How do you carry your view camera???

Right I'm still very new to large foramt.

Anyhow I've been considering getting rid of my 35mm kit in favour of

another lens for my Hasselblad and a large format camera.

Currently I am a student right now, we do get to borrow the 4x5's

once in a blue moon (2 Horsemans and a Linhof for 50+ students, you

do the math), but only thing that bugs me with the Horseman view

cameras in that they come complete with their own coffin. So does the

Linhof, but it's a field camera and folds up nicely and can be placed

into a pack back which allows me to go walk about and brave public

transport without killing anyone.

So is there an easier way to carry around a 4x5 view camera?

 

Stu :)

 

PS. Also what's the 35mm focal lenght equivalent of a 65mm 4x5/LF

lens?

I don't stray too far from the road/trail. I use a CC400 monorail that has its own case (imagin a small suitcase). If I am on the trail I put everything in a red wagon and pull it behind me. So far the only places over 100 metres away have been on wagon friendly trails - there are 20 km of trails accessable from my house. I would love to have a field camera nad a backpack. Maybe when I start earning more money.

LowePro backpack. A 65 is about a 20.

hire Sherpas or buy a llama. you could also use a small luggage cart.

 

a 65mm is equivalent to about a 20mm if you are loking at the angle of coverage on

the long side of the format. measuring angle of view across the diagonal is

misleading because of the very different aspect ratios.

I carry my sinar F in a small backpack (with the standards brought as close as the 18" bellows will let me), on a 6" extension rail without the tripod rail clamp. I wrap it in a medium-size towel. There's enough space left in the bag for the 12" base rail, a box of quickload film containing the quickload holder and a few sheets. I carry a small bag with a 35mm SLR that I use for snapshooting and metering. I keep the tripod in one hand.

good table for focal length equivelents

 

just plug in the numbers and hit return. You can also just download the excel file

 

http://www.dddphotography.com/files/Lenses4.xls

 

http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/lenses3.html

I will second the LowePro suggestion. I use a Super Trekker AW, it can carry my 4x5 (Tachihara) with a couple of lenses, meter, filters, darkrag, a Polaroid holder and a stack of regular film holder plus a box or two of Readyloads, and still have room for my lunch. The tripod attaches to the outside. It isn't as comfortable to carry as an external frame backpack, IMO, but it's OK and does a yeoman job of protecting the equipment. I generally also prefer to wear a photog's vest, but that's because I've gotten used to having certain things always at hand, not because they won't fit in the pack.

I started carrying my Canham in a metal case, later in classic photo bags, like Domkes. For a short time, because I change to a medium size mountain back pack with a lot of "tupperware" type cases... Years ago I bought a Lowepro Pro trekker; is the easiest way to carry an store the equipment in my opinion. Is big enough to carry a lot of things but not excessive. I tried the bigger of Lowepro but is too big for a 4x5 and for my shoulders. I don´t know anything better.

Sometimes I trek around with my 90, 150, 210, 250 Imagon and 360mm with

my Linhof Tec III, 20 holders and a tripod. This packs easily into a Domke F1X

and if I feel spry, my polaroid holder with a pack of polaroids comes along too.

I find this great because I can just flip it open and setup is quick. I used to use

a back pack but it just seemed to get in the way more times than not and

wasn't as quick... Just my way of doing it.

I carry my Ebony 23S non-folding view camera in a LowePro Orion AW fanny pack

with Horseman back, 3 lenses on boards, Horseman angle viewer and all the little

knick knacks I need. Pretty compact if I do say so myself. Plus the top half of the

pack gives me room to bring a jacket or some munchies while hiking with this pack. I

love this setup. Cheers!

 

Andy

unfortunately, Domke bags are getting rarer than hens teeth since tiffen has run the business into the ground.

 

For an "over the shoulder" bag I really like the Crumpler photo messenger bags.

