Burk and jame v jodak D2 'V agfa ansco etc

[cosmicexplosion]

i am looken to git, a nice o'l woody, fir wet plate, just cuz there pritty.
(and romantic and look the part.)

but i am seeking advice on the any major pit falls or what have you.

there are a few hovering about and they all look nice but i cant really decide.

there is an eastman view, a kodak d2 an agfa ansco and a b+j

whilst the b+j is all wood and not painted see ebay, it seems a contender even though its not as pritty, it seems to have 30" extension, whilst i think the kodak has 24" which is also a gain.

my longest lens is 24" but i may not have room to move.

i am not sure of the swing tilt functions of each.

has any one handled all these cameras?

cheers

Andrew

[jcoldslabs]

I have an all wood and brass 8x10 2D (Eastman View #2 technically) and the bellows draw is 30 inches. No front tilt or swing, only rise and fall. Nice camera, a bit rickety though. I picked up a ratty Century No. 4 studio camera recently for my planned wet plate work since that won't be on location and doesn't require a field camera.

Jonathan

[John Kasaian]

I have an Agfa Ansco in 5x7 and it has all the movements I could ask for in a flat bed camera. I also had a B&J which also had lots of movements, but by comparison the Agfa ansco "felt" better to me and seems to lock down more securely (but this might be a matter of different old cameras being worn---still the Agfa was a much older camera) I've never had the pleasure of owning a 2D. I hope this helps.

[mdm]

A B&J is less robust than a 2D but has much more movements. For wet plate a 2D would be fine. My experience is with a 5x7 B&J and a 5x7 2D.

[premortho]

A B&J is less robust than a 2D but has much more movements. For wet plate a 2D would be fine. My experience is with a 5x7 B&J and a 5x7 2D.

I have both a B&J commercial view and an Ansco commercial. The Ansco is one tough, well made camera. I would guess that a Kodak is just as good. But the B&J has much more flexibility or movements than either of the other two. It is not as rigid as my Ansco. So the Ansco is my go-to landscape camera, and the B&J for still lifes and fussy stuff like that.

[premortho]

I should have added that both of these are 5X7's

[Mark Sampson]

At this point, 50-90 years after any of these cameras were made, mechanical condition will be the most important consideration.

[premortho]

Yes, that's true. What I wrote in my post would cover these in the same condition. A pristine B&J would be better than a well used Ansco or Kodak. But the original design of the B&J is more flexible to use, but not as rugged as the other two. The Seneca and Century are also good ones, if you can find one in good mechanical condition. If you just keep looking on auction sites, soomer or later one will show up. Patience is the key here, as an amazing amount of one-step-better-than-junk shows up on these sites. By the way, Burke and James also made view cameras in the tailboard style, and these are as rugged as anything else.