I'm tempted!!! - How good is this deal?

[Lachlan 717]

There is a lot of reverse snobbery because of the price of the Ebony.

It is a very fine field camera. If you want a flat bed wooden field camera, I'll challenge anyone to propose a better one.

Cheers, Steve

Hard to imagine how any decent shots were taken before the first Ebony was made...

[Steve Hamley]

Yup, and a Nue-view is just as good as a Linhof ...

Cheers, Steve

[ImSoNegative]

Yup, and a Nue-view is just as good as a Linhof ...

Cheers, Steve

i had me one of those nue-view 4x5 several years ago, damn what a camera, dropped off a rock, it fell hmm 8 feet onto another rock, only thing hurt was the lens, and the GG, it had a leather bellows too. i think i still have that thing around here some where. i have had several cameras since then, my 4x5 now is a shen hao ptb, weighs just under 3 pounds, a bit fussy to operate at first until you get used to it but all around a decent one, i wouldnt want to drop it 8 feet though, but you can hike forever with it. i have never used an ebony or even seen one in person, they look like fine cameras though.

[cyrus]

There is a lot of reverse snobbery because of the price of the Ebony.

It is a very fine field camera. If you want a flat bed wooden field camera, I'll challenge anyone to propose a better one.

Cheers, Steve

No doubt it is a great camera - the question is, is that "betterness" in comparison to other cameras proportional to the significant price difference. In other words, assuming that a Shen Hao is $600, and this ebony is $2600, then what is it about the Ebony that is particularly worth the $2000 difference to you?

[Jim Galli]

No doubt it is a great camera - the question is, is that "betterness" in comparison to other cameras proportional to the significant price difference. In other words, assuming that a Shen Hao is $600, and this ebony is $2600, then what is it about the Ebony that is particularly worth the $2000 difference?

This seems like such an obvious question. How long would they be in business if people did not buy their product at their required price? Economics 101 in a free trade society. Why is this concept so difficult.

[cyrus]

This seems like such an obvious question. How long would they be in business if people did not buy their product at their required price? Economics 101 in a free trade society. Why is this concept so difficult.

YEs, I know. That's why I didn't say "Don't buy it" or "Buy it" I just said mind what you're actually paying for & make sure it is really worth it to you. People buy things for a variety of reasons, not all of them entirely rational or logical, and brand-loyalty and status is amongst them. This is a personal decision. No judgments on my part - I do it too.
(PS: is ebony still in business?)

[Jim Galli]

YEs, I know. That's why I didn't say "Don't buy it" or "Buy it" I just said mind what you're actually paying for & make sure it is really worth it to you. People buy things for a variety of reasons, not all of them entirely rational or logical, and brand-loyalty and status is amongst them. This is a personal decision. No judgments on my part - I do it too.
(PS: is ebony still in business?)

I don't dis-agree. I think there is a market for Doctors Lawyers and Indian Chiefs who simply go to the web and type in "which one is the best ~ most expensive, that's all the research I'm willing to do, get it for me."

I'd also agree that regular folk who will spend some time doing good research may be able to get a little more bang for their buck.

In this case though you could come close to selling off the lenses and having the camera for free. For some folks, that whole idea reeks of disaster. For others, like me obviously, that's my modus operandi. I'm currently enjoying a couple of Pinkham and Smith lenses I effectually paid nothing for.

Bad Jim! Bad Jim! You CAPITALIST!

[Frank Petronio]

I only see $1200 to $1500 of lenses there... the other accessories are nice to have but not worth more than $350 on a good day, plus the clip is dedicated to the Ebony so you'd want to keep it. So I don't see how you'd get anything for free in this deal?

And those prices are optimistic, sold to good, safe people in clean-easy transactions. Not always as simple as it sounds.

Truth is that I like the quality and looks of the Ebony too. I just don't think they are worth as much as a premium as other people do so I wouldn't likely buy one unless it was an amazing deal.

That $1000 Techikardan was a deal, as were the $600 Toyo and Wista field cameras, the $1000 older 8x10 Arca, that $1000 5x7 Sinar Norma, the numerous $200-$300 monorails... those are the deals I've seen here.

[cyrus]

I was under the impression that the OP wanted to keep the whole package.

[draebyllek]

Great responses, thanks. As for my own 'duplicate' equipment, it would be sold, except for lenses. I'm not really interested in collect LF cameras, just using one once in a while.

I may have been a bit impetuous in thinking about owning an Ebony. My last gf said that one thing she likes about me is that I have an eye for nice stuff; I don't like cheaply made stuff, that's true, but buying an Ebony would impede my buying Brett Weston photographs for a while so I'm interested in other field camera options.

At the center of this, I guess it really breaks down into owning a field cam instead of a monorail. So, Toyo and Shen Hao have been mentioned; I'll look into those. 4x5 is all I'm interested in but if the camera has lots of bells-n-whistles I'm interested in knowing all of that. Sturdy construction/workmanship matters as does having nice options.

I'm more settled down about the Ebony now - but that doesn't mean I won't be looking at it at our club's picnic.