stewart_ethier1

Walter, that was a very interesting post. However, I spent the

better part of two days photographing the Sydney Opera House

(the world's most beautiful building IMHO) with a 4x5 monorail

and was never questioned. The only place I was stopped was in

the Royal Botanical Gardens. But this was three years ago, and

maybe things have changed.

Andrew, try http://vanbar.com.au/. They are Toyo dealers and should

have a pretty good selection of LF gear. And as I recall, their

prices on Toyo cameras are much better than US prices. .

The 4x5 image area is 3.75x4.75 (ANSI standard), or 17.8125 square

inches, not 20 square inches. Multiply by 25.4^2 to get 11,491.9125

square millimeters. 35mm is, as mentioned above, 24x36 = 864 square

millimeters. Therefore, the ratio is 13.30082465, or about 13.3.

<p>

For 8x10, the image area is 7.7x9.7 (ANSI standard), or 74.69 square

inches, not 80 square inches. The corresponding ratio is

55.77199120, or about 55.8.

<I>Which of these three books would you get to cover technique,

equipment and good pics with a how I took the image explanation, if

you could only get one of them?

<p>

Profesional Architectual Photography - Michael Harris

<p>

Photographing Buildings Inside and Out - Norman McGrath

<p>

How to Photograph Buildings and Interiors - Gerry Kopelow</I>

<p>

I have all three books and each is good in its own way. McGrath has

the best photos. Harris is very good on general principles, but he

has a separate book for interiors. Kopelow uses mainly a Fuji MF

camera and shoots quickly and often, so is not as useful for LF

shooters as the other two. In summary, get McGrath.

Zorkendorfer makes adaptors to use MF lenses on 35mm, but I don't know

of any such adaptors to use LF lenses on MF. But let's suppose you

can find one. With your Mamiya 645 bellows you could focus, at least

for some focal lengths. Then you'd close the shutter of the LF lens,

open the focal plane shutter of the Mamiya using the T setting, and

shoot. Without a bellows it would be difficult to focus, unless a

focussing mechanism was built into the mount. Of course you'd be

losing some of the advantages of MF, such as automatic exposure, and

you might be better off buying a 6x7cm roll-film back for your 4x5.

I have a brochure and a price list, both dated 8/96, and neither one

mentions the CM-W series, just the old W series. This puts the intro

date between 8/96 and 3/97.

I never felt mine was inaccurate, but it no longer meters flash.

Thanks for reminding me---I've been meaning to send it in for repair.

If 8x10 is in your future, get the Fuji for its greater coverage. It

is readily available at Badger Graphic, and my sense is that their

prices are very competitive---much better than The F Stops Here, for

example. (Of course, it's undoubtedly cheaper to do business in rural

Wisconsin than in Santa Barbara.)

My outfit consists of a 16x20 camera (33 lbs.), 3 filmholders (18

lbs.), a heavy-duty tripod (21 lbs.), and miscellaneous items (lens,

darkcloth, etc.). Needless to say, I won't be backpacking. But I'd

like to put the camera and holders in cases that can be wheeled around

like airport luggage. I don't want to be restricted to "roadkill"

(shooting from next to the car). Should I be looking at hard cases

such as Pelican (caseman.com has a good selection in the required

sizes) or soft cases such as Lightware (strebor.com can custom-make

such cases in the required sizes)? Thanks in advance for any input.

The Toyo VX125 has all features mentioned except it has geared shift

instead of geared tilt. Technically, it is a monorail, but it has the

compactness and light weight of a field camera when folded.

Especially good with wide lenses. The US price is artificially

inflated, try England or Japan.

Japanese prices should hold steady. See a recent article on the

Japanese economy by George Will

<A

HREF="http://www.sacbee.com/voices/national/will/will_20010325.html">

here</A>.

<p>

So the question is whether importers will pass on the savings from the

strong dollar to consumers. Usually they don

Dan, I largely agree with you, but with one exception. Your attempt

to compare Fatali's actions with jaywalking or speeding tends to

trivialize the issue. Fortunately the NPS didn't overreact, but they

could have banned LF photography or required tripod permits, etc. In

other words, this had the potential to have long-lasting impact, and

for that reason I feel it was a reckless act, not just a trivial

mistake.

<p>

By the way, I took a workshop from Fatali six years ago because I

admired and respected his photography, and that hasn't changed.

.

Paul, this is from a Toyo English-language catalog: "Toyo 39mm

diameter ROBOS and G System Monorails fit all Toyo monorail cameras

including the 45C. Robos rails offer unlimited extension by

continuously adding sections. G System monorails allow maximum

extension of 1250mm by adding two extensions to the Basic Monorail."

<p>

I also have a Toyo Japanese-language catalog, and, comparing the two,

one can see the difference between the ROBOS and G-System monorail

extensions. The G-system monorail extensions have a nonremovable cap

on one end which is made of a smooth material. The ROBOS monorail

extensions have a removable cap on one end which is made of a highly

textured material for easy unscrewing. The 250mm basic monorail seems

to be male on both ends, with extensions being female in the G-system

case, and female on the no-cap end and male on the cap end in the

ROBOS case. The 250mm G-system extension is No. 8311 (list price

16,500 yen) and the ROBOS extension is No. 10107 (list price 22,000

yen).

