scott_davis5

Get a Shen-Hao. Best compact field camera for the money. I've had mine for five years - it has been rock-solid, easy to work with, and I've shot with it both in the studio and in the field - I've taken it hiking from sea level to 8000+ feet elevation, ocean to high desert, and it has never let me down.

I've had mine for about four or five years now. I love it to death. I've taken it in the field multiple places, at various times of the year, and it has held up admirably. I have taken it to the beach, hiking at low-elevation in warm weather, and at high elevations in cool weather. I've used it in the snow as well. It has never let me down. It is still as rigid as it was the day I first used it. I use mine with a Bogen 443 Carbon-fiber tripod and a Gitzo 1275(?) q/r ballhead. I've got five lenses for it - everything from a 75 (which you can use with the standard bellows and a flat lensboard, but dont expect much movement) to a 300 tele. It folds up nice and compact, doesn't weigh too much, and travels well. Mine has been on several flights from DC to California. I'll probably take it overseas with me the next time I travel to Europe or Asia.

 

I've handled a Tachihara, and while it is a nice camera and lighter than the Shen, I find the Shen to be far more robust, and it certainly has more movements. The only thing I would trade it for would be something that has more bellows, like a Canham or an Ebony.

 

I bought mine off Ebay, so I can't say whether Badger or Midwest would be a better place to buy the camera outright, but I did call up Badger to get a screw I lost replaced and they sent it to me, no hesitation and no charge.

When I was looking at a monorail system back a few years ago, I looked at the CX when it first came out, and I ultimately got a sinar Alpina (A1 here in the states). The reasons I got the A1 were several - one, it came in a complete kit with standard and bag bellows, lens shade holder, fresnel, and carrying case. Two, with the exception of the rail, it was fully compatible with the rest of the Sinar system. Three, when I tried out the CX in the store, one of the plastic parts around the tripod mounting block had an edge so sharp it gouged a chunk of skin from my hand when the tripod head got unbalanced and I tried to stop it from flopping over. I didn't need a camera that was going to be injuring me on potentially a regular basis.

 

If I were you, I'd get the used F1 or F2 (try for an F2, just because they're a little fancier and a bit newer). You'll also find that it is easier to upgrade the camera later if you get an F1/F2, in bits and pieces. If you decide after shooting the CX that you want some capability it doesn't currently offer, you'll have to replace the entire camera and any accessories you have for it, because they'll be largely proprietary to the CX. For example, the CX uses a different lensboad than the rest of the Toyo family, and for that matter, different from most other view cameras, so you'd have to unload all your lensboards and replace them with something else if you upgrade.

I have a Gitzo 1376 Magnesium ballhead with QR plate for my Shen Hao. It gives me the flexibility of a ballhead for rapid adjustment of the camera, with the precision of a pan-tilt as it has separate tension locks for panning and for tilt. It is very lightweight, and fits well on my Bogen 443 carbon-fiber leg set. It can hold the Shen Hao and just about any lens you can put on it, as it is rated to 13 lbs. I used to use a Manfrotto ballhead but it was a single tension adjustment knob for pan and tilt, so it made it hard to shoot well-composed, level, multi-negative panoramics.

Oops- my bad on the date for that lens- actually, if you follow the CAMEROSITY rule, it's a 1964 lens - not a 1947 lens. The serial number is OExxx.

Jim - I beg to differ about the age/coating of other Ektars faster than the Commercials. My 12" F4.5 dates from 1947, according to the CAMEROSITY serial number scheme, and is marked with the circle L luminized mark, meaning that it is coated. While this is not as common a lens as the Commercial Ektars, it is not rare or unusual.

the t-400CN film is an excellent all-around film. I have shot it extensively when travelling, and been quite pleased with the results, especially in a small-format camera. I always give it two stops overexposure and shoot it at 100. I find that while this gives me very dense highlights, I get very tight grain, and can enlarge to a considerable degree (16x20 inch or 400x480 cm) with no significant loss of quality. Most commercial labs nowadays should have a separate channel in their minilab machine to print from this film. If they do not, you will find the prints they give you to be a bit flat and most likely will have a greenish or reddish tint to them. As others here have said, get a couple rolls and test it out to see if you like it before you go on the trip.

