Quote Originally Posted by kevwil View Post
OK, here's my short list so far.

Anba Ikeda Wood View - light, low price, don't know much else about it.

Toho Shimo FC-45X - light, sturdy & well built (for it's size), affordable, very nice bellows depth, but still a bit awkward for hiking and hard to find.

Shen Hao PTB45 - light, inexpensive, but odd movements

Chamonix 045n-2 - light, ground glass protector, universal bellows, accepts rollfilm backs, but most expensive of the bunch

Graflex Super Graphic - least expensive, simple, but hard to find in good shape and is heaviest of the bunch

I'm leaning toward the Chamonix based on the feature set, with the Toho being impossible to ignore. I want to learn more about that one, and I wish they were easier to find.

I'm going to let this thread sit for a while and see what I find in the classifieds here after my 30-day "newbie" period is over. THANK YOU ALL for your advice and opinions. I'm doing my best to absorb it all and consider all opinions, 'cause I don't know squat about large format photography ... yet.

My thoughts:

Ikeda Anba - Light weight, and rather delicate. also hard to find.

Shen Hao PTB45, Chamonix 045n-2 - these are basically the same design...and the design is some what...eh, non standard? That's not bad...just different. The 045n-2 is Chamonix's second try at this design and they have fixed several issues and made sme cool improvements....still, it has some annoying "features". Many love them...except for the lightweight, I'm ambivalent on both of these.

Graflex Super Graphic...great camera with plenty of movements for landscape. By far the most rugged and reliable of the lot. Not suited really at all to short focal lengths.

Toho...I think I'd be looking at a nice used Gowland Pocket View before one of these. But, I'm guessing that you'd not be pleased with either.