carrying a 4x5 monorail

winger · Aug 7, 2007

OK, newbie to LF here. To haul my "new" 4x5 around (though probably not very far), how is it best packed/carried? The monorail makes it very difficult to put it into a backpack or even my carry-on bag. I could fit it into something, but only by taking both standards off - is that ok? I realize that will will slow me down A LOT when I get somewhere interesting. Is there a better case than the 20lb one that came with it?
Once I have it together, I'll probably put it over my shoulder on the tripod for short distances, but what works well before then?

Removed Account · Aug 7, 2007

I just got back from Toronto, and lugged my new-to-me Cambo SCX there and back. The rail was too long for my carry-on bag, besides which the camera alone weighs... alot. So I took both standards off, took out the bellows and lensboard. I packed socks in to the bellows to keep them from being crushed in, as well as various soft clothes on both sides of the ground glass. A sock over the lens, more soft clothes over the attached lensboard, and then more clothes on both sides of the standards, lensboard, and rail. It survived Air Canada's baggage handlers to Toronto and back without a problem. There shouldn't be a problem with taking the camera apart, as long as the camera was designed to do that. For short trips I usually just haul it around on the tripod, resting it on my shoulder like you said, which is why I don't usually go too far from my vehicle unless I am feeling particularly masochistic that day. If you are going where there is a relatively smooth path you could try a small rolling suitcase, lined with something along the lines of a soft foam. To carry I would try an external frame backpack, such as the hardcore campers use. That way you could tie your camera, tripod, and other gear on firmly, and they are designed for helping you carry heavy loads by putting most of the weight on your hips. I think I may try that myself...

- Justin

AZLF · Aug 7, 2007

I don't know that there is an easy way to transport a monorail view camera. For the first month after I got my 4x5 Omega E model I carried it on the back seat of the car and tried to be very careful. Then I built a case for it and bought a small folding luggage carrier. The camera is safe and the carrier has wheels which has allowed me to take it pretty much where I wanted to go.

eric · Aug 7, 2007

I use a hand truck or my kid's Radio Flyer wagon.
I've never hiked with it but I think www.largeformatphotography.info has some information on how to backpack with it. I'll have to try it one day.

Shawn Dougherty · Aug 8, 2007

I have the big 26" railed Calumet CC401. I carry it in the car in the large gray case it came with and when I get out I attach it to the tripod, leaving it centered in the middle of the rail, and over the shoulder it goes... I carry a little army style shoulder bag with filters, 5 holders, my meter and darkcloth. That's it. Of course I've become used to carrying an 8x10 so it's seems like a break.

Maybe you're just straying too far from the car?

Peter De Smidt · Aug 8, 2007

Get one of the hard cases that suspends the camera from the rail. Then get a rigid backpack frame. Bungee case to frame.

Shmoo · Aug 8, 2007

What type of monorail do you have? If it's a Sinar F series, it can be folded down on itself and will fit a soft bag.

Chuck_P · Aug 8, 2007

I have a Horseman LE and I carry it in a backpack; I put 4" of foam at the bottom to protect anything resting at the bottom of the pack. I swing each standard so they are parallel with the rail and then I lock them down. That slides into the back pack. I use a small towel for filler along with the darkclost that fits nicely over the standards. I take the camera back off and store it in the same case as my lens and the two are separated by a piece of foam, and I use the pocket in the flap of the pack to hold the bellow and filters. Pockets on the pack easily store my Pentax meter and film holders and other smaller items. It works very nicely and I can get the camera assembled and on the tripod in slightly less than three minutes. I think, however, that I could use a slightly larger backpack.

Hope this helps.

juan · Aug 8, 2007

Do you mean transporting it from city to city - home to the field? Or do you mean from the car to the subject?

If the first, I'd follow the recommendations for a case. If the second, I carried my Omega E for years by mounting it on the tripod, putting the dark cloth on my shoulder as a pad, and putting the camera/tripod over my shoulder. I now use a jogging baby stroller to carry my photo gear. I but the camera in a cheap, soft case that fits in the area where the baby once sat.
juan

Drew B. · Aug 8, 2007

I use a short rail...and bag bellows so it fits into a soft carry-on bag...with socks, tees, boxers, etc. But into the woods, be prepared to lug the case it came in.

Peter Williams · Aug 8, 2007

I use a rectangular lowepro shoulder bag to carry mine. I push both standards to one end and the end with the standards goes into the bag and the rail goes away from by body. I still have half the bag available for all the other goodies that go along with LF photography.

Nick Zentena · Aug 8, 2007

winger said:
. I could fit it into something, but only by taking both standards off - is that ok?

If the rail comes off take it off. If you have the option of getting a shorter rail you might want to consider that.