9x12 is an old cut film/plate size. Depending on the design of your Ikon, it may take glass plates instead of film. If this is the case, it can be adapted to take film instead. Regardless, 9x12cm is an approximate equivalent to 4x5 inch. They are not exactly the same however. If your camera came with film holders (which were proprietary to the Ikon, IIRC), you can get 9x12 film in Europe, where the 9x12 format was more common, or if you are in the United States, you can order it from J&C Photo.

I don't know about any other focal lengths, but I can confirm that there is a 12" (305mm) F4.5 Ektar lens out there. I have one - it comes in an Ilex #5 shutter, and weighs something on the order of 3+ lbs. It is nominally an 8x10 lens- you will find it has a more limited image circle than the Commercial Ektars, so it does not have the range of movements that a Commercial Ektar does. It is an overall excellent lens, and if you can find one in pristine condition, it is well worth the money.

 

As to the picture, that looks like it could well be a Goerz Artar as much as it could be some kind of Ektar. Most of the Ektars had chrome barrels with black faces around the front lens element - this appears to have an all-black barrel, which was a common feature on the longer Artars and Dagors. Given the interchangeability of lens elements and shutters, it could be some kind of Frankenlens mounted in an Ilex #4 or #5.

Marcel-

 

there is a good camera store in Bangkok that has used Contax bodies at reasonable prices. You could just replace the 139 when you are there. I don't remember the name of the store, but it is on the ground floor of the Mahboonkrong (MBK) Centre shopping plaza. For the price of a DSLR (and new lenses that you'll have to buy to replace what you're carrying), you could get an RX or even an RTSIII used, both of which are much more robust than your 139 and are relatively modern cameras.

inRe Florence:

 

This is a wonderful time of year to go, as there are very few tourists around, so you can basically walk into the museums, and take your time seeing the exhibits. Climb to the top of the Palazzo Vecchio, to get a great roofline view of the city. If you can handle it, do the climb to at least the inner rim of the dome of the cathedral- I was very lucky to get a good shot of the dome with my 17-35 Sigma zoom handheld - I'm in poor shape so I was heaving for breath. The climb is not for the faint of heart or the claustrophobic, as the stairs are extremely narrow,mostly spiral, and have about two breaks in the ascent between the street and the inner rim of the dome, which is a good 150 feet off the ground. Just about everything in Florence is walking distance from everything else, as it is a very compact medieval city. There is a nice bar/cafe right across the plaza from the Signoria (Palazzo Vecchio) to grab lunch. For dinner, there are two restaurants to try, over toward the train station, near the Palio. Names escape me at the moment, but the food is outstanding, and the service quite good as well. If you even make an attempt at speaking Italian, they will take very good care of you there. The one restaurant is written up in lots of tour books as being a first rate Florentine restaurant. They're right about lines to get seated, so go early. Even so, you'll probably have to stand out on the street for at least a half hour for a table, you'll be seated family style wherever they can fit your party. If the line gets long outside, they send a waiter out with glasses of white wine and chunks of fresh Parmagiano Reggiano. If I can find the info about the restaurants, I'll post it when I get home. To avoid the typical tourist shots of the major architectural landmarks in Florence, keep your eye out for details... streetside displays of products outside shops, doorknockers and number signs, architectural details, etc. I was amazed at how much use my tele zoom got in such a small place, but it was great for picking out details on second and third story facades.

As yet another Shen-Hao user (five years now and counting), I can say they definitely take the Polaroid 545 holders. I'ts a wonderful little camera; I've taken it everywhere and never felt shortchanged. The only "compromise" you'll have to make is getting true telephoto lenses for over 300mm. The Shen has about 360 mm of bellows at maximum, so longer than 300 and you'll find your close focus ability begins to diminish. As most people using a Shen are shooting landscape stuff in the field, this is not a colossal worry.

