Yes, you read that title correctly! This is a 5x7 Nagaoka wood field view camera in good user condition. It's quite possibly the lightest 5x7 you'll ever find, tipping my wife's kitchen scale at 1756 grams (3 pounds 14 ounces) - most 4x5s weigh more! Minimum extension is around 75mm (3"), maximum is about 375mm (15"). Mr. Nagaoka made very few 5x7s, and although he does still make the occasional camera he no longer builds 5x7s because he's out of many key parts and the demand doesn't warrant ordering out more (this according to a Japanese colleague who spoke with him recently).
The bellows are original, reasonably supple, and light-tight, with no pinholes visible when using the flashlight test in a darkened room and no evidence of light leaks in the couple of sheets I exposed. The camera has front and rear tilts, front rise, and front swing, but no shifts. All hardware is original and things work smoothly with the exception of the front rise, which can be a little fiddly, mainly when closing the camera. There's a fresnel, but I'm not sure if it's original.
This is the early version that uses custom wooden lens boards. It comes with 8 boards, at least a couple of which look original. There's one Copal 00(?), two Copal 0, two Copal 1, and three mystery boards, the largest of which has a 79mm hole.
Like I said, this is a good user, not a museum piece. It has scuffs, marks, scratches, and scrapes from use. There are a couple of chipouts, one on the front standard and one on the base, from when the tripod-mounted camera blew over (according to the gentleman from whom I purchased it). I've tried to show the worst of everything in the pictures. None of these flaws affect the camera's usability, but if you're looking for a closet queen then keep looking.
Also included is a 4x5 back of unknown provenance that I'd intended to modify for use as a reducing back. It's clearly not a Nagaoka back as it was originally pin-mounted (though it came to me without pins) but the exterior dimensions are exactly right. The corners will need to be thinned down a bit to work with the camera's back hardware. To my thinking this combination would be a near-perfect 4x5 field camera - compact, light weight, able to work with lenses from ~75mm to ~360mm, and with enough movements for typical landscape and other outdoors work.
It's hard to set a price for something that's basically unobtanium. There's not much history either here or on eBay to go by. $1125 plus insured shipping seems like a good starting point; I want to break even after the obligatory and expected haggling.
Please use email to contact me with questions or if you wish to purchase this. You can send me an email just as easily as a PM, it's just another menu choice.
The bellows are original, reasonably supple, and light-tight, with no pinholes visible when using the flashlight test in a darkened room and no evidence of light leaks in the couple of sheets I exposed. The camera has front and rear tilts, front rise, and front swing, but no shifts. All hardware is original and things work smoothly with the exception of the front rise, which can be a little fiddly, mainly when closing the camera. There's a fresnel, but I'm not sure if it's original.
This is the early version that uses custom wooden lens boards. It comes with 8 boards, at least a couple of which look original. There's one Copal 00(?), two Copal 0, two Copal 1, and three mystery boards, the largest of which has a 79mm hole.
Like I said, this is a good user, not a museum piece. It has scuffs, marks, scratches, and scrapes from use. There are a couple of chipouts, one on the front standard and one on the base, from when the tripod-mounted camera blew over (according to the gentleman from whom I purchased it). I've tried to show the worst of everything in the pictures. None of these flaws affect the camera's usability, but if you're looking for a closet queen then keep looking.
Also included is a 4x5 back of unknown provenance that I'd intended to modify for use as a reducing back. It's clearly not a Nagaoka back as it was originally pin-mounted (though it came to me without pins) but the exterior dimensions are exactly right. The corners will need to be thinned down a bit to work with the camera's back hardware. To my thinking this combination would be a near-perfect 4x5 field camera - compact, light weight, able to work with lenses from ~75mm to ~360mm, and with enough movements for typical landscape and other outdoors work.
It's hard to set a price for something that's basically unobtanium. There's not much history either here or on eBay to go by. $1125 plus insured shipping seems like a good starting point; I want to break even after the obligatory and expected haggling.
Please use email to contact me with questions or if you wish to purchase this. You can send me an email just as easily as a PM, it's just another menu choice.