Sure taking the rail off and putting it back on will take a little longer then traveling with everything setup but it's not like you're chasing after birds with the setup. So +/- a few minutes isn't going to make a difference very often.

freygr · Aug 8, 2007

Before I got back into the large format photography, I saw a photographer with a hand truck which had large pneumatic tires. He was using a folding 4x5 view camera.

Jim Jones · Aug 8, 2007

Bethe, that first LF camera is like the key that opens Pandora's box. For shooting at any distance from the vehicle, I carry a six pound Tiltall tripod on the shoulder by a sling, and a press camera outfit in an old Samsonite 13 pound 8x9x13 overnight case. If I must use a 21" lens, the 5x7 B&J flatbed outfit weighs about seven pounds more in its fiberboard case.

DannL · Aug 8, 2007

Jim Jones said:
Bethe, that first LF camera is like the key that opens Pandora's box. For shooting at any distance from the vehicle, I carry a six pound Tiltall tripod on the shoulder by a sling, and a press camera outfit in an old Samsonite 13 pound 8x9x13 overnight case. If I must use a 21" lens, the 5x7 B&J flatbed outfit weighs about seven pounds more in its fiberboard case.

A man after my own heart. I'm still perplexed as to why folks drag them darn studio cameras into the woods. It's an interesting sight indeed. Though, the fool that I am, I did drag an 8x10 Scovill Elite View type camera over a dry lake bed once. Never again. I'm so glad we invented field cameras. I now carry a disposable B&J 4x5 Grover/Commercial View Frankenstein (21" of rail), 11 Holders, a 620 Film roll adaptor, meter, cable releases, 120 film and sheet film, changing bag, etc., all in a small under-the-arm Eddie Bauer bag. It still leaves both hands free to carry the tripod, swat skeeters and/or pick my nose.

mjs · Aug 8, 2007

I attach my Calumet monorail to the tripod and carry it over my shoulder. Works fine for a few miles. If I have to go further than that -- it isn't photogenic!

mjs

PHOTOTONE · Aug 8, 2007

The best way to carry a monorail view camera in the field, is to trade it for a field camera.

David A. Goldfarb · Aug 8, 2007

You don't say what kind of camera this is, but a few possibilities other than a trunk case with the camera ready to shoot are--

--Remove the rail or use a short rail so the standards and bellows collapse into a block and carry them separately from the rail.

--If you have an interchangeable bellows, unclip it at one end, loosen the swing movements, and turn both standards parallel to the rail so the whole camera is flat and can pack into a briefcase or similar shaped case.

--If you have a camera with base tilts and rise below the tilt point like a Sinar F, you can unclip the bellows at one end, tilt one standard flat against the rail, raise the other standard and tilt it over the first standard.

Bandicoot · Aug 8, 2007

As well as the methods already suggested, some cameras (like my Arcas) let you remove the format frame - the pieces at each end of the bellows that hold the lensboard and the back respectively - from the function carriers - the parts that move along the rail and hold the format frames.

This gives another packing option: take off both format frames and store them, with the bellows still attached, as a block held 'closed' with an elastic band (which can also hold in place whatever you use to protect your GG); then store the rail, with the format carriers still on it, separately.

I pack my monorail cameras differently for different purposes. For travel from home to a 'fixed' location, like an architectural interior, they travel fully assembled in hard cases: I have small hand carried ones for the 6x9s up to a big wheeled job that will take the monolith with 5x7 back. For landscape or anything with much walking involved then they most often get packed as described above, in a back-pack. The 10x8 can be packed this way, and its longest rail attached to the outside of the pack in the same way as a tripod: I can't think of any other way that I could make it that easy (easy is a relative term!) to transport.

They can be reassembled quite quickly this way, and it is an efficient use of space. The trick of detaching the bellows and swinging the standards ninety degrees so they are parallel with the rail works too, but I don't find this configuration is as efficient to pack in most of the packs and bags that I own.

YMMV, obviously.

Peter

winger · Aug 8, 2007

Thanks all! Good ideas! My method so far has been to take off the lens board and put the rest on my back seat (bucket seats - it's a Mustang, so not much room anywhere), then carry it on the tripod and not go too far. The camera is a Cambo 45NX, so it does come fairly well apart. If I can find a hiking backpack that it'll fit, maybe that will hold it. And I need to do some weightlifting so I can carry it further.

Alex Hawley · Aug 8, 2007

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Large Format Bethe. Sounds like you're right up on the learning curve.

Kilgallb · Aug 8, 2007

I use a BRIO 70 Liter expedition pack with an internal frame.

I can hold the tripod in the place intended for a tent. I put a waterproof bag with lenses, meter and film packs into the pack. I set the rear of the camera to the end of the monorail and close up the bellows as far as they can go. That leaves about 18 inches of monorail extended out the end of the camera. The camera is wrapped in the focus cloth then placed into the top of the pack rail down. I still have enough room for my lunch and survival gear.

Using the big pack you can hike for miles as it all rests on your hips, not your back. I do this even for short walks from the car.

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