I seldom use any movements
My Printed 4X5 is seldom refocused as I shoot people at 5'
I admire https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/c.../all/all/all/0
I have to add weight and flash BULB with safety cover
It intimidates no one!
2 or 4 DDS
NO TRIPOD
Fits in a lunch bag
No meter needed if I always use the flash
I need to get out more with my Cycle Cameras and use 4X5 or 5X7 plates
Tin Can
I have a similar camera with no movements. It has a 75mm Nikkor SW 75 f4.5. Weighs only a few pounds and I can shoot it handheld, monpod, or on a tripod with 4x5 or 6x12 roll film. I built it myself.Originally Posted by Tin Can
image0 (2) by Marco Wikstrom, on Flickr
Since these pictures wre taken I replaced the wire viewfinder with an optical one.
image1 (1) by Marco Wikstrom, on Flickr
DSC02377 by Nokton48, on Flickr
My Sinar Norma Handy with 4x5 Graphmatic weighs six LB. Easy to carry around, with 400 film I can sometimes shoot handheld. Like HP5+ at 1600 EI in Acufine or D23 1:1. Developed for 3200 EI and negs are delicious looking LFWA. Or maybe FOMA 200 shot at EI800 and developed to "Gamma Infinity". I shall experiment. Also bit the bullet and will compare HP5+ to TMX400, have several hundred sheets of TMX 4x5 to burn. Extra 4x5 Graphmatics go in Swiss Army Medical Bag; looks like an US Army Gasmask Bag except it's Swiss.
"Handy" They named it right. BTW the Norma Cone with helical for 65mm F8 is in the original Norma catalog. All else is an embellishment on my part. This is the camera they should have offered at the time. Fits in my collection because it's pure Norma.
Last edited by Daniel Unkefer; 16-Aug-2023 at 07:33.
Flikr Photos Here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/18134483@N04/
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
― Mark Twain
After reading all this i’m doing something completely wrong.
My bag is about 13kg … without tripod
Chamonix 045F2
90mm f9
150mm f5.6
300mm f5.6
All in 3D printed boxes
Lee filters +/- 10 pieces
Center filter for 90mm
Lee hood
Pentax V lightmeter
Dark cloth
Some small stuff
5 - 4x5 filmholders
Or
6x17 Shen Hao
The grams quickly add up to kilograms! That 300mm 5.6 probably weighs a lot - a Nikkor M 300mm f9 is much smaller and lighter an only about one stop slower. I don't know how much your 3d printed boxes weigh, but maybe you can save some weight and room in the bag with padded cloth lens wraps. The Pentax spot meter probably weighs half a kilo - it can be replaced with something a lot lighter.
There are many ways to shed weight without shedding performance. If it's not helping take the photo that you're taking TODAY, then leave it.
Out for the day, the camera is on the tripod. A nice thick Calumet darkcloth -- total black-out and has doubled as a shawl to keep warm -- it provides padding when draped over the camera, then a waterproof stuffsack placed over it (and camera). This keep the bellows safe and everything dry in case of rain or wet underbrush. Everything else in a light, slightly padded shoulder bag that can be worn under the jacket in case of rain. Nothing needs to be put on the ground. Perfect for my one-lens system (150mm).
Photo of my little mule!
And a photo of me with the same set-up, but a Rolleicord in the bag instead of taking the 4x5 (too much bashing thru the brush keeping up with my boys!). Except for the 4x5 film holders, not much difference in weight between the set-ups!
I carry the 6" extention rail to give me 12.5" of bellows, but rarely need it.
A Gitzo No.2 Ballhead use to be my traveling head. For the 5x7 I am using a Gitzo G1376 ballhead.
PocketView bought new in about 1982 for around $200 from Calumet.
"Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China
No picture, but my 11x14, tripod (no head), and Fujifilm A 360mm comes in at 23.4lb.
Half my weight is the tripod.
Years ago I wrote this about a lightweight kit I put together.
A tiny setup that was around 10-12 pounds. I generally give up a bit of weight-savings for some lenses with more aperture or IC but it was just an experiment to see what the smallest-weight but full-featured kit I could come up with back then.
I am at 9.9 kg with 13x18 cm wooden camera, 3x wooden double holders containing steel inserts, two lenses (135/6.8 and 240/6.8), lightmeter, filters, backpack and tripod. Half the weight is the tripod. Manfrotto 055Prob+488RC4.
I managed a week-long backpacking trip under 20lbs with 1 lens and 13 4x5 film holders. I use F-Stop Small Pro bags, one for my camera and one for my lenses and accessories. A dry bag for the film holders. I use that with a Gregory Paragon 68 which has a side-entry zipper so that I can remove the two camera bags and tripod without disturbing the rest of my pack (sleeping bag, clothes, food). I modified a Calumet CC-400 to slide on carbon fiber rails, reducing the weight of the monorail and base. I've used a similar setup with a medium format kit backpacking the Camino Primitivo and Camino Finisterre in Spain over 18 days.
Here's the link with the full LF breakdown with lens, loupe, film holders, etc. at 18lbs/8.3kg : https://lighterpack.com/r/fxrgwu
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