wista m450

[jhnyguitar]

hi,

i recently came across a wista m450 monorail studio camera for sale.

i can't find any information about this camera anywhere except on

wista's own site and that information is nothing more than a picture.

does anyone own or have any thoughts about one of these cameras? it

seems really nice. no info anywhere makes me think they're stinkers,

they had very poor marketing, or very limited production.

[tom_westbrook]

It's in swedish, but you might be able to puzzle it out:

 

<a href="http://www.photax.se/kmrr/storformat/M450/wistaM450.htm">http://www.photax.se/kmrr/storformat/M450/wistaM450.htm</a>

[golliegwillie]

I doubt if they're "stinkers"- they probably just weren't marketed to the U S market. Even now Wista has very little marketing in the US- but they are well regarded cameras. From the pictures Tom put up it certainly looks more solid than your typical Toyo Cx- but I wouldn't want to go backpacking with it.

 

Here's a google translation of a French camera store ad which includes the M450 further down the page:

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.galerie-photo.net/chambres_wista.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwista%2Bm450%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26safe%3Doff

[george_jiri_loun]

Geoffrey, the Swedish text says that it is a monorail camera "of the highest quality and exceptional precision". It also says "it has great movements and unbeatable rigidity". You can mount the standards back and forth or mount the lensboard up and down, or on 90°... There is no plastic, just "real material" like stainless steel and brass. There is a focus lock on the front standard which you can lock with your index-finger. So much for your info.