!). The tops on each leg is marked;

    Folmer Graflex Corp
    Rochester, N.Y. USA

    CROWN TRIPOD No1

    Just under 2lb 6oz -- no head. Four leg sections (2 adjust) so the pod is only 16" long folded...and of course, not very tall set up...54 inches max. leg length (30" minimum). If I was a foot shorter...but the right height for the Rolleiflex and waist-level finder...hmmmm.

    The screws for tightening the legs are located on the sides of the legs -- yours look like on the front.

    Edit: Just weighed my little CF. The pod is 1lb 13 oz and goes up to 50 inches , a little more with center column. So for backpacking the CF makes more sense -- and it is not in 4 pieces like the Crown No2 (I'd have to use a stuff sack to carry the pieces and to strap it on a pack -- the wood is so cool.)
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  10. #40

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    Re: What small lightweight lens for 4x5 backpacking?

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan9940 View Post
    I've been satisfied with the Fujinon-W 125/5.6 and the Fujinon-W 150/6.3 (inside lettering). Both a very small lenses.
    Agree, tiny and well made lenses. They weight nothing.

    If you didn't already, using wooden film holders will save a lot of weight.
    Pressing the shutter is the only easy thing

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