I had a Sinar F1, which was amazing and used it out in the field. It was not heavy in my mind, no more than a bag if camera and a series of lenses. Highly recommend that camera to anyone and super easy to use! Had a Nikkor 75mm and a Schneider 90 XL Super Angulon lens. You really don't need a lot lenses for these cameras-max 3 is really necessary.
Nico, one other advantage of monorails is that the standards are so thin, so allows for wide and ultra wide angle lenses, ie: 135-65/47 mm lenses, as they can get so close to each other, and due to removable bellows you can add bag bellows, increasing usability further.
The Calumets are freaking tanks, too. Not in the heavy way, but by build quality. I learned 4x5 on those, and I think they're great. I have a Sinar I assembled for free out of discarded trash parts. Modularity for the win!
When Kodak stopped making its 4x5 view/monorail camera, Calument just took it over and kept making them. Yup, Ansel Adams used one for a while, but I'm unsure if it was a Kodak or a Calument; really no difference. They have to be about the least expensive you can find. That Toyo is beyond cool. I have to speak figuratively, as the only view camera I've ever used was a Galvin 6x9cm model. It's about as crude as the Calument.
@@randallstewart175 Ahh, I always wondered why those were so similar. Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for that nugget! I have to admit that super adjustable monorail is pretty rad.
yes Nico, I went with an F2 as sinar are fantastic, the rails are extendable, a short base, and then you can go on and on, perfect for macro shots!, also you forgot a fantastic feature of the sinar's that is the bellows act as a 'compendium lens shade' with a set of clips and bars, which secure to a clamp on the standard frame, so no need to buy an expensive compendium system, you can get sinars in a pro kit, which gives you the stds, rail, extensions, bag and std bellows, two rail clamps (for balancing when you use long extensions), and sometimes they come in a 'road case' which supports the system and accessories quite well, and also gives you a place to put your focus loup, focus cloth, holders, etc. Another great set of accessories is the binocular finder and the reflex viewer (an equivalent to prism finders on a mamiya RB67 or Hasselblad v ; but bigger), each allows for viewing without a cloth in bright light. the sinar is also a 'graflock' back or international fit, so 120 roll film holders and the 'lomograflok' back- uses instax wide polaroid instant film, so many uses of other film stock, to learn on, or extend the rise/fall capacity of the camera to shoot tall or long buildings or bridges, etc.
Had a Burke & James 4x5 field camera 25 years ago but sold it. Now I use a stripped Tower Press camera, $50 and focus the lightweight camera using the ground glass. I recently also bought a Calumet, just like the one shown. $125. The suitcase containing the Calumet is heavy but it came with many good film holders.
Thanks for the simple recommendations! I was actually looking into this because I know I like large format now after taking your Crown Graphic recommendation and I want to try fiddling with movements and such. Always nice to get a new dose of GAS.
Great video, I love my Calumet combo with a 90 mm super angulon. Am a wide angle guy. Good video I thought I was the only crazy person walking around with one of those and keep in mind I have also a Tachihara 4x5.
This was a so much needed video on TH-cam; thanks a lot. For Calumet, IMHO I think the iconic photographer using them is Yousuf Karsh (Ansel used tons of different cameras). I got a Sinar F2 4x5 in excellent shape for $250. Other Sinar advantages not mentioned are parts that are widely available and the modularity of the system. You start with an F and can build towards the professional P setup and/or build up towards bigger format such as 5x7 and 8x10. There is also a Facebook group with a lot of experienced users ready to help new comers. That Toyo looks nice too.
Good to see your feeling better Nicos. Nice Calumet. One of the older models with the raised logo on the front. Later models had a flat stick on aluminum logo. Love the Toyo - View with the retractable monorail. What an ingenious idea. I have a 4x5 Crown Graphic a 4x5 Calumet like yours and last year I picked up a 4x5 Sinar P from Spain in excellent condition for $235. EUR. I have wanted one of these since I was a teenager. It's heavy for field work but I love it. Looking forward to your next video on lenses. I know you have made one before but it's 2020 and things change as well as prices. Thank you for all the time you invest in these videos. Cheers from Nova Scotia, Canada.
Blooming brilliant. I wanna try it. Can I bring my existing Linhof Super Technika V 4x5 & 5x7 stuff over to start? I want front rear tilted shift movements my Linhof left off. Can I start 4x5 adapting to 5x7?
Great video also if you looking for mono rail cameras you should consider graflex graphics view camera also called sometimes crown graphics but they not the same as the press cameras called the same name
I just got a great deal on a Sinar P2 i want to use for Landscape for around 500 dollar complete with Rodenstock 240mm lens, two 4x5 backs, 120 back and a Sinar Suitcase. Big Camera but has so many adjustments. Thanks for sharing, not many videos on Sinar 4x5.
