Best 8x10 camera for ultra-wide angle?

[Robert Opheim]

John Kasian is absolutely correct about lens weight. I found out years ago the hard way, with a 12 inch Wollensak Velostigmat mounted on a wooden tail board camera. I broke the front standard of the camera - and had to glue it together.

[Andrew O'Neill]

For field cameras, you'll want one who's rear standard slides forward toward the lens. This is one of the main reason I picked up a Canham.

[cp_photo]

For field cameras, you'll want one who's rear standard slides forward toward the lens. This is one of the main reason I picked up a Canham.

I was intrigued to see the Canham JMC810 metal 8x10" camera has a minimum bellows extension of 69.5 mm, which is remarkable!

https://canhamcameras.com/8x10metal.htm

[AuditorOne]

For what it is worth my poor old Conley No 1 8x10 allows my to slide the rear standard forward so you don't see the front rails with a wide angle. It is a bit loosey goosey now so it takes some care to get everything aligned for focusing but it is still light tight.

The design allows me to run the rear standard backwards on a separate rear set of tracks if I need more draw on the bellows but I never found a need for it when I use my 12 inch Dagor. To be honest I am not even certain how much draw I can get as I have never used the rear rails.

[Rod Klukas]

The Arca-Swiss 8x10 with a short rail and the wide angle bellows, performs great, even with the rather poor quality in the corners, 120mm lenses. But it is superb with the 150mm to 165mm lenses.

[Dave Wooten]

Www.svedovsky.com
8x10 W

I have this one

[Robert Opheim]

I was thinking about a 8x10 wide angle camera as well. I ended up with the question - do I need a bag bellows or not? Then does the camera needs to have both bag bellows and standard bellows? Will I ever need much movement with a wide to very wide lens? Currently my lenses don't have large coverage maybe 325mm to 350mm coverage. I would need to purchase a really big piece of glass to use much in the way of movements on 8x10. 165mm 210mm Super Angulon, 150mm Nikon SW, 155mm Grandagon, for example. Years ago I had a tailboard wood camera that I broke the front standard by using a heavy lens on. I have a C-1 Calumet that is heavy, and the bed is in the way with wide lenses but it gets the job done.

[Daniel Unkefer]

8x10 Sinar Norma Julius Shulman Titlall Setup 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Best is subjective. 8x10 Sinar Norma on modded early Leitz Tiltall. Don't bump it and it's fine. And I can pick this up and carry it, it's relatively portable for quick placement. 121mm F8 Schneider Norma Super Angulon. Covers 18x24cm nicely, hyperfocal focus bigger circle covers 8x10 in a pinch. Camera is infinitely extendable and nearly a hundred accessories were available. This rig is great for quick set-ups and avoiding screw ups. TTL 8x10 Sinar Norma Sinarsix metering eliminates exposure errors which can compound with expensive 8x10 film.

[Ben Horne]

The rear standard of my Chamonix Alpinist X 8x10 slides forward so the lens can be positioned closer to the front of the focus bed. I use my Nikkor SW 150mm with ease, and the stats on the Chamonix website say the minimum bellows draw is 60mm. There may be some other factors at play when it comes to ultra wide lenses, but I'm amazed at how versatile this camera is, especially since it can also handle my 600mm lens, is extremely lightweight and extremely rigid. IMO, one of the best 8x10 cameras ever made.

[Vaughan]

The rear standard of my Chamonix Alpinist X 8x10...

Don't tempt me Frodo!