Carry Case for Sinar F2

SodaAnt · Jul 9, 2023

G.A.S. has hit hard and I just bought a mint Sinar F2 to do some architectural photography in my favorite local town -- San Francisco.

I'll be working from the trunk of my car and will probably only need to carry the camera, lenses, and film holders a few blocks at most. What kind of case would be best for carrying this kit around? I'm thinking about something where I can hang the camera upside down from the rail with the bellows compressed. Anyone make anything like that?

DREW WILEY · Jul 9, 2023

Something inconspicuous. If it looks like a camera case at all, it might get stolen in a heartbeat. Try to look poor yourself, and not like either a tourist or a pro photographer. Once they discover you're trying to play an accordion standing on your head, they'll just mistake you for another street nut.

Don't know what kind of tripod you have. But with many you can simply invert the 3/8-16 bolt and attach your Sinar rail clamp upside-down underneath the top that way. Some have invertible center columns. But having enough space just below for the width of your bellows and standards will mean splaying the legs outwards quite a bit. So I hope you have spike feet on those to prevent any slippage. Practice at home first.

SodaAnt · Jul 9, 2023

The tripod is a Bogen 3051.

I used to use a diaper bag when carrying 35mm equipment around in big cities on the theory that no one would want to steal that. I don’t think there’s one big enough for a Sinar outfit.

That was to prevent theft if anyone saw me locking it in the car’s trunk. I’m 6’5” 250 lbs so someone would have to pretty desperate to attempt stealing a camera bag from my person.

juan · Jul 9, 2023

I carry my 4x5 P2 short distances in a backpack I picked up at a thrift store. It was probably originally a kid's book backpack.

_T_ · Jul 9, 2023

If i was going to do what you said your plan is I definitely wouldn’t bring a case for the camera. It would just slow me down.

I would attach the camera to the folded tripod ready to shoot and stick it in the back seat. Carry the camera with the tripod over my shoulder. Small cross body camera bag to hold film holders and such, maybe another lens.

I wouldn’t want to waste valuable shooting time packing and unpacking gear.

reddesert · Jul 10, 2023

You could look into a foam padded cooler bag or insulated shopping bag. There are/were hard cases meant for holding an assembled Sinar outfit as you describe, but they were really bulky and often shiny aluminum. The kind of thing that a studio photographer used, or someone with one or more assistants. There was also a plastic case that you could put an F into that was less bulky and looked sort of like a plastic suitcase/attache case. If you experiment, you might get the kit you need into a typical rolling bag/suitcase.

With a Sinar, you can pack it more compactly by unlatching the bellows from one standard and either swinging the standards 90 degrees to be parallel to the rail, or tilting the standards down onto the rail. Here's a photo of an Alpina packed the first way into its original plastic case: https://cameraexc.com/products/sinar-alpina-4x5-camera-in-case-1 However that case doesn't hold anything else.

abruzzi · Jul 10, 2023

I can easily fit the F into a Doke F-2 bag, to do that I do the following--

- remove any extensions so you're only on the 12inch base rail. put both endcaps on the base rail
- loosen both standard clamps and slide the standards all the way to opposite ends.
- unclamp the bellows from the front standard, and tilt the rear standard all the way down so it is parallel with the rail and the bellows are compressed between the standard and the rail. If the bellows are too tight, loosen the rise on the standard just enough so the standard can become parallel.
- loosen the rise and tilt on the front standard and tilt it back so it fully covers rear standard.

That makes the whole thing small enough to fit the main F-2 compartment, along with some misc extras like extension rails, dark cloths, and a few lenses. The side pockets on the domke can hold 3 4x5 film holders each, and the front pockets can old you loupe, meter, cable release, etc.

With this arrangement, you can leave a small lens mounted, and with a lens or lens board in place the ground glass is protected.

Besk · Jul 10, 2023

Your photo of the F2 folded shows something other than the standard rail clamp?
Of course the standard rail clamp could be turned sideways for packing.

DREW WILEY · Jul 10, 2023

That's an Alpina - basically an F1 with with a special lightweight rectangular rail, not a conventional Sinar with a round rail and its own kind or rail clamp. The F2 would be difficult to compact in the same manner due to its longer standard rods. A longer than standard bellows would also be a challenge. But there are other ways of doing it compactly if necessary. I prefer to use a backpack with the camera fully set up, needing only to place it on the tripod, extend the bellows, and then go to work.

abruzzi · Jul 10, 2023

nah, its a F with a round rail (in this case a black rail from a later F2 or P2) There were several versions of the rail clamp, this one is shorter than the more common one. I like that because height=leverage.