<p>

I realize I haven't quite answered your question but hope this helps.

<I>

Now to the A100-2 Ries Ð I've never seen one, but I've seen them

mentioned on this forum before. Are they really that good? I would be

using it in the field and in the studio (until I can afford a Foba

studio stand). Does the lack of a centre brace make it less stable

than a Manfrotto, and how do the leg extensions work? Is it easy to

adjust with one hand, or does the freed leg have a tendency to spin in

the two channels?

</I><P>

It's just like the A100 but with thicker legs. It was designed for

the 60-pound Wisner 20 x 24, so it should have no problem with an 8 x

10 even at 'funny' angles. The angle of each leg is controlled with a

lever, allowing more torque than any knob could, and making the set-up

extremely stable. Extension legs could be operated with one hand:

untwist a clamp, slide out the extension, and retwist the clamp.

There is no possibility for the freed leg to spin due to the design of

the clamp. Maybe I should mention the compatible head, the A250-2.

Similar to the A250, but with many more leaves, making the platform

more stable when it is being tilted forward.

The A100-2 and A250-2 would certainly do the job but might be overkill

for a 'mere' 16-pound camer

<I>

Now my question is, what type of film do you shoot in a camera that

big? Any color film made that size?

</I><P>

Yes, Kodak Portra 400 (color neg) is available in 20 x 24. The only

drawback: It's $67 per sheet! See Wisner's site for more info.

Kodak and Bergger films are available too. The list below is from

Wisner.com<p>

Kodak<p>

20x24 tri-x 1675933 cat number sug. price $408, 9 boxes<p>

portra 400np color neg, 10 sh., 8342263 cat#, 15bx $672.10<p>

16x20 catalog number 1685858, 34 boxes, $115.45/box (10 sheet)<p>

12x20 tri-x 1616713, 25 sheet, $207.10, 18 boxes<p>

8x20 tri-x 1431816, 10 sheet, $58.70, 67 boxes<p>

7x17 tri-x 1431790, 10 sheets, $44.15, 89 boxes<p>

11x14 tri-x 1431659, 10 sheets, $56.25, 69 boxes<p>

ektachrome 100 (epn) 1200112, 10 sh., $223.45, 46 boxes<p>

ektrachrome 64 (epr) 1225366, 10 sh., $238.65, 1 box<p>

ektrachome 100plus prof. (epp) 8133381, 10sh, $223.45, 46 boxes<p>

Portra 100t color neg tung. 8050585, 10sh, $201.85, 46 boxes<p>

Ê<p>

Bergger Film<p>

4x5 $18.50<p>

4x10 $29.98<p>

5x7 $28.00<p>

8x10 $60.00<p>

11x14 $115.00<p>

7x17 $92.50<p>

8x20 $118.50<p>

12x20 $178.00<p>

14x17 $189.00<p>

20x24 $365.00<p>

.

ROBOS stands for Radically Oriented Bi-Axial Operating System. This

is an impressive camera, which looks something like a Sinar P2.

Consulting an old Shutterbug (1/96), it sold for $4295 in the US (vs.

$3115 for the 45GX), but keep in mind that US prices of Toyo gear are

artificially inflated by Mamiya America Corp.

<p>

The Robos was still a current model in Japan in 10/97, and a pricelist

I have shows it listed there for 406,000 yen (vs. 366,000 yen for the

45GX). Street prices were at least 20 percent lower, as I recall.

<p>

I think it would make a great studio camera, but at 12 pounds would be

a bit heavy for field work...

A new 45AII at Robert White is $1450, approximately. So $1100 for a

used outdated model, even if mint, seems high. .

The 2 series Gitzos work fine for 4x5, in that they can easily support

the weight, but you have to be VERY careful not to move the camera

when inserting holders. If weight is that big an issue, go for

it. .

The Fujinon C 600 is worthy of consideration and less expensive than

some of the telephoto lenses ($1595 at Badger Graphic). And it covers

up to 16x20, and Fred Newman claims even 20x24, in case you ever use

larger formats. A drawback is that few 4x5s have 600mm of bellows,

but if I want to use it on 4x5, I put a reducing back on my 8x10.

It has not been officially announced yet, as far as I know, but

participants in last year's workshop received a letter stating that

next year's would be held June 24--30, 2001.

Why not use a much shorter lens, say 90mm? If its coverage is 230mm

at infinity focus (i.e., bellows extension = 90mm), then its coverage

will be 2.3 meters when bellows extension is 0.9 meters, for example.

The point is that you don't need lenses with huge coverage for

close-up wor

I was looking at Robert White's web site

(http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/), which has some excellent prices on

Toyo gear (example: VX125 is less than $2400), and found the

following statement:

<p>

"Note: Unfortunately Toyo products cannot be shipped to the US. Sorry,

try your local store..."

<p>

What's going on here? Has Mamiya America Corp. threatened Robert

White in order to force US customers to accept their extortionary

prices? Aren't there laws against anti-competitive practices?

.

Lois Conner uses a Canham 7x17, I believe, and has backpacked it all

over China. A book of her China photographs is about to be published.

I'm sure she would be able to answer your question. Email me if you

need her address. .