Do you know: Horseman 985 vs VHR

[john_d._bridgman]

Does anyone listening know the difference between the Horseman 985

and VHR (I think that is the designation) 6X9 press-view camera?

 

<p>

 

Thanks.

 

<p>

 

jdb

[bill_barton]

JDB

I have a name and address that might be able to help you out.

 

<p>

 

Scott Bonnett

Phototype Design

507 W. Church St.

Suite 10

Champaign IL 61820 phone# 217-352-1620

USA

 

<p>

 

This information is two years old, he was selling and reconditioning

Horseman 2x3 cameras. He had a nice list of used cameras and lenses, I did not buy anything from him at that time, so no other information

to pass on. Bill

[rod_alley1]

I'm sure Scott Bonnet can answer this better, but in case you don't contact him, here's a response. I haven't seen or used a 985, so this only what I seem to remember from when I was shopping around for one of these (I bought and still own a VH-R). The VH-R is the newer of the two, and has a rotating Graflok back and viewfinder, so that you can change from horizontal to vertical aspect without flipping the camera on its side. I believe it was the first (and only) Horseman rangefinder technical camera with that feature built-in. That would be the primary difference. There may be cosmetic differences. The VH-R is black with squared-off edges and corners. I've seen earlier cameras (970?, 980?), that were grey with rounded edges and corners, but I don't know with which model the styling change occurred. I gather from my VH-R's user's manual that there may have been slight differences in some lens/lensboard spacings: there's a note to the effect that the infinity setting between early and later 65mm Super Horseman lenses differs. You couldn't go wrong with either camera in good condition. I really like my VH-R.

Good luck,

Rod Alley

[tony_moats]

The bed struts of the VH-R were re-designed to allow clearance for front shifts with shorter lenses.

[thomas_loizeaux]

The Horseman 980 came before the VH-R design. The 980 did not have a rotating back which allows for instant change-over from vertical to horizontal and vice-versa. The 980 did have a viewfinder window, but did not have the vertical - horizontal orientation of the viewfinder as the VH-R does. Both models have a coupled rangfinder and cams that match with the various Horseman lenses.

The current VH is the same camera as the VH-R, except it does not have the rangefinder or focus cam linkage.

[anthony_wong]

The 980 is grey with rounded corners; 985 and VHR are black with more of a "Toyo" look to them. I noticed that the viewfinder on the VHR seems bigger and more bulbous on the front than the 985, so an improvement was probably made. Perhaps the range of lenses or the brightness or eye-relief was improved. Anyone know?

[bert_otten]

This is in response to the response by ant@passport.ca

 

The 980 I own is black, has separated viewfinder and rangefinder.

This is different in the VHR: the viewfinder and rangefinder are

combined, making the finder more bulky. In some situations the combined finder

allows working faster, but often it is worth doing things sequentially:

focus, then compose more carefully.

 

Bert