Hi Bob - Hope all's well with you. Kenny did indeed get a Master Technika. The timing is a little different than you recall. (Heck it was a LONG time ago!). The image above showing Kenny in his studio with his Sinar-F is a 'happy snap' I made during a special private darkroom workshop I did with Kenny - days before Christmas 1984. My workshop was Kenny's Christmas gift from Kenny's wife at the time Marianne!
He used that same camera along with his Hasselblad, on our first photographic outing together a few weeks later. That was really Kenny's first experience using a large format camera in a landscape situation. We photographed in the snow-covered mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Kenny really enjoyed using the 4x5 in the landscape.When we returned to his home in Beverly Hills we contacted Norma Smith at Samy's camera in L.A. (Kenny purchased nearly all of his photographic equipment and supplies at Samy's). Norma had a clean used Linhof Technika IV as you mentioned, so Kenny purchased that camera. He was still deciding if this 4x5 landscape photography was something he was interested in long-term. We photographed in the deserts of Arizona a couple of weeks after that. He also used the Technika IV on our first trip to his farm in Georgia together. That's likely when I contacted you about the folding focus hood for his Technika IV. It was missing from the used camera when he purchased it.
My communications show that on April 19 I FedEx'ed Kenny a brand new Linhof Master Technika that I had purchased for Kenny (at his request, and with his $$$) from Norma at Samy's. She sent it to me, so I could 'Sextonize' the camera. You likely recall that I always removed the rangefinder, cams, etc. and added an aluminum plate to the side of the camera where the rangefinder had been. I also added a different level, and a few other little 'tweaks.' Kenny sold, or traded, the Technika IV a few months later. At some point a few years later Kenny purchased another Master Technika. I can't recall if he damaged his first one, or what happened. I believe over the years, Kenny owned a total of three different 4x4 Linhof Master Technikas.
If you want to waste fifteen minutes of our life, you can watch my video presentation linked above. It will go into greater details. Including my giving Kenny a view camera movements demonstration beneath the seats at one of his concerts - as Dolly Parton was on stage performing!
There's also more back-story in my most recent eNewsletter - which just went out. You can find it, and subscribe if you desire, on my web site.
http://www.johnsexton.com
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Originally Posted by John Sexton
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