lightest most compact 4x5 rail view camera

[Oren Grad]

The Gowland cameras varied quite a bit over the years. The two later ones that I've owned had knobs for all but the mounting of the rail(s) to the tripod block. Even with knobs, though, they're still pretty fiddly.

[Heespharm]

lowe's sells knobs with the same threading in their screw department

[Cor]

The screws on the Gowland can be easily swapped out for knobs.

True, although in Europe these inch sized threaded knobs are hard to find (it's all more logically over here with metric sizes..;-)..)

That said, with the back standard I switched back to the Allen screws, it's jut too hard to tighten knobs on the back, since you have to apply some force to open the back to insert the holder..frequently the position of the back is moved than, with these Allen thingies (screw? bolt?.."inbus bout") you can tighten them better..

It's a very light and small set up, but it not without drawbacks (search the forum) although I took it along on 2 holidays next to all the other luggage a family of 5 needs and came back with quite a few (to me ) pleasing images, at least all of them were not inhibited by the finicky operation of the Gowland.

Best,

Cor

[Robert Jonathan]

The Toho is a nice little camera, but why would you really want a light weight LF camera, besides for backpacking?

There's already so much stuff you can screw up in 4x5, a shaky camera is not another thing you should have to worry about.

I have a Sinar P and a Horseman LS. Both are extremely heavy, the Horseman being even more heavy and solid than the Sinar, and even those cameras can be wobbly if you don't handle the film holder insertion/removal process with care... and this is with the rails directly on Gitzo G1500 Aluminum tripod legs, with no tripod head.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

lightest most compact 4x5 rail view camera

So far, I did no read the keyword "BUDGET" in this discussion

(hence should I dare to suggest : Arca Swiss misura ?)

[Bob Salomon]

Tk45s

[Frank Petronio]

Something like a Linhof Technikardan or an Arca-Swiss Discovery or F-Line Classic can be found in the $1000-plus range. They are by no means the smallest and lightest but they are compact and lightweight relative to their capabilities - very solid, studio-capable, all-around fine cameras - more "usable" than the ultralights mentioned above.

On the tighter budget side, there are a lot of possibilities and there are even more if you would be willing to take a hacksaw to your monorail and chop off the extra rail you don't need ;-p

My advice isn't often heeded but I keep coming back to keeping it cheap and simple: Get an inexpensive $200 to $500 Crown Graphic or other folding box type camera with a 135mm lens and use that out hiking about and in the rain, rough conditions, quick duty without a lot of futzing around with movements or being super-precise. And also get an inexpensive metal studio monorail for using closer to the car and home, indoors, anywhere you don't have to worry about a little extra bulk. Your old Calumet can be fine, but for $300 to $600 you can pick from a lot of great cameras, from Linhof Kardan variants to Sinar Normas to the Cambos with geared movements, Horseman, Toyo G, etc. These will be far more precise, stronger, and really a joy to use for every other reason but their bulk.

For the cost of one $1000 compromise you can have the best of both worlds.

[KyledeC]

You may want to check out Arca Swiss.

badgergraphic.com sells numerous models as well as accessories.

[ic-racer]

I think the Graphic View would be what you want. They are very inexpensive and much more lightweight than the Calumet you have.

http://graflex.org/articles/graphic-...hicViewII.html

[Jim Noel]

Gowland Pocket View is smaller than a Toho but not as user friendly, e.g. Using an Allen wrench to tighten rather than knobs.

Later models had knobs.