@@NicosPhotographyShow Though it is big... What you say in the beginning of this video about most people wanting a compacter camer line Intrepid is so true. I wanted to see if large format was for me and asked my brother if I could lend his L45... But I hardly used it, because it's so big...
@@NicosPhotographyShow Unfortunately my time machine is on the fritz. Might I borrow yours? LOL. I just spent a lot more than $90 for a 45F. The market on these cameras has gone nuts.
Nico, can you do a video on focussing a LF camera, with all the movements. I know it's relatively easy to focus without tilting or swing, but it can be a bit more challenging when tilts or swings are involved, keeping the image plane in focus. What I am unclear about is asymmetrical tilts.
I love my bla-bla-bla. Why mention prices when they change all the time? Want to know how much I paid for most in the video? Maybe I got lucky in my area and got good deals, also I live in Spain. Do I mention spanish prices or somewhere elses prices?
I had a Sinar F1, which was amazing and used it out in the field. It was not heavy in my mind, no more than a bag if camera and a series of lenses. Highly recommend that camera to anyone and super easy to use! Had a Nikkor 75mm and a Schneider 90 XL Super Angulon lens. You really don't need a lot lenses for these cameras-max 3 is really necessary.
Nico, one other advantage of monorails is that the standards are so thin, so allows for wide and ultra wide angle lenses, ie: 135-65/47 mm lenses, as they can get so close to each other, and due to removable bellows you can add bag bellows, increasing usability further.
The Calumets are freaking tanks, too. Not in the heavy way, but by build quality. I learned 4x5 on those, and I think they're great. I have a Sinar I assembled for free out of discarded trash parts. Modularity for the win!
Also, I LOVED shooting a Calumet 8x10. It's my next big camera aspiration.
When Kodak stopped making its 4x5 view/monorail camera, Calument just took it over and kept making them. Yup, Ansel Adams used one for a while, but I'm unsure if it was a Kodak or a Calument; really no difference. They have to be about the least expensive you can find. That Toyo is beyond cool. I have to speak figuratively, as the only view camera I've ever used was a Galvin 6x9cm model. It's about as crude as the Calument.
@@randallstewart175 Ahh, I always wondered why those were so similar. Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for that nugget! I have to admit that super adjustable monorail is pretty rad.
Sinar is my favorite. So nice to exchange parts easily.
Hadnt heard the Kodak/Calumet story, cool to know. The Toyo is not mine but I have used it a few times and its really nice.
yes Nico, I went with an F2 as sinar are fantastic, the rails are extendable, a short base, and then you can go on and on, perfect for macro shots!, also you forgot a fantastic feature of the sinar's that is the bellows act as a 'compendium lens shade' with a set of clips and bars, which secure to a clamp on the standard frame, so no need to buy an expensive compendium system, you can get sinars in a pro kit, which gives you the stds, rail, extensions, bag and std bellows, two rail clamps (for balancing when you use long extensions), and sometimes they come in a 'road case' which supports the system and accessories quite well, and also gives you a place to put your focus loup, focus cloth, holders, etc.
Another great set of accessories is the binocular finder and the reflex viewer (an equivalent to prism finders on a mamiya RB67 or Hasselblad v ; but bigger), each allows for viewing without a cloth in bright light. the sinar is also a 'graflock' back or international fit, so 120 roll film holders and the 'lomograflok' back- uses instax wide polaroid instant film, so many uses of other film stock, to learn on, or extend the rise/fall capacity of the camera to shoot tall or long buildings or bridges, etc.
Had a Burke & James 4x5 field camera 25 years ago but sold it. Now I use a stripped Tower Press camera, $50 and focus the lightweight camera using the ground glass. I recently also bought a Calumet, just like the one shown. $125. The suitcase containing the Calumet is heavy but it came with many good film holders.
Thanks for the monorail video. I shoot 4x5 inch sheet film and 6x7cm roll film with a Calumet CC-402 wide-field/short-monorail 4x5 inch view camera.
Thanks for the simple recommendations! I was actually looking into this because I know I like large format now after taking your Crown Graphic recommendation and I want to try fiddling with movements and such. Always nice to get a new dose of GAS.
The field cameras are a great start, a lightweight monorail option is great to get more into movements and different topics.
Never thought about a monorail, but they look interesting and solve a few issues I've had with field cameras.
If one can live with the weight there is no better tool.
Great video, I love my Calumet combo with a 90 mm super angulon. Am a wide angle guy. Good video I thought I was the only crazy person walking around with one of those and keep in mind I have also a Tachihara 4x5.
You are not alone!! I love my monorails for architecture.
In 1966 when I bought my long bellows Calumet C-401 it was $119. The standard C-400 was &90. The C=401 sti;; functions well after 54 years
Well thats a great lifespan for a product.
