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

[Michael R]

It’s not quite as outrageous as it seems at first. After all, the top line Linhofs are over 10k now (although they are excellent, and we don’t know if this 20k thing is any good). An 8x10 Ebony would likely be over 10k now if they were in production. And you know, I’ll bet your Phillips thingy would similarly be in the luxury price category if it was still being made.

Bah humbug. Where I grew up we did grow and raise darn near everything we needed. It's was a hour's drive to the nearest sizable market, and that certainly wasn't a supermarket in any current sense.

But this is a camera thread. And a 20K zany Italian camera might indeed make a good hood ornament on a zany paint job Lamborghini. Waste not, recycle everything, whether food or overpriced camera gear.

[Oren Grad]

And you know, I’ll bet your Phillips thingy would similarly be in the luxury price category if it was still being made.

I don't think so. We'll never know, but given his market positioning and pricing while he was active, my guess is that Dick's pricing would still be in the same ballpark as Keith Canham's, comparing like formats. It's only in the aftermarket, since Dick retired, that the pricing on his cameras has gone nuts.

[Michael R]

I don't think so. We'll never know, but given his market positioning and pricing while he was active, my guess is that Dick's pricing would still be in the same ballpark as Keith Canham's, comparing like formats. It's only in the aftermarket, since Dick retired, that the pricing on his cameras has gone nuts.

Perhaps. I don't actually know much at all about Phillips cameras - except that Drew has one, so I was kind of trolling him a bit on that one. Busted!

[gypsydog]

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.

Interesting, Ive noticed after exposure in my Toyo 810M my film is scratch proof, won't flex and weighs 5 times what it did going in.

On a side note, I truly lust after a Phillips original Compact!

[eli]

Yes, even if you're no a Doctor or Lawyer, a quality tool for actual work can require kit to impress potential clients AND subjects, who will associate your kit and work with the highest sort of product.

Sure, collectors are the first thing another working photographers may think of, in relationship to buyers, but professionals shooting monied subjects or for industrial by dies, must always tolerate the snobs and amateur photographers, in PR and HR gate keepers.

I likely will never own a first quality Ebony or this makers camera, however, even though I never plan to go back to work as a photographer, I would buy such a kit in n an instant, if I had the fortune of luck at the lottery or inheritance, just for the pleasure of working with such rarified tools.

IMO.

[John Layton]

As long as the word "luxury" does not simply equate to window-dressing...but instead to a truly refined, well conceived, rugged, and precise instrument which is built for the long haul, then fine imho.

[djdister]

By their definition, the terms "luxury" and "sense" as in "sensible" are opposing terms. So no, it does not make sense, but when has that stopped anyone...

[LabRat]

Rolex vs Timex... As long as you get to work on time... ;-)

0r dress to impress...

Steve K

[Drew Wiley]

Phillips raised his prices once he couldn't personally keep up with demand and had to subcontract much of it. That was right around the time the II version came out. But given the much wider availability of special laminate mfg these days, as well as improved CNC equip, any of his models would probably cost LESS to make today than back then. For the current asking price of a single used one today, I could probably go out an acquire the machinery and supplies to make a half dozen of them (not paying for my own labor, so not realistically as a business model, but hypothetical net cost). There are no die-castings or seriously machined parts. Still, if you want to buy mine someday, I won't sell it cheap either! I really like its combination of basic simplicity and reliability. No glamour gal, but a really useful wench. And, if ever needed, every bit of it I can fix myself.

[Ari]

I really like its combination of basic simplicity and reliability. No glamour gal, but a really useful wench. And, if ever needed, every bit of it I can fix myself.

I don't own the Phillips, I have a Wehman, which is a different design, but the two designers must be some kind of kindred spirits.
Anything the camera needs, I can make. Nothing complicated here, just properly machined parts and good design.