mike_hegerfeld Posted August 20, 1999 Share Posted August 20, 1999 I am in the market for a 4x5 large format camera to use for landscapes. I plan to do a lot of hiking over sometimes rough terrain, primarily in the Blue Ridge Mountains so I would prefer a rather light but sturdy camera. I have researched Winser, Wista, Toyo, and Canham cameras. Does anyone have experiece with the Phillips 4x5 camera and how does it compare to other field camera in your opinion. I tried searching the photo.net but could only find information on his 8x10 cameras. Thanks for any help you can give me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_c._ellis Posted August 24, 1999 Share Posted August 24, 1999 I don't have much personal experience but since no one else has responded, here goes. Phillips made, or at least used to make, at least three different models of 8x10 cameras. Unfortunately I don't remember which model used which name. However, the least expensive model (the "Explorer" maybe?) was an amazingly light 8x10 camera that would be wonderful for back packing. I believe it weighed around 6 pounds or so. It did have two downsides. First, the back couldn't be rotated from horizontal to vertical so if you wanted to do a vertical photograph the only way was to turn the camera on its side on the tripod, a little scary with an 8x10 camera, even one this light. The other was a short bellows for an 8x10 camera- I think something in the 20 inch range. If you could live with these two drawbacks, it was a great 8x10 for back packing. The other two models were more expensive and were more like "normal" 8x10s - the back could be rotated, the bellows was longer, the weight and cost were more. I've never seen these two models so I have no experience with them. There was a review of all Phillips 8x10 cameras in "View Camera" magazine a few years ago but I no longer have the magazine so I can't give you a cite. Hopefully someone will be able to provide you with more detailed information than this. I saw the basic model for sale by Mike Jones, I think in the photo.net large format section, a month or so ago but I don't know if it's still available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_c._ellis Posted August 24, 1999 Share Posted August 24, 1999 Sorry for the above useless response. I see "Phillips" and I think 8x10 camera since they just started making 4x5s a short while ago. I didn't see that you were asking about the 4x5 until after I posted the message. Sorry. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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