 

I use one (the largest - which is massive...) for 8x10 - it doesn't take the camera (acutally, it would without film holders), but it takes three+ lenses and a whole bunch of holders + all the other crap, while the camera goes over my shoulder.

 

It will easily take my 4x5 Toyo outfit, especially for the wandering around the city sort of photography. One of the lighter smaller sizes would probably do just fine. They also come in cooler colours than most camera bags :-)

I carry my 5x7 Deardorff in my Mountainsmith Bugaboo II internal frame backpack,

wrapped up in its dark-cloth, with extra clothes below it, film holders, lens and light

meter above it, and water bottles and gorp on each side. Good for day hikes up

mountains or along the beach paths. Tripod goes on the outside, down the middle.

The dark cloth makes an excellent camera wrap. The only other thing I'd recommend

is a ground-glass protector....one of those nice plexiglas thingies....

I have a cooler with a shoulder strap I got at CVS drug store for $12. In it I carry a Crown Graphic I restored which has a 135mm Symmar-s that works well with the camera's rangefinder and viewfinder (original equipment was a 135mm Graflex Optar, I just re-set the infinity stops).

 

Also, I carry 6 4x5 film holders and a Luna-Pro light meter. I hand hold down to 1/250 sec and use a monopod for 1/125 and 1/60 sec. This whole setup can be bought from a dealer or on eBay for way under $500 and it works great. In addition, it can be sold for whatever you pay for it any time you want to and then you can use the cooler for beer.

 

here's a shot I did with it-

http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=1837381&size=md

 

Peter

Nothing against field cameras - but don't give up view cameras to early.<br>

I don't think that any 4x5 field camera packs smaller and lighter than a Toho FC-45X, i.e. in a 35mm shoulder bag 38x22x21cm for the complete kit (w/o tripod), including a 210mm lens, film holder + 10 quickloads and spot meter (but Frank is right, I have to dismantle the bellows/frame assembly for this).<br>

For larger monorails like e.g. Arca Swiss F-line, I have come to the conclusion that it is a misconception to pack them like field cameras (i.e. drive the standards as close together as possible on a short monorail). I did this with my AS F for 2 years and carried it in a Tamrak 767 rucksack... but the compact block of the folded camera results in a large lever on the shoulder straps, which I found uncomfortable. But if the bellows is detached from one standard and the standards turned parallel to the rail, it results in a flat package that can be stowed (with a lens attached) into a large shoulder bag and carried (IMHO, of course) much more conveniently - an additional advantage is that a longer (non-collapsable) monorail can be used.

I use an Ortlieb messenger-like bag for this... I've been converted to this carrying technique after seeing a guy in Berlin who carried a 13x18 Linhof Kardan GT camera this summer! Though I'm afraid the latter would be a bit too much for me, I think 4x5 monorails that fold flat and are not of the heaviest studio breed can become quite manageable this way - of course, backpacking in the country would be a different thing.

I have a Graphic View II, which is a monorail camera that doesn't fold. It hangs upside down in a large case. When I go hiking, I mount the camera on the tripod and carry it over my shoulder. Film holders, meter, darkcloth, beer, all go in a backpack. It's a heavy load, but I'm a big guy. Set up time to take a shot is very quick since the camera is already mounted & ready to go. When hiking through lots of brush, I wrap the darkcloth around the camera. I'm selling the GVII to go to 8x10, which might actually be lighter.

I have a Calumet monorail. I usually carry the tripod in one hand and big-box case in the other. Its quite heavy with all the film holders, lenses, meters, etc. Last outing I strapped both to a heavy duty two wheel cart because I had to walk quite a ways. I bought an old back pack frame and intend to turn it into a frame to carry everything on my back so I can hike or ride my bike to locations. That's my winter project.

The 4x5 goes into a LowePro Photo Trekker AW, which has gone on several lengthy trips with me - in the overhead of the plane. This was before 9/11, though. That bag holds the camera, about 20 film holders, 5 lenses on boards, meter, filters, darkcloth and a few miscellaneous tools, with the tripod on the outside.

