Info on Toyo Omega 45D

**Preston Denny** · 27-Apr-2002, 20:44

Hello All This is my first posting to this group and my first venture into 4x5 photography . I have an oportunity to buy a Toyo Omega 45D camera with a Symmar 180/f5.6 len s. It all appears to be in good condition. I would appreciate any info: pros & cons of this equipment. Cheers Preston

**miles** · 28-Apr-2002, 01:57

howdy Preston, Years ago Omega was taken over or bought out by Toyo. Its a good basic , no frills monorail camera that could give you many many years of use. Extend the bellows and check the corners for any light leaks. Find out if it comes with any lens boards. The boards go for around $25 to 40 dollars on the used market. you will probably need the copal zero board with its approx 34mm hole and the copal one board with the hole size of approx 42mm. right now, www.keh.com has the omega 45f in excellent condition for $339, and the newer Toyo view C with the carry box in excellent condition for $525. you didn't give enough detail like from where or whom, how much, description of any flaws... if KEH tells you its in excellent condition; you can take it to the bank as far as i'm concerned! the symmar 180mm is roughly equivelent to about a 60mm in 35mm format as far as perspective/angle of view, more or less. You also failed to mention, what your mission would be for this camera; landscapes, portraits, tabletop stills, etc... the symmar-s lens is also available at keh at the moment for $465 in excellent plus condition with caps, which is hard to tell from new! they have one in bargain condition now also, for $339, which is probably nice as well as they are really good about their rating system. figure out what you want to shoot and go from there. this setup isn't going anywhere and if that one sells there are plenty more after that one. the lens that you mentioned takes the copal one lens board, or the 42mm hole for the lens. check the archives at the large format site for more info.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Large%20format% 20photography

good luck dude!

**Peter Shier** · 28-Apr-2002, 14:24

I had a Toyo for a while (45E) and it was fine but it had a fixed bellows so I could not use bag or extended bellows. I don't know about the 45D but I would check into that. Also, if you are buying a model with changeable bellows then check the availability of new or used bag/extended bellows.