Originally Posted by
Corran
No way no how would I recommend a Technika solely for hiking/backpacking. I have/use a Master Technika...bought second-hand for 1/6 the "new" price but in "new" condition, or better than new as it had new, better bellows.
The Master Technika is 6.5 pounds according to the specs online (I haven't weighed mine specifically but that sounds right). My Chamonix 45n1 is less than half that. My 8x10 camera is even a bit lighter! And for all that weight, what do you get? Slightly more precise movements, a lot of headache using wide-angles, and a rangefinder that you probably won't use.
Let me reiterate - the Tech is a pain to use with wideangles, 90mm and lower, especially in situations where you want to use GND filters. With my 90mm, after dropping the bed, my 4x6" GND filters bottom-out on the bed of the camera. So I can only have the filter go so low. Quite annoying. Of course you can work around some of this, but nevertheless if you, say, already had invested in that system, you've got to shell out for a whole new system to fit the camera. Oh, and if you want to use wider lenses, you'll have to spend mega-bucks to get the helicals and special lens boards. I finally gave up on trying to use my 47mm XL / 58mm XL lenses on my Technika.
The Chamonix does everything I need it to do, and the loss of precision in the movements is inconsequential for landscape. My only gripe is there isn't a focus lock. But I also have the first model and it's been beat to hell hiking hundreds of miles with me, over my shoulder, knocking around my bag, or whacking into trees. Any of the variety of wooden cameras I would suggest over the Technika any day of the week. What the Technika excels at is shooting handheld, shooting studio work, and using big / heavy lenses. I still use mine on occasion for landscapes when I am not going far and want to use some specialty lens, like my 75mm Biogon. But it is not a "general purpose" camera and every time I take it out on a hike for more than a couple miles I regret it.
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