 

The 8x10 goes into an older Super Trekker, along with ten film holders, three lenses (two of them screwing into the same flange - that board travels on the camera), meter, filters, darkcloth and a few miscellaneous tools, with the tripod on the case on the front of hte backpack.

 

If you're concerned about setting it down on nasty ground and getting your back all messy, carry a sheet of heavy plastic to spread out and set the backpack down on.

 

Tony

<i>I have a Calumet monorail. I usually carry the tripod in one hand and big-box case in the other. Its quite heavy with all the film holders, lenses, meters, etc. ...</i>

<p>

Steve, that is exctly the problem I am trying to get a good backpack to solve. I have a small two wheeled hand cart and it is fine for anything a few dozen yards from the car. But take it off paved roads or floors, and things get bad. I'd hate to try to wheel the thing half a mile up a trail to a good outlook spot (and then come back down...)

<p>

If someone made a packcloth solution to this problem, I'd be set. I'd rather not strap the case to my back. What I want is to just replace the heavy case with a pack of similar function.

<p>

Bill

<p>

ps. the general formula for estimating view angles is:<p>

2 * invTAN[(FilmDimension / 2) / LensFocal Length ]<p>

 

Watch the units of your answer (radians or degrees). The angle will be for whatever film orientation you feed into it (Horizontal, Vertical, or Diagonal). Do it for any film type and lens combination you care about, then compare to see which is similar. <p>

Sinar P or F: (I have an old P/P2 combo): Slide standards onto 6" rail & remove standard rail = complete & assembled camera fits (in a cushioning-bag) in my ordinary backpack: With standards moved together as far as bellows allows, the P is a tough brick with no easy-to-break stuff. Tripod on shoulder with cushioning-pad on touchpoint, standard rail standing in backpack. Heavy but working nice (= able to get so far away that I sometimes not even can see the car anymore!). Set-up time: 30 sek. or so. The Linhof Kardan BI fits in a SMALL backpack due to the slide-of format-frames of this magnificent machine. Hunt down one of these for the most portable stable monorail without the price-tag of a Technikardan.

 

Good luck & welcome to LF!

Hallo Stuart

I carry my large format cameras in a Lowepro photo trekker AW, normally I am using the Linhof Technika who is very portable when folded. I also carry 4 lenses on Technika boards, 6 filters++++ and 12 double darkslides. On top of this I am able to get my coffe, lunsj and an apple two if they are small. I just bought Tor Kviljos Linhof Bi-Kardan and have not really tried that out to much but it seems to work as well when I leave the rail on the tripod and pack the rest its only a bit bigger and I have to leave a couple of double darkslides at home.

I do think the 65mm is equivalent to 16mm in 35mm format.

Hope this will be to some kind of help Stuart

Trond Ueland

I shoot 8x10 in the field. With a Cambo 810N monorail. With the Cullmann Titan 200, it weighs about 35 pounds. I either disassemble it and put it in a hiking backpack or keep it (assembled) on the tripod, wrap the top of the tripod in the focusing cloth, and sling it over my sholder.

 

For 4x5, there are a number of bags that will hold the whole camera. Look around, you'll find stuff. I think f/64 makes one or two.

 

Compared to using 8x10 in the field, 4x5 must be amazing. If it ever seems too heavy, just think of it as compared to a 22-pound monorail.

Stuart,

 

Pack Mule. Get a gentle one. They're good company!;-)

<I>I have a Calumet monorail. I usually carry the tripod in one hand and big-box case in the other.</I><P>

I used a Calumet 540 in that fashion for a year, with the (sometimes) addition of a little 2-wheeled luggage cart if the terrain was smooth enough (read: "paved.") Switched to a Tachihara. There's a reason why they call 'em "Field" cameras...