is a lighter 8x10 better than a heavy one

[cosmicexplosion]

i am looking to make a choice here people, with your kind help.

toyo 8x10m tank, or fairy light Ritter 8x10.

ansells famous quote of using the heaviest camera, has piqued my attention.

it seems to me that a light camera will get you shooting more.

but a heavy one will be better in the wind. but i mean how much better.

and is the stability of the camera worth the extra weight and effort?

one of the things making lean towards ritter is getting a 4x10 back made up, and the look of wood, plus weight.

toyo i think, well, if it snuffs out small wind to a greater degree, and doesnt break if it falls over then thats a plus. except it aint that pretty.

thanks

[Armin Seeholzer]

If I remember correctly he was talking about the biggest camera not the heaviest he could take with him!

[cosmicexplosion]

"When asked what camera I use, I reply 'The heaviest one I can carry'." - Ansel Adams

[David R Munson]

At least as I see it, weight isn't so much a problem as is rigidity. You could easily have a camera that is light and rigid as well as a camera that is horribly heavy and a total wet noodle. I have a Chamonix 4x5 that is wonderfully rigid and comes in a half-pound lighter than a Toyo 45CF which (at least in my experience) is fairly wobbly. If you aren't likely to be shooting in windy conditions, it's less likely a problem, and honestly I can only remember a few times when I've gotten blurry negs from wind and even then I was sort of expecting it. In fact, I'm sort of amazed at what I've gotten away with.

[Robert Crigan]

Rigidity is everything. A close second is protection from external vibrations. I used a Nagaoka cherry wood 810 for years in my architectural photography practice. It gave results as good as from my Sinar 810 monorail.
Mind you, I'd sometimes need to use an umbrella to shield it from any breeze, and I'd often have to wait till there was no moving traffic nearby. Even normal sedans can cause enough vibration to be visible in a transparency.
Robert
Melbourne, Australia

At least as I see it, weight isn't so much a problem as is rigidity. You could easily have a camera that is light and rigid as well as a camera that is horribly heavy and a total wet noodle. I have a Chamonix 4x5 that is wonderfully rigid and comes in a half-pound lighter than a Toyo 45CF which (at least in my experience) is fairly wobbly. If you aren't likely to be shooting in windy conditions, it's less likely a problem, and honestly I can only remember a few times when I've gotten blurry negs from wind and even then I was sort of expecting it. In fact, I'm sort of amazed at what I've gotten away with.

[cosmicexplosion]

oh that is a brilliant idea, an umbrella!!!

i have been thinking for ages about a kind of tent housing thing, completely impractical, but a large umbrella, genius.

which would mean, any camera, plus umbrella.

thanks robert you have saved me a lot of head space, when i am in melbourne i will buy you a beer!

but i am still wanting to squeeze a little more out of this question

is there any advantage of heavy v light 810 field?

would a car move a toyo

should i just attach a feather on top of camera as a vibration barometer?

does heavy camera hold real in value besides strength?

how often do wooden cameras break?

[Len Middleton]

Weight does provide some stability.

But then you do not have to take all the weight with you, or have it all in the camera...

You could hang your camera bag (or a bag full orf rocks) from the centre post (or where it would be if it had one) just off the ground. That would give you some additional and significant weight.

[RichardRitter]

When I started working with an 8 x 10 camera it weighted 15 pounds about the average weight of 8 x 10 cameras. The tripod was bigger and weight more too, by the end of the day I would be tried from carrying all this heavy equipment and I could see it in the quality of the work. The work from early in the day was really good, the work form the end of the day sometime ended up in the trash because I was missing thing in the image that I would of caught if I was not tired. When I look at the work using the 4 x 5 for a day of photographing I noticed that the work through the whole day was good and I realized at the end of the day I felt allot better after carrying the 4 x 5 around all day..

The first day I went out with the prototype 8 x 10 camera was wonderful. At the end of the day I did not feel like a pack mule. I was able to use a lighter tripod and was able to carrier the camera farther from the car over rougher terrain. The images from the end of the day were as good as the beginning of the day. The heaver 8 x 10 camera has not been out since. My back and knees are thanking me each day I go out with the lighter camera.

Wind I do not photograph on day when it is very windy everything is moving around. I have had camera shack on heavy cameras which include Zone VI, Wisner, Deardorf, and Sinar you have to remember that the bellows is a big sail and the front standard on most camera is on a rail that has slop to it so it can move depending on how far you have the lens focus out this will add to the movement of the front standard. The front standard raise and fall rails have most of their strength front to back most camera are designed this way, this is to over come the pull of the bellows, they have little side strength. Cameras that have round rails have axis strength in all direction think of a ship mast.

If I do have to photograph in windy condition I set the camera up lower to the ground and hang the film bag off the center of the tripod or use a car or something bigger as a wind block and live with everything but the building or rocks not moving.

[RichardRitter]

Camera breakage in the field. The gut wrenching feeling of when you hear the sound of the camera hitting the ground. I had a friend that was photographing in Scotland and had his camera go over the second day of the trip camera smashed to pieces. The person he was with was working with a digital camera and looked at him and said well I guess you are the tour driver for the rest of the trip, That evening he found a store that sold glue and tape and put the camera back together and photograph the whole time there. When they got the the airport the other photographer was in a frenzy he was looking for the card for his camera He left it at the last stop on the night stand. The cleaning lady picked it up and put it in the trash. He lost most of the photos from the trip.

Wooden camera can be field repaired. Metal camera if they go over on a tripod become spare parts.

[E. von Hoegh]

i am looking to make a choice here people, with your kind help.

toyo 8x10m tank, or fairy light Ritter 8x10.

ansells famous quote of using the heaviest camera, has piqued my attention.

it seems to me that a light camera will get you shooting more.

but a heavy one will be better in the wind. but i mean how much better.

and is the stability of the camera worth the extra weight and effort?

one of the things making lean towards ritter is getting a 4x10 back made up, and the look of wood, plus weight.

toyo i think, well, if it snuffs out small wind to a greater degree, and doesnt break if it falls over then thats a plus. except it aint that pretty.

thanks

Get a Deardorff and use splitter boards. Spend the money you save on film and chemicals. (smiling smiley)