This was a so much needed video on TH-cam; thanks a lot. For Calumet, IMHO I think the iconic photographer using them is Yousuf Karsh (Ansel used tons of different cameras). I got a Sinar F2 4x5 in excellent shape for $250. Other Sinar advantages not mentioned are parts that are widely available and the modularity of the system. You start with an F and can build towards the professional P setup and/or build up towards bigger format such as 5x7 and 8x10. There is also a Facebook group with a lot of experienced users ready to help new comers. That Toyo looks nice too.
Sinar is my favorite camera system by far. That group is a great resource.
that's the video I was waiting for! thanks a lot :)
Glad you liked it Federico!
Good to see your feeling better Nicos. Nice Calumet. One of the older models with the raised logo on the front. Later models had a flat stick on aluminum logo. Love the Toyo - View with the retractable monorail. What an ingenious idea. I have a 4x5 Crown Graphic a 4x5 Calumet like yours and last year I picked up a 4x5 Sinar P from Spain in excellent condition for $235. EUR. I have wanted one of these since I was a teenager. It's heavy for field work but I love it. Looking forward to your next video on lenses. I know you have made one before but it's 2020 and things change as well as prices. Thank you for all the time you invest in these videos. Cheers from Nova Scotia, Canada.
In Spain? Im based in Spain, damn, thats a great price on a Sinar P. Glad you enjoyed the video and the content!
Blooming brilliant. I wanna try it. Can I bring my existing Linhof Super Technika V 4x5 & 5x7 stuff over to start? I want front rear tilted shift movements my Linhof left off. Can I start 4x5 adapting to 5x7?
Great video Nico. I've got the Calumet and it's quite cheap and good value. 👍👍👍
Thanks! I got the Calumet for free from a friend that had no use for it, and it seems like a good entry level option.
Awesome content, thanks for sharing
Thanks Haris!
Is thee a ready made Graflok back plate adapter or will I make my own
Great video also if you looking for mono rail cameras you should consider graflex graphics view camera also called sometimes crown graphics but they not the same as the press cameras called the same name
Good info to have! Im sure they are pretty affordable and if they have aged like the other Press cameras they made its a good purchase.
Hello! Can its front group perform independent pitch movements?
I’m looking for front rear tilt shift & slide for macro product.
I just got a great deal on a Sinar P2 i want to use for Landscape for around 500 dollar complete with Rodenstock 240mm lens, two 4x5 backs, 120 back and a Sinar Suitcase.
Big Camera but has so many adjustments. Thanks for sharing, not many videos on Sinar 4x5.
Thats an awesome deal! Enjoy the camera, its by far my favorite.
Wondering if a monorail camera every gets serviced, are there evey issues of miss alignment of the ground glass and film plain?
It can be serviced, but most official places are no longer doing repairs, sadly.
As my first LF camera was a monorail (13x18 cm), I never understood people claiming that field cameras are light.
Horseman L45... I'm using the one from my brother, though at the moment I only shot two rolls of 120 in 6 x 9
Had it and it was awesome, Sinar compatible bellows and lens boards. Amazing camera.
@@NicosPhotographyShow Though it is big... What you say in the beginning of this video about most people wanting a compacter camer line Intrepid is so true. I wanted to see if large format was for me and asked my brother if I could lend his L45... But I hardly used it, because it's so big...
Great!
Good point Nico. Does Arca still make Ben Horne cameras?
Good question, I believe they do. Let me call Ben
Hola. En cuanto puede oscilar el precio de una Calumet. Y se pueden hacer fotografía de arquitectura con esta en concreto. Gracias
Hi Nicos, and congrats for your video works !! What is exactly the name of the Toyo View !? Is it micrometric ? Thanks ;)
Could you please show more of that Toyo VX125?
I will make a video on it soon.
In monorail are indeed plenty of options
So many to pick from, so many good ones too.
Where can I find a toyo for $90?
Japan 4 years ago. Toyo 45 G.
@@NicosPhotographyShow Unfortunately my time machine is on the fritz. Might I borrow yours? LOL. I just spent a lot more than $90 for a 45F. The market on these cameras has gone nuts.
Nico, can you do a video on focussing a LF camera, with all the movements. I know it's relatively easy to focus without tilting or swing, but it can be a bit more challenging when tilts or swings are involved, keeping the image plane in focus. What I am unclear about is asymmetrical tilts.
I will make videos on the topics and movements.
@@NicosPhotographyShow That's great Nicos.
Monorails are way more fun than field cameras, and I get much better pictures from them.
Me too.
The Toyo cameras are good value. That Orbit/Calumet on the right, is a total piece of junk.
..No movements to speak of, either....
It sure is not the most sophisticated camera but its cheap.
You tell the audience that these cameras are very cheap out there but you do not mention prices nor where to buy. A lot of bla-bla-bla.
I love my bla-bla-bla. Why mention prices when they change all the time? Want to know how much I paid for most in the video? Maybe I got lucky in my area and got good deals, also I live in Spain. Do I mention spanish prices or somewhere elses prices?