Got me a new version of Vist 8x10

[Kino]

Have you seen this on ebay? From the looks of it seems to be the same 8x10. https://www.ebay.com/itm/186853749067

Looks like a scam page. The text and images appear to have been copied from the real Vist Ebay page.

Zero sales -- big read flag.

I have reported the page to Vist and Ebay. Tired of scammers!

UPDATE: the listing was removed within 5 minuets of my reporting it to Ebay..

When it is too good to be true...

[Jody_S]

Looks like a scam page. The text and images appear to have been copied from the real Vist Ebay page.

Zero sales -- big read flag.

I have reported the page to Vist and Ebay. Tired of scammers!

UPDATE: the listing was removed within 5 minuets of my reporting it to Ebay..

When it is too good to be true...

So I was one of the purchasers at US$120 with free shipping. Yes I know it could be a scam. Then again, it could be a factory employee who got his hands on a few cameras and decided to move them on eBay or something along those lines. I figured I had little to lose, given eBay's buyer protection system + Paypal's matching system pretty much guarantee that I won't lose my $120. I figured I had a 50/50 chance of getting a cheap 8x10 vs. having to file a claim with eBay a month from now to get my money back. About half my good lens collection came to me in similar circumstances ('too good to be true'), so this isn't new for me.

If I do get a camera in the mail, I will post a pic of it here.

[Kino]

So I was one of the purchasers at US$120 with free shipping. Yes I know it could be a scam. Then again, it could be a factory employee who got his hands on a few cameras and decided to move them on eBay or something along those lines. I figured I had little to lose, given eBay's buyer protection system + Paypal's matching system pretty much guarantee that I won't lose my $120. I figured I had a 50/50 chance of getting a cheap 8x10 vs. having to file a claim with eBay a month from now to get my money back. About half my good lens collection came to me in similar circumstances ('too good to be true'), so this isn't new for me.

If I do get a camera in the mail, I will post a pic of it here.

I understand; have done that as well but as a general rule it's pretty dicey.

The problem is this camera is hand-made in Lithuania; there is no factory and the text and photos were lifted wholesale from the builder's Ebay advertisment.

Could a factory in China buy one and copy it to sell? It's possible, but I hope the guy in Lithuania, who makes them by hand is not put under by some copycats in China (or any other country, for that matter)...

I hope you get your money back!

[Jody_S]

I promised I would follow up on this so here goes: yes it was a scam, the seller insisted on having a USA shipping address. I have a service that picks up parcels in upstate NY and drives them to me in Montreal, so I gave that. The parcel was shipped with a tracking number, delivered yesterday. To somewhere in Texas, per USPS tracking. I immediately filed a 'not received' claim with eBay, and I was given a full refund instantly. Which means eBay was holding the money knowing it was a scam, but they weren't going to refund me unless I filed a claim. Still, I got the full refund, and I still had the possibility of making a claim through Paypal if eBay didn't issue the refund, then I could have moved on to my credit card company if Paypal didn't follow through.

[Kino]

Glad you got your money back!

All copies of this camera offered on Ebay have sold. Hopefully there will be more for sale in the future.

[John Kasaian]

Nice looking camera!

[Certain Exposures]

I had written a review of the Vist 8x10 when it first appeared a couple of years ago. I purchased the latest version (version 3 I believe) since the new features appealed to me. Plus given that the cost (< $600) was less than a couple of 4x5's I have owned, I wanted to give it a shot. I have no connection to the camera builder, Virginijus who lives in Lithuania. But he has always been friendly, helpful and easy to deal with. He deserves the credit for trying to cater to 8x10 enthusiasts with a reasonably well priced camera with nice features.

The new features are definitely worthwhile.

1. The rear film holder panel can now be unclipped and rotated to change from horizontal to vertical orientation. No need to turn the whole camera as I had to do in v1
2. The biggest improvement for me is that the front standard can now do tilt, swing and shift
3. The rear standard can tilt and tilt back more than the vertical position. However I wish there was a notch in the metal bracket to allow for a detent in the vertical position
4. The lens board mount has changed to a more common Sinar mount

A couple of things I had issues with:

• The front standard is difficult to grab and lift up from the close position of the camera
• The metal brackets may scratch or bruise the bellows if you are not careful during opening or closing the camera.
• The sliding motion to focus works well, but I really wish there was a control for fine focusing (it may be too much to ask for in a compact design like this)

I did some of my own feature improvements. I replaced the metal washers with nylon ones, stained the wood, added a bubble level on top and added a fresnel that also serves to protect the ground glass. The camera does fold down to something compact, easy to grab and reasonably light (8 lbs, including the Arca style tripod mount but no lens). I am yet to take it out for a spin but I plan to do so soon.

Oh, interesting. Is there a chance you've used an Intrepid? If so, how does the Vist compare?

[Kino]

My Vist 8x10 arrived in the mail just now. Just unpacked it and unfolded it on a tripod to examine and familiarize myself with the unit.

Immediate impression: Good overall build quality, but will need a bit of tweaking. It appears imminently usable out of the box, but small touch-ups will make operation a bit more friendly. Nothing was glaringly incorrect or problematic; I am overall well pleased for what I paid.

*As kmallick stated, the raw wood needs some sort of preservative or wax (smells great though).
* The metal fittings are well made, but a bit sharp on the edges and a light brush with a diamond file should take care of that issue. They are not sharp enough to cut yourself, but are noticeable when unfolding and setting up the camera.
* There may be several places I will place nylon spacers to avoid premature wear and tighten up operation; most notably, under the sliding tabs that secure the reversible back. Seems a bit more friction might be needed there.
* The back springs are pretty stiff, but I am sure that will loosen up a bit with use.
* You DO have to be careful with the front standard brackets when folding the camera for transport as they could abrade the bellows. I found taking the front standard all the way up and then folding it for storage avoided that issue entirely.

All in all, I find these issues pretty insignificant and easily remedied. It is a handmade, economical 8x10 view camera, so you have to recognize it's not going to have the fit and finish (or price tag) of a "luxury" camera maker.

Notable changes from kmallick's images:

1. Leather handle on top of front standard to help unfold the camera.

2. Rear standard braces now DO have notches for vertical alignment.

Here, I have mounted the heavy Nikon Nikkor 360mm f6.5 in a Copal #3 shutter and it handles it well. I might explore getting slightly oversized locking screws for the rise/fall, as the existing ones are kind of small in diameter and harder to tighten for such a heavy lens.







Improvements: detent notches for folding back bracket and leather loop for extracting front standard from folded position.