JackRosa
Member
Does anyone have experience using a Chamonix 4x5 or 8x10 that would care to share your insights/impressions with me? Thanks in advance. Particularly interested in quality/rigidity/movemnets. I know it is fairly easy to use.
I don't own either, but have seen the 8x10 up close in use. It's a handsome mid-budget practical field camera. You really need to get your hands on various camera models to decide what is best for you. Even more important, which format do you really want to shoot? Handling an 8x10 is quite a different game than shooting 4x5. What type of subject matter do you contemplate - in other words, do you gravitate mostly toward a wide-angle view, so-called "normal" range, long narrow perspectives, or all the above? This will determine what bellows you need. Do you already own lenses, and need to accommodate them, or will do that afterwards, in relation to the camera itself? Try to find some large format shooters in your own area who have things like these.
I have Chamonix 4x5 and 8x10 cameras and the build quality and rigidity are top notch. They're remarkably stable for lightweight field cameras. They have extensive movements--well in excess of what most people use in the field.
I have Chamonix 4x5 and 8x10 cameras and the build quality and rigidity are top notch. They're remarkably stable for lightweight field cameras. They have extensive movements--well in excess of what most people use in the field.
having detentes would be handy for having everything lined up straight at the start, .
I don't want to hijack the thread, but could explain what that means? (just in case I ever win the lottery, and find myself in a position to choose between 8x10s)
Detents are valuable on 4x5 cameras for quick setup. I have them on my Ebony folder. Of course, if you want a tilt, for example, to be just
barely off the zero setting, a ball detent will want to kick back into the zero position. But a few degrees off, no problem. I can't afford an Ebony
8x10, but shoot a very early (serial no. 9!) Phillips 8x10, which the Chamonix basically copied with respect to key innovations. Typical studio
monorail camera all have detents or locks for every zero setting, on every feature; but they're harder to install on small field cameras. With
the big groundglass of 8x10, small adjustment errors are easy to spot with a loupe. With 4x5 you have to look closer. One just gets accustomed
to whatever after awhile, so no big deal.
Yes. That was an innovation invented by Dick Phillips and has since been copied by several manufacturers, with his blessing. He was also the
first to ignore making a "pretty" camera and use lightweight custom laminates for the bed. I made a number of minor modifications on the hardware to improve function prior to him introducing his second generation camera. Although these old Phillips rigs sell for a lot of money now, they were ironically introduced as entry level budget "alternative" 8x10's. But I absolutely love the simplified construction, which is quick to set up and quite resistant to wind and vibration (provided you don't have a bouncy tripod head - I don't even use one of those things). The sheer durability of this camera over the years has amazed me too, except for the few pieces I did replace and improve myself. So yes - I'm a big fan of those threaded holes for the front standard. And if I didn't have one of the originals, I'd certainly be tempted by a Chamonix.
Does anyone have experience using a Chamonix 4x5 or 8x10 that would care to share your insights/impressions with me? Thanks in advance. Particularly interested in quality/rigidity/movemnets. I know it is fairly easy to use.
Thank you all for your contributions to this thread thus far.
John ~ great idea re: baby jogger. I used to carry my 8x10 Ebony in a backpack but the current condition of my neck/back will not allow me to do so any longer. My experience (4x5 vs. 8x10) parallels yours . . . I can focus much more easily when I am using the 8x10! The smaller the image, the harder it has gotten for me to focus.
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