Cambo Wide DS vs Horseman 612 Pro

[Inayat Noor]

I am in the decision making process of purchasing either the Cambo Wide DS or the Horseman 612 Pro. I currently use the Canham System with the 6 X 17 back on the 75T. At times this is too heavy and cumbersome to travel with.
Does anyone use either the Horseman or Cambo Wide DS? The Horseman USA website is very good with the information on available lenses. However, the Calumet site doesn't go into detail on the available lenses for the Cambo.
Can anyone point me in the right direction for available lenses. Also, how easy is the Cambo to focus?

Regards

Inayat

 

[MAGNAchrom]

some other 6x12 alternates

You might also what to consider some other options. This summer I used the Gaoersi 4x5 with a Horseman 6x12 back extensively while on holiday in New Mexico and found it to be quite easy to hand-hold (i.e. very little groundglass usage or tripod for that matter). Here is a pix of the camera with a 75mm Grandagon N:

Dead Link Removed

Gaoersi also makes a dedicated 6x12 camera that is very light. Here is a link to their site: Dead Link Removed

Then there are the Fotoman cameras which can be seen here: Dead Link Removed, however I have no personal experiences with them.

Feel free to pmail me at editor "at" magnachrom "dot" com if you wish to discuss my experiences (both good and bad) with the Gaoersi.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I am in the decision making process of purchasing either the Cambo Wide DS or the Horseman 612 Pro. I currently use the Canham System with the 6 X 17 back on the 75T. At times this is too heavy and cumbersome to travel with.
Does anyone use either the Horseman or Cambo Wide DS? The Horseman USA website is very good with the information on available lenses. However, the Calumet site doesn't go into detail on the available lenses for the Cambo.
Can anyone point me in the right direction for available lenses. Also, how easy is the Cambo to focus?

Regards

Inayat

Dear Inayat,

I've handled both, and used the Horseman 612, which I find more convenient (also the Fotoman 617, Linhof 612 + 617 and 'Longfellow' home-built 617).

If you stick with '3 up' magnification (which should be tonally very close to a contact print) you get roughly 7 x 10 inches (168 x 254 mm) off 6x9 (crop to 5x10 inches if you like) and this is what I tend to do nowadays because 6x9 film is held a lot flatter. On the other hand the trannies from the bigger formats are more impressive and 3x off 6x12 is 7 x 14 inches (168 x 333mm)...

But scale-focusing any camera -- Cambo, Horseman, Fotoman, Linhof, Longfellow -- is much the same.

Cheers,

R.