As another happy Shen-Hao user, I can say that I have had no QC issues with mine, and it has held up admirably in use in a wide range of climates and conditions. I do a lot of photographing around bodies of water, and while the Washington DC climate is not quite Memphis, we do get our fetid swampy Augusts, combined with dessicating winters. I've had my Shen for about five years now, and no problems. I've even taken it to the high sierras, in desert climates, and then back to the ocean. It travels well, has more movements than even a few monorail cameras, and has well made and inexpensive accessories (real leather bag bellows, compendium lens shade). For an entry-level, or just budget-conscious, LF photographer, I can't say enough good about it.

Personally, having been out to the Sierras recently (this past October), I'd bring along a 300 or even longer if you can find one. Everything out there is so big, and frequently far away, that you'll want the ability to narrow your perspective. It also helps to get shots of things you would want to approach but can't because of geography, geology, or just personal safety. I found I got a tremendous amount of use out of my 150, whereas I would have thought before I went that I would have preferred more wideangle stuff. My most-used lens on that trip was my 150, followed by my 300. The 90, the 75, and the 210 all got a few shots each, and my 110 got used once I think.

The Toyo 45CF may be a better camera than the Ikeda/Osaka/etc set, but it is not as versatile or as robust as the Shen Hao. It is very lightweight, being made of carbon fiber, but it feels like cheap plastic when you use it. When you fold it up to close it, you have to de-mount the front standard from the focusing rail, and it is easy to get it separated from the body entirely. It also has very limited movements - some front rise/shift/swing, rear tilt. That's it. And only a 12" bellows. I'd get a Shen Hao instead. Solid teak, more movements than some monorail cameras, 14" of bellows, available bag bellows for extreme wide-angle lenses.

Yes, there definitely is an "Up" and a "Down" side to Bergger C0T320. The smoother side is the one you want to coat on. I would recommend switching from the rod to a Richeson 9010 brush (aka "magic brush"). You will find you get much better results with your coating than you do now - more even, and less raising of the paper nap. Get the brush wet in distilled water, and flick it partially dry before coating the paper. That way the brush won't absorb too much of your pt/pd solution.

I've never found the exact size for that lens, but it IS threaded. I believe it is something in the 39-41mm range.

David-

 

I think the opening sheet film box thing will always be a possibility, but it is my understanding that the screeners have gotten better educated and are now if anything less likely to ask for such a stupid thing. I took my 4x5, a dozen film holders, and about 400 sheets of b/w and e-6 film with me to California on a transcontinental flight recently, and had no problems with the inspectors trying to open my film. Nobody even asked if it was a camera. I think most screeners are either too busy or too ignorant of what it is to bother. I think also acting nervous about it or trying to get special treatment makes it more likely to be a problem. Just relax, be nonchalant, and let it go through the carryon scanner.

Usually the "starburst" effect is accomplished with a star or cross-screen filter, not the lens itself. Virtually all lenses have been engineered to prevent this from happening on their own. Even lenses with built-in abberations usually end up giving you only soft-focus effects, not starbursts on specular highlights.

Jeff- I don't know when you were last in Madrid, or where you saw the prostitutes huddling around fires, but I was just there in October of last year, and it has cleaned itself up like you wouldn't believe.

 

If you want night shots in Madrid, definitely check out the Casa De Comunicaciones (with the famous fountain/sculpture in the traffic circle in front), the whole of the Paseo del Prado, and Gran Via from the Paseo Del Prado over to the river.

 

Be careful of the Templo de Debod (the Egyptian temple) after dark as it is a known location for clandestine sexual activity.

