Does a new luxury 8x10 camera make sense in 2021?

[r.e.]

anyone here own one of their cameras and if so how did you like it
Mitch

I'd like to know this too.

[r.e.]

Sounds more like a small make-on-demand custom fabricator catering to a variety options feasible with especially modern machinery and materials.

It looks like they're also making a competitor to the Intrepid.

[r.e.]

Presentation by founder Allesandro Gibelinni at a 2019 trade show:

[Michael R]

I’d worry about being disappointed. For $20,000+ I’d expect a lot more than slick materials. It would have to be the most usable, well designed/engineered, precision made, and rigid view camera ever. Some sort of Leica 8x10. I can almost guarantee it isn’t any of these things, but if I’m wrong, more power to anyone who can afford one.

[r.e.]

I’d worry about being disappointed. For $20,000+ I’d expect a lot more than slick materials. It would have to be the most usable, well designed/engineered, precision made, and rigid view camera ever. Some sort of Leica 8x10. I can almost guarantee it isn’t any of these things, but if I’m wrong, more power to anyone who can afford one.

Don't know if you saw the last few posts, but the standard, non-titanium version of the camera is $5900. That's Freestyle's price. Don't know what the price is directly from Allesandro Gibellini.

I'd like to know what forum participant Marco Annaratone thinks of Gibellini. There's a pretty good chance that he's checked them out.

[Kiwi7475]

Don't know if you saw the last few posts, but the standard, non-titanium version of the camera is $5900. That's Freestyle's price. Don't know what the price is directly from Allesandro Gibellini.

I'd like to know what forum participant Marco Annaratone thinks of Gibellini. There's a pretty good chance that he's checked them out.

Direct price is between 5,190 and 6,812 Euros, depending on frame and bellows color… pretty comparable since 5,190 Euros is about 6,000 USD.

https://www.gibellinicamera.com/product/gp810/

[Ari]

I bought a Wehman last year, which is a clamshell design.
I drilled holes in the clamshell - speed holes, really. They actually make the camera open and close faster.
The holes also help boost film speed. My regular 80 ISO film is now 320 ISO, thanks to the speed holes.

[Oren Grad]

anyone here own one of their cameras and if so how did you like it

Don't know if you saw the last few posts, but the standard, non-titanium version of the camera is $5900. That's Freestyle's price. Don't know what the price is directly from Allesandro Gibellini.

I'd like to know what forum participant Marco Annaratone thinks of Gibellini. There's a pretty good chance that he's checked them out.

There is discussion about Gibellini's products and customer service in other threads here.

[Mark Sampson]

If Ghibellini has the design and production of their regular cameras figured out, then adding a "luxury" option with more expensive materials is an easy choice. It's a marketing method used by car manufacturers since time immemorial.

An example: in the late 1940s Ford offered a wooden-bodied convertible called the "Sportsman" in addition to their regular lineup (which included a metal-bodied convertible). Ford owned a great deal of timberland then, so the wood was free; they were already making wooden-bodied station wagons, so they had craftsmen who could build the bodies; and the rest of the car was a perfectly standard Ford V-8. They could put one in the dealer's showroom to draw people in to see the exotic (and expensive) new model, and then sell them a standard two-door or four-door sedan that the customer could actually afford. You can see this idea at work in any new-car showroom today. So I suspect that this is what the "luxury" Ghibellini is really meant for... to show what the company is capable of. Which adds perceived value to their everyday models, always a good thing.

By the way, relatively few Ford Sportsman convertibles were actually made, but each was worth a great deal in publicity value, and today the few survivors are extremely valuable. Oddly enough, my wife's parents were able to buy one new in 1947... it was known as the "Dreamboat" in the family, but sadly did not survive until my wife was born (much less survive until I met her).

[LabRat]

That teaser with the paparazzi flashing and smoke is really over the top... Do anything for anyone here??? ;-)

Ah, go to a golf klub and watch them polish up those mega $$$ clubs, and still shoot so-so... A pro would be able to buy a set of old clubs at the church bazaar, thrift etc and shoot the pants off of those braggers on the greens...

Me figures its bragging rights, "golden parachute" recipients, or some who gamble against themselves by plunking a wad of cash down betting they will come out ahead if they bet their fortune on their "investment"... ("Go Big"!!!)

Others buy cars that can do 180mph+ and drive to the market or bar... Dreaming of a blonde in the passenger seat... ;-)

In Weston's Daybooks, he wrote somewhere about his cameras getting old and wished he could send them in for an overhaul... (And that was then!!!) Anyone doing better than a Weston these days???

Steve K