Cool new Panoramic 4x10 at Midwest Photo

Here's a new 4x10 panoramic camera. The Midwest Photo website is the only place I've seen it before, and haven't heard anyone mention it. Has anyone here used one before, and have any opinions about it? It looks rather nifty, especially the light weight part.

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That is an Altview camera built by Patrick Alt several years ago. He tried marketing both 4x10 and 8x10 versions of the camera. While beautifully made, be aware that they don't fold up. They never really sold very well, I think mostly because people don't seem to want a view camera that doesn't fold into a small package.

MPEX had a used one in stock a few years back at less than $1000 that I watched for several months, tempted but never quite ready to pull the trigger, before someone else finally bought it. I suspect Kerik's right about the non-folding design being a turn-off for most buyers. It certainly got me thinking, though in the end that wasn't the main reason I passed on it. If you can get over that it seems a very nice camera.

I have one of Patrick's 4x10 cameras. It is soooo beautiful that we keep it on a table in the living room rather than in the camera cabinet.

NOT folding has some distinct advantages, especially speed of set-up and rigidity. It's also built to be used vertically, unlike most other 4x10s. It's very sturdy. Most commonly I use a Nikkor 300M on it or an old 10" lens. And did I say beautiful?

It's also nice to acquire a camera designed and built by a member of the large format community rather than a sweat shop in China. You can phone Patrick with questions and he backs his cameras...

Did I say it was beautiful?

Russ

Maybe Patrick was just a little before his time. Ebony seems to do pretty well with their line of non-folding cameras.