Anyone use a Sinar C model or P model?

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harlequin

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For landscape shooting?

I saw one over the weekend being used bright fresnel and all. Seems counterintuitive due to weight etc, but the geared movements must be nice?

What say you?

Harlequin
 

Sharktooth

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It would be great! .... just as long as you have somebody else to carry it for you (significant other, grumpy child, out of work golf caddy)
 

Nicholas Lindan

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I don't see the need for a whole lot of movements in field use. Some front rise, a bit of front tilt - the sort of thing you can do with a Speed Graphic. There is an old saying among view camera users - "If it is more than 50 yards from the car it isn't photogenic." With a Sinar P I would restate that "If it is more than 5 feet from the car it isn't photogenic."

The P rarely moves from the house - can't really think why I have it. The F makes occasional forays. For me an FM2 loaded with Tech Pan does a decent stand-in for a view camera - the camera you have at hand is the best camera you have.
 

koraks

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Seems counterintuitive due to weight etc

Absolutely. Drew Wiley made a case for landscape work using a Sinar F very recently, but I really can't get behind his argumentation.

I do know/knew a guy who used a 4x5 P outdoors some of the time. A hulk of a man, about a foot taller than I am (I'm 6'2 or thereabouts) and at least twice as wide. That probably helped. A 4x5 P probably felt a bit to him like a Bronica medium format feels to me!
 

juan

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I use my 4x5 Sinar P2 for landscape. I have a jogging stroller converted for carrying camera stuff And live on a flat island. The geared movements are handy, but I mostly use it because I want to use the Sinar shutter behind my antique lenses. That way I get accurate shutter speeds.
 

Strembicki

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I have used a Sinar F1 in the field but now use a Toyo 45A field camera for landscape work. I own a Sinar P2 but it lives in my studio and even on a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod, its still a lot of gear to move around. I would agree with a previous poster that as terrific a camera as it is, its advantages in the field as not so evident, in the studio thats where it all comes into play. I have done my share of "SUV lift gate photography" with my 5x7 Deardorf and if thats your game go for it!
 

DREW WILEY

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The earlier Sinar Norma gives you nearly the rigidity of a P, but is only slightly heavier than an F2, with about the same overall bulk or footprint. It is prior to their "yaw-free" feature. No big deal unless you primarily do tabletop studio photography, where yaw-free is a minor convenience. Original Norma tapered bellows are way nicer and more versatile than the subsequent 4X5 box bellows, if you find one still in good condition. I landed two of them in mint condition; and just like later bellows, they're fully interchangeable with newer Sinar cameras too.

Besides the extra weight and clumsiness needing an especially solid tripod support, P's have gearing everywhere, a luxury in the studio, but easy to get grit and dust into in the field, causing potential maintenance issues.

And as for fresnels - I've always hated them. One more thing to leave back in the studio. Worst of all, sometimes they cause condensation between them and the ground glass, for those who realize "landscape" involves weather too. But that's a subsidiary topic.

"C" Sinar cameras are hybrid : and F-style front end, but a P-style rear standard. But how effectively that combination works depends on the specific components, which differ. It could be a rather rigid front standard, or a relatively weak one relative to the application.
 
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