Bender 4x5 kit

[Lucas M]

I just built a bender 4x5 just a few months ago and have only taken exactly 10 shots with it so far. I like mine because it is light and I can put it in my backpack if you take it apart a bit though it is a bit of a pain to put it together again when I want to use it. I am finding focussing fine so far though I don't have a loupe yet and just step down the aperture a lot to ensure focus but my pictures so far have been sharp. I like it because of all the possible movemets which is good as it teaches me what they do. Not the greatest though but it is my first LF camera ever.

[Joseph O'Neil]

I built a Bender some years ago (see my avatar ). I still keep an outdated Bender FAQ on my web page at

http://www.start.ca/users/joneil/bender.html

It's hard for me to beleive that I built the thing ten years ago. I think I had less grey har then too.

The new Bulldog looks very tempting, and if I were starting brand new today, I think I woudl be torn between the two. The Bender clearly has more movements, but the Bulldog is much more portable looking.

As for building VS buying, I am happy I built my Bender. Building that camera, and taking the time to do so, I think, taught more more about how a view camera works than any book I ever read (no insult intended). Even the total PITA of buying a micrometer and measuring the ground glass depth and double checking to a film holder wiht a sacraficial sheet of film to get it just right taught me a lot about variations between film holders.

Well I can honestly say I've built my own telescope and I've built my own view camera, and both events taught me a ton about the use of each instrument. If nothing else, it looks cool to have my gear setup in my office and say "yep, I built that. "

joe

[Kirk Fry]

If you are into camera building as a hobby great, go for it, but if you just want to take pictures and save money buy an old Calumet CC401 for ~$100. Build like tanks and work great, just don't fold up and travel well.

[Doug Herta]

I built the Bender 10 years ago and have had a blast with it. I have also built custom accessories, like adapters to recess the front assembly to use super wide angle lenses. I have taken it through the SW USA, Alaska, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand in a backpack. I use an old monster Calumet for my work that does no involve a lot of lugging around, but the Bender is a good travel companion.

Advantages: It is light and can be repaired with local materials. Travels well. Cheap to accessorize (the front standard brackets cost me $8 US in materials). See the recent discussion on APUG.ORG.

Disadvantages: Not as precision as other cameras (see earlier posts). Butt joint construction invokes snickers around other woodworkers.

It is kind of hard to explain, but it is nice to have a LF camera with you while traveling that you do not have to worry about. At this point I have my money's worth out of it, so if it gets stolen/trashed/etc it is OK. I will remember it as the big box of cherry wood blocks that appeared on my doorstep 10 years ago that worked for me as a very servicable camera.