 

There are some really neat streets and squares off the Plaza Mayor, including a market in an early 19th century glass-and-steel market hall (which I was unable to find the day I went there, but is supposed to be within a half-dozen blocks of the Plaza Mayor). Between the Puerta Del Sol and the Plaza Mayor there are numerous picturesque side streets that connect the two, and many street performers in all kinds of bizarre getup. Look for the guy doing fifteen-minute photography on the Plaza Mayor - he has an old roll-film folding camera he has converted, shoots paper negatives, develops them in a big box off the back of the camera, then re-photographs the paper negative to get a positive. He's got a 1920's suitcase full of cheesy costume props to boot. Takes a surprisingly good photo given what he's working with.

 

Don't be afraid to use the Metro to get around if you want to go longer distances - it is cheap and efficient. Forget taxis. Even better, just walk everywhere - central Madrid is quite compact, and you can get from the Plaza de España to the Prado in about an hour to an hour-and-a-half at a brisk walk.

There is nothing between the carrillon and downtown to obstruct the view. Just behind it are some ugly and overpriced condos, but that's a different story.

I'll put in another pitch for the Fuji 300T F8 lens. I got one recently from KEH for my trip to the California Sierras, and it was wonderful. It became my second most-used lens after my 150. I have a Shen-Hao also, so it was very nice to have a lens that would give me the telephoto and still focus reasonably close on my camera. I've been told that the Fuji 300T (which is a fairly modern design) will give you coverage on a 5x7 with a little movement. I was able to use modest tilts/swings/shifts with mine on the Shen Hao with no significant ill effect. The F8 is bright enough to focus under many situations (I have a Canham GG and Fresnel on my Shen Hao). Another nice thing about the Fuji is that it takes a 67mm filter, so it isn't too large or heavy for backpacking.

I'll put in another pitch for a field camera, and also for the Shen Hao. It has all the movements you could want, is very solid and stable, and is very easy to work with. Plus, accessories for it are quite inexpensive. While monorails do offer the most tilts/swings/shifts, most landscape photographers find that they use very little of these movements, other than the occasional application of rise, and front tilt.

 

If you are interested in shooting medium/large format digital, then field work is still NOT for you. The digital backs for those cameras are for the most part tethered to a computer, or have significant operational limitations outside of a studio (dust attraction being a first among many).

 

The reason slides are preferred by scanner operators and the printing industry in general is that it is easier to guarantee that they have a good scan- they can look at a positive image on the screen and directly compare it to the original transparency, which makes doing color corrections easier because they're more obvious. There is nothing inherently better about scanning from transparency or from negative- it has to do with operator skill/efficiency. Actually, many people feel that scanning from a negative is better, since negatives preserve highlight detail, so if you have blown-out highlights, you can always re-scan with a different gamma and merge the two scans.

Yes- I'm looking to explore and experience the region. Too many things I want to do and see, not enough time as always. I have little sense of scale when it comes to California - I've not driven in the Sierras but once- and that was on my way to San Francisco from Reno, which took only about four hours. I know distances can be very deceiving, especially when driving mountain roads. After considering your advice, I think I'll cut it off at Bishop, with a one-day side trip to Manzanar. I'm going to skip Yosemite on this trip, so I think I'll have time to fit in some things. One day in Gold Rush country, two days at Mono Lake and vicinity, two days around Bishop, and one to drive back to Oakland.

With RC paper, if you want the print to last even YOUR lifetime, you need to be VERY careful with your processing to wash it enough to get out residual fixer. I had some RC prints that I did with what I thought at the time was adequate washing, but they started to silver out badly within three years, and had to be thrown out in six. That has yet to happen to any of my fiber prints. Many commercial labs will only print RC because fiber paper won't go through a roller-transport print processing machine. Personally, I don't like the surface look of RC paper - it is too slick and shiny and it looks and feels plasticky. If you want nice flat fiber prints, get some fiberglass screening material for window screens, staple it to some wooden canvas stretchers, and make yourself some drying screens. Lay your fiber prints face down on the screens, and put them someplace cool to dry - the longer they take to dry, the less curly they'll be.