Toyo 45CF question

[aaron_rocky]

I recently sold my Calumet monorail and now look for a lighter field

camera. The 45CF seems to be the right one coz I only have 90mm and

180mm lens and have no plan to add more. My major concern is whether

those movements are fully usable for 90mm lens on its bellows(80mm

minimum extension). On the calumet, which has 45mm bellow minimum

ext, I can hardly do any tilt and shift with the standard bellow

because it's squeezed and leave very little room for movement. I

wonder if thing will be the same on 45CF.

[eugene_singer]

AAron, the new Toyo CF is not scheduled for delivery in my part of the world until next month. Judging from the information that is available about the camera, it has nearly the same movement capabilities as the metal Toyo 45AX. The AX will take the 90 wide angle, using a flat lensboard, without clipping the front of the focusing plate. With a shorter wide angle lens, you would need to drop the bed to avoid getting the focusing plate in the picture, especially for verticals. I have the Toyo 45AII. When I use my 90mm lens on a flat lensboard, the bellows is tightly compressed. Front rise and fall movements are limited. I solved the problem by mounting my 90 in the shallow (12.5mm) recessed lensboard. I assume that the 45CF takes the Toyo field-type lensboards. The 180 should be no problem, although you will not have quite enough bellows extension for 1:1 close-ups. Toyo usually includes one lensboard with their cameras. You will need a Copal 1 board for the 180 and, ideally, the shallow recessed Copal 0 board for the 90.

[ken_itoh]

FYI, Toyo 45CF comes takes Toyo Field type lensboards (110x110mm) and 45CFL takes Linhof type lensboards.

[abiggs]

I would love to see a review, whenever it hits the streets. I have a friend who is intrigued with the entire LF experience, but doesn't want to commit huge funds to jump in.

 

Who knows, maybe this will be the camera that actually increases the LF community to newbies!

[dave_karp]

I saw a Toyo 45CF at our local Calumet store the other day. It is a very nicely done camera, very light. The plastic pieces are well done, and it appears to be pretty robust.

 

It is very much like a Toyo 45AX. Front rise, fall, swing and tilt, with a drop bed. No back movements. It accepts standard Toyo field size boards, including the recessed board. No bag bellows. Reversible (not rotating) international back. Plenty of extension for a 300mm lens. The Toyo rep said that you can used a recessed board with a 75mm lens. I did not ask if you could go wider.

 

If you don't need the back movements, it will be worth looking into. Like other Toyo Fields, it is a lot like a Crown Graphic with more extreme front movements. And get this: Price in the $550 neighborhood! They should be shipping in a few weeks.