Short clamp (like mine):

Long clamp:

And for course the Norma clamp is shorter too:

Vaidotas · Jul 11, 2023

Any bigger photo backpack will do the job if you fold your F2 as shown in previous posts. Pelican case with roller base would be more comfortable but in that case I would carry central shutter and lens in separate bacpack avoiding thansportation vibration.

koraks · Jul 11, 2023

_T_ said:
I would attach the camera to the folded tripod ready to shoot and stick it in the back seat. Carry the camera with the tripod over my shoulder. Small cross body camera bag to hold film holders and such, maybe another lens.

This is what I do when I shoot 4x5.

Having to pack/unpack the entire camera for each shot is a major pain IMO.

And frankly, if any walking distance of let's say more than 300ft or so is involved, I wouldn't even think about bringing the Sinar. I'll just grab the small Toyo field - which I end up doing 99% of the time even around the house. It's just way more convenient.

Philippe-Georges · Jul 11, 2023

I had my Linhof Kardan GT 4"x5" packed in a regular suitcase on wheels, in a rather fancy colour, just large enough that a tripod could fit in it too. It didn't look like a camera case, was well made (Samsonite) and rather large, and I didn't look like a photographer neither (wearing a dumb straw hat)...

RJ- · Jul 11, 2023

SodaAnt said:
G.A.S. has hit hard and I just bought a mint Sinar F2 to do some architectural photography in my favorite local town -- San Francisco.

I'll be working from the trunk of my car and will probably only need to carry the camera, lenses, and film holders a few blocks at most. What kind of case would be best for carrying this kit around? I'm thinking about something where I can hang the camera upside down from the rail with the bellows compressed. Anyone make anything like that?

17inch padded laptop bag available in any electronic or consumer store. Check it has double zips to thread a cord through the eyelet for a carabiner to clip closed. Mount the Sinar F2 rail via an Optech strap system and you can carry it upside down from the rail. A groundglass screen protector and reverse the lens inside the bag bellows if you are doing shorter focal lengths.

The whole assembly fits inside a standard rucksack this way too. Perhaps your tripod becomes more of the limitation for travelling than the Sinar then.

Kind regards

DREW WILEY · Jul 11, 2023

Oh, I guess it was the reflection atop a black or underexposed rail that made it look channel-shaped to me, like an Alpina rail, on my screen.

My favorite rail clamp is the old Norma version, like in the last picture, due to its lower profile. It works for any of their conventional rail sections.

The second picture is a chimera, with the rear standard being the front standard to the old F+,
installed backwards, which is actually an inferior "intermediate bellows standard". Works OK, but not as durable in the long run.

A laptop looking case? ... that would indeed invite SF grab and run thieves! And some of them are now carrying guns if they need to "politely ask" first.

abruzzi · Jul 11, 2023

DREW WILEY said:
The second picture is a chimera, with the rear standard being the front standard to the old F+,
installed backwards, which is actually an inferior "intermediate bellows standard". Works OK, but not as durable in the long run.

Ha! I didn't notice. Someone who liked his knobs on the left side, and liked focus on the front standard, not the rear just swapped lens board and film back! It kind of shows the danger and flexibility of the Sinar system--they're so interchangable and flexible you can build exactly what you want, but when you're buying you might get a frankenstein machine if you don't look closely. When I bought my 5x7 Norma, the seller noted that the knob on the front standard was on the wrong side. Turns out the the front frame was mounted on a rear carrier, so it worked but you had had the knobs on the wrong side. I eventually found a correct carrier and replaced it to get the knobs correct, but then it turned out the carrier I removed was in better condition than the original rear, so I swapped that one too.

DREW WILEY · Jul 11, 2023

Well, I've swapped around all kinds of components depending on the specific application. And that is a great asset to the overall system. But it also has a darker side when someone cobbles together loose ends and tries to sell them as a particular Sinar model which it really isn't - not necessarily deliberately, but sometimes deceptively, for sake of a higher asking price.

Carry Case for Sinar F2

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