Devere Rail Clamp?

127 · Feb 11, 2005

I finally took the plunge and went 54! I'm not giving up the 127, but I just had to try the BIG thing.

I picked up a v. cheap Devere mono-rail (big and heavy, but that's the whole point!) and I'm almost ready to go. It all seems to be in great shape, but I've got one problem:

The rail is hexagonal, but the clamp seems to be for a square rail. I noticed some Devere's have square rails. Is there a trick, or have I got the wrong bit?

If the latter, does anyone want to trade me a hex clamp for a square clamp?

thanks

Ian

BradS · Feb 11, 2005

Hmmm, I've heard of John Deere but not Devere...didn't the monorail Graphic View have a hexagonal rail? I wonder if a clamp from one of those would suit your camera.

David H. Bebbington · Feb 11, 2005

Hmmm, I've heard of John Deere but not Devere...

The confusion is understandable, the two companies followed the same design philosophy!
The De Vere with the octagonal rail was officially called the De Vere Universal camera (I have one). The subsequent iteration had the square rail and was called the De Vere Devon. Finding a rail clamp on its own will be a long shot, I think, but I have seen entire cameras with wrecked bellows go on e-bay for £50.

roteague · Feb 11, 2005

127 said:
I finally took the plunge and went 54!

Ian, welcome to the world of 4x5!! I think you will find it quite fulfilling; after awhile you may find yourself suffering withdrawal symptoms when you can't shoot the big stuff.

Sadly, I ran out of 4x5 Velvia this week and had to purchase 35mm .

Ian Grant · Feb 12, 2005

David H. Bebbington said:
Hmmm, I've heard of John Deere but not Devere...

The confusion is understandable, the two companies followed the same design philosophy!
The De Vere with the octagonal rail was officially called the De Vere Universal camera (I have one). The subsequent iteration had the square rail and was called the De Vere Devon. Finding a rail clamp on its own will be a long shot, I think, but I have seen entire cameras with wrecked bellows go on e-bay for £50.

My DeVere Devon, whole plate, half plate & 5x4 has a Hexagonal rail.

Whats the clamp you're after the one to attach to a tripod ?

David H. Bebbington · Feb 12, 2005

For octagonal in my previous posting, read "hexagonal". There are so many sides, it's easy to lose count!

127 · Feb 12, 2005

Ian Grant said:
Whats the clamp you're after the one to attach to a tripod ?

That's the one. Everything else is all present and correct.

Ian

Ian Grant · Feb 12, 2005

There's a complete camera on ebay at £25, there was on in bits too
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=627&item=3872748858&rd=1

David H. Bebbington · Feb 12, 2005

Ian Grant said:
My DeVere Devon, whole plate, half plate & 5x4 has a Hexagonal rail.

Out of curiosity, it would be interesting to know exactly what model you have. Mine has a hexagonal rail and a 4x5" back and is simply marked "De Vere" on the front and rear standards and rail end plates. It came with the original cast-alloy lens board marked "De Vere Multi-Purpose Camera London England" (not "Universal" - the perils of writing late at night!). This was the name used in De Vere advertising from 1955 onwards. It has the serial number 5902. As far as I was aware, the name "Devon" came in with the square-rail version - is yours marked "Devon" or was it just sold to you under that name? As I recall, the 8x10" Devon I was using around 1970 had "De Vere Devon" on black plates fitted as facings to the focusing knobs.

Ian Grant · Feb 13, 2005

There's no model marking as far as I remember on my DeVere, I was sold it S/H as a DeVere Devon in the early 70's. It had no lens board.

David H. Bebbington · Feb 13, 2005

Thanks for the info, Ian. What's in a name, after all? At least De Vere owners can take pride in the fact that they own probably the most bombproof monorail camera ever built!

ascc · Feb 14, 2005

Devere ID

there are 3 distinct types of clamp/rail for Deveres' the straight 1" square,the hexagonal type and a more triangular version--quite a few Deveres seem to have holes drilled through the rail to mount them rather roughly--there probably strong enough to just be G clamped.
I have an old sales catalogue describing the pre Devon type camera with squarerail as 'De Vere Multipurpose camera mk.11'.I stand to be corrected but I think the De Vere Devon was the one with the extra tilt function on the standards --very similar to cambos of the same period.

David H. Bebbington · Feb 14, 2005

ascc said:
I stand to be corrected but I think the De Vere Devon was the one with the extra tilt function on the standards --very similar to cambos of the same period.

Now that you mention it, I seem to recall that the Devon I used 35 years ago did have on-axis front tilt - but it has been a long time!

Regards,

David

and36y · Sep 26, 2005

Devere Monorails

If anyone is interested, I had a quick discussion with Odyssey sales, and found out the following info on devere monorails.

hexagonal rail were the earlier models, early to mid 60's,
square rail was from mid 60's to 76/77.
Devon made between 72-76/77 Named after new factory built in devon.

The biggest production problem was obtaining extras, lens shades and the like. All models were successful, only stopped production due to the merger with Cambo in 76/77, Devere then concentrated on enlargers.

Does anyone out there use a 8 x10 De vere?

Andy

Devere Rail Clamp?

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