Do these ever show up used? Can Badger get them new?
Do these ever show up used? Can Badger get them new?
Likely rather rare.
Rod Klukas at www.rodklukas.com might be able to answer this better than I can.
I've been after one too and they just can't be found. I contacted Rod, who said Keith Canham was making 5x7 conversion kits to fit Arca cameras. I've attached a few photos to show what Keith did for me.
Any 5x7 Arca Swiss is a rare camera. Owned one for a short time some years ago that was previously owned by Kerry T. It was a partially completed project to convert the front to accept Sinar bits. Got this far with it, then decided it was all for not as there was ZERO advantage to the Arca Swiss -vs- Sinar and in many ways far more limiting due to what is easily available but at times required accessories for the Arca Swiss. Weigh savings was nil, just a very long list of negatives.
Eventually, this 5x7 Arca Swiss was put back to original then found a home with a collector.
Bernice
huh interesting Thanks, is that one of Keith's metal 8x10 backs modded down? I know he made a 57 metal too but I didn't remember the rear standard being so big.
that's a great looking setup...Actually nevermind, now I can see it's way smaller then 8x10. How's the rigidity of the rear standard? Lock down pretty solid?
Thanks Bernice, I think I saw that on an older thread. interesting project
I used to have a 4x5 F-Metric. The camera itself is art. Almost too precious to use! Good luck in your search.
Given the currently small market for 5x7, it's interesting that Arca-Swiss doesn't offer the components that are unique to 5x7 at a price attractive to existing 4x5 and 8x10 owners. I would think that it's considered that option, and has decided for whatever reason that it won't pay to do it. Are cameras even a significant part of Arca-Swiss's business at this point?
Last edited by r.e.; 12-Nov-2021 at 06:46.
The back is Keith's own metal 5x7 modified to fit the Arca cameras. He attaches an Arca dovetail to the bottom of the ground glass frame and the whole thing slips into the existing Arca 'function carrier' no problem at all. I haven't noticed any problems with stability, wobble or flex. Keith provides a set of bellows also made to order to fit his rear ground glass frame and mounts to the existing Arca camera in the front.
I need to note here that my camera for this conversion is the Arca 4x5 field model, so my camera has the smaller front end and uses 110 lens boards. It's a bit more compact and lighter weight because of that. My favorite lens for 5x7 is a Schneider 400mm f/5.6 APO Tele-Xenar and this camera handles that very nicely.
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