Any experiences with Chamonix 45N/Shen Hao PTB54 ?

[Ulrich Drolshagen]

Hi,

I am much attracted by the light weight and the large bellows extensions of the 45N/PTP54 but the handling of the movements are of concern for me. It seems, having to deal with front rise/fall at the same time with tilt must be a PITA.
Is there anybody with personal experience who can comment on this? I am considering the purchase of one of them and I am not sure whether I may be better off with a HZX II ore something like that.

Ulrich

 

[Adrian Twiss]

The PTB 54 does have the issue of front rise and tilt being controlled by the same set of locking knobs but at least that means as the tilts are axis rather than base there is no refocussing needed after tilt is applied. That is assuming I correctly understood what Steve Simmons wrote in his book "Using the View Camera". I bought a PTB54 but returned it to the vendors as it was faulty. The rear standard was misalliged and could not be squared up. The misalignment was caused by an incorrectly adjusted grub screw on the rear standard stop. The vendor was superb and sent me a replacement (I chose a TZ45IIB) with no freight charges and the deducted cost of sending the camera back from the extra cost of the replacement. In fact I'm pretty sure he didn't charge me the exta at all as there was no credit card receipt with the replacement. My initial experiments with the PTB showed that with a bit of practice you could "nip up" the front standard locking screw and still apply tilt withouth disturbing any front rise you have applied. On balance I prefer the TZ45 even though it has base rather than axis tilts.

 

[Ulrich Drolshagen]

Hi Adrian,

thanks for the reply. It did help in making the decision for this kind of cam. I'd much like to buy the original but I am concerned to have to buy it directly from China. The PTB I am able to get from Robert White within the EU. It would be much easier to deal with issues like the one you described. But then, there may be stability issues with the copy. I am really not sure what would be best for me in the moment.

Ulrich

 

[Adrian Twiss]

Ulrich

Given that the wooden bed is reinforced with, I suspect, aluminium I dont think that ridgidity will be an issue. I suspect carbon fibre was used on the Chamonix as much for its light weight as for its rigidity. Interestingly, I bought my PTB from Robert White and they were first class at solving my problem.

 

[Barry S]

I have a Chamonix 45N-1 and have no problems or issues with tilt and rise/fall. The front standard is designed to allow tilt with the rise and fall locked down. You set the rise or fall, release the tilt locking tabs, and then set tilt. Most of us purchased our Chamonix cameras through Hugo Zhang and he's 100% reliable. I'm sure the Shen Hao is fine, but Chamonix builds their cameras to a higher standard of quality, and considering the cost is very close I think the Chamonix is the better deal.

 

[harleygsb]

I bought my Cham through Hugo and his service has been outstanding. I also have no issue with the front rise and tilt with the same controls. Great camera IMHO. I sold my Toho and my Arca F-Line after getting the Cham and had no intention of parting with the Arca at the time I bought the Cham.

 

[Robert Oliver]

I love my Chamonix. Hugo has been great to deal with.

 

[matthewbetcher]

i too love my chamonix... it even gets more play than the sinar in the studio... that's how easy AND stable it is.

anyone want to buy a f2?