Show off your Large Format camera!

[jim_jm]

Just-restored 8x10 Deardorff V8, with a new bellows from Custom Bellows UK. Outstanding folks to work with - Keith was great!
Completely disassembled the camera, cleaned/polished all the hardware, replaced the strap. Did not have to sand/refinish all the wood as it was already in pretty good condition.

[Roberto Nania]

My new companion for 8x10" format.

Stenopeika Hyper Camera Advanced 8x10"

[BLATT LAB]

How do you like the Stenopeika?

My new companion for 8x10" format.

Stenopeika Hyper Camera Advanced 8x10"

[Roberto Nania]

How do you like the Stenopeika?

Hello Blatt,

It's my first 8x10 after two years spent on 4x5" with a Chaminox and a Horseman.
I'd say it is a very fair and good camera for its price tag.
After one month of usage I can summarize its points as follow:
Pros: it gets all the movements you usually need, the bellows extends a lot (like 70cm or so), it's beautiful (I really like the black finish with the greenish bellows), it's lightweight and slim when folded.
Cons: it's not the most rigid (the front standard especially, can barely hold a 1.5 kilos Symmar), the film holder insert/removal it's not very easy due to the lack of a proper toehold for helping to open the back, the ground glass is a bit dim (although very well made).

Would I buy again? Yes for its money!
Are there better option in my opinion? Not really for the same price but I would consider other options (like an used Zone VI or a Deardorff) if my budget was 2.5 times higher.

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Hello Blatt,

It's my first 8x10 after two years spent on 4x5" with a Chaminox and a Horseman.
I'd say it is a very fair and good camera for its price tag.
After one month of usage I can summarize its points as follow:
Pros: it gets all the movements you usually need, the bellows extends a lot (like 70cm or so), it's beautiful (I really like the black finish with the greenish bellows), it's lightweight and slim when folded.
Cons: it's not the most rigid (the front standard especially, can barely hold a 1.5 kilos Symmar), the film holder insert/removal it's not very easy due to the lack of a proper toehold for helping to open the back, the ground glass is a bit dim (although very well made).

Would I buy again? Yes for its money!
Are there better option in my opinion? Not really for the same price but I would consider other options (like an used Zone VI or a Deardorff) if my budget was 2.5 times higher.

Hello Roberto, what is your opinion about the sturdiness of the back frame with the ground glass: I read it is held by magnets....
and further, what is the bellows made of, is it more a plastic like (shiny) material or more fabric like the ones you see with more vintage cameras?

[Roberto Nania]

Hello Roberto, what is your opinion about the sturdiness of the back frame with the ground glass: I read it is held by magnets....
and further, what is the bellows made of, is it more a plastic like (shiny) material or more fabric like the ones you see with more vintage cameras?

Hello Ron,

yes, the back frame is held by a generous amount of magnets. This is not a bad design imho, it requires a certain force to separate the back frame, meaning it won't move in the use. The back frame has an inner step so that it sits always in the right position. Honestly, I'm more worried about the front standard than the rear one: a beefier set of metal bars would given better stability with heavy lenses.
The bellows is made of a kind of fabric. It's made of two layers, inner black and outer colored. It is of a good quality in my opinion. For example, it is different than the vinyl bellows of the Intrepid (I owned a 4x5 MK4 sold after few months).

Again, it's not a super precise camera with smooth movements like Chamonix, Tachihara or other but it's certainly a fair step forward than the Intrepid. If you look for a good camera to start 8x10 (as I did) without selling parts of your body, that is one camera to look at. If you want a camera with smoother movements, finer crafted details and maybe longer lifetime I'd go for other makers, keeping in mind that the price will start at 2500€. For example, I would go for a Chamonix Alpinist if I get 4000€ to spend on a camera.

[Ron (Netherlands)]

Hello Ron,

yes, the back frame is held by a generous amount of magnets. This is not a bad design imho, it requires a certain force to separate the back frame, meaning it won't move in the use. The back frame has an inner step so that it sits always in the right position. Honestly, I'm more worried about the front standard than the rear one: a beefier set of metal bars would given better stability with heavy lenses.
The bellows is made of a kind of fabric. It's made of two layers, inner black and outer colored. It is of a good quality in my opinion. For example, it is different than the vinyl bellows of the Intrepid (I owned a 4x5 MK4 sold after few months).

Again, it's not a super precise camera with smooth movements like Chamonix, Tachihara or other but it's certainly a fair step forward than the Intrepid. If you look for a good camera to start 8x10 (as I did) without selling parts of your body, that is one camera to look at. If you want a camera with smoother movements, finer crafted details and maybe longer lifetime I'd go for other makers, keeping in mind that the price will start at 2500€. For example, I would go for a Chamonix Alpinist if I get 4000€ to spend on a camera.

Thanks Roberto for the swift and clear response. I saw a film from the maker and indeed already in that film the front standard looks a bit too flimsy considering the dimensions of the camera and lens/shutter combo's; it seems they copied the front standard of their 5x4 model but without taking into account that one would use bigger/heavier lenses/shutters.
Maybe it is easy to exchange the front standard by a selfmade sturdier one?

[Roberto Nania]

Thanks Roberto for the swift and clear response. I saw a film from the maker and indeed already in that film the front standard looks a bit too flimsy considering the dimensions of the camera and lens/shutter combo's; it seems they copied the front standard of their 5x4 model but without taking into account that one would use bigger/heavier lenses/shutters.
Maybe it is easy to exchange the front standard by a selfmade sturdier one?

Yes Ron, that's a good point: one can upgrade the camera with self-made solutions. For example: I have trimmed the bolt for the fast focusing because it touched the release lever of my tripod base and I have replaced the teflon washers for the rise-fall locks with still ones when I discovered that the teflon washers were too slippery to made a proper lock with heavy lenses.
The metal bars of the front standard are 2mm thick; I think that if they were at 3mm the rigidity would be enough.

This model is Hyper Advanced MK2 but there is plenty of room for a MK3 version.

[Roberto Nania]

Here you can see the camera from a different view

[Duolab123]

My new companion for 8x10" format.

Stenopeika Hyper Camera Advanced 8x10"

That's very cool.