How to Carry Gowland Pocket View

[mtnjunkie]

I am a new owner of a very light Gowland Pocket View 4x5 (thanks FrankR!), that I intend to use on backpacking trips. I am curious how others have broken this camera down for carrying. I have a few soft sided cooler bags that I have used to pack my camera gear, and I suspect that I will continue to use those.
What have all you Gowland users found to be the best compromise between compact packing and quick setup?
Thanks all,
Mike

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Not backpacking, but sometimes I've carried the Gowland set up and ready to shoot in a boxy but not too large hard leather case.

When I've taken it birding, I usually pull out the rail and put the camera in one pocket of my ScopePak (the other camera being a 35mm with 600/4.5), rail and maybe a lens and a couple of Grafmatics in another side pocket, or distributed among two pockets. Here's what the ScopePak looks like--

If you have a backpack with generous side pockets or that can take add-on pockets, something along these lines can work.

Another mode that I've used is to break it down this way and carry it in something like a Domke with a folding medium format rangefinder as a handheld camera.

You can use a really light tripod for this. For birding, I just use the big tripod that I'm carrying for the big lens. For travel, I have this little Linhof tripod with legs that snap out for very quick setup (the top legs have twist locks for adjustment) and a small Linhof ballhead with an Arca-style QR clamp.

My Gowland lens kit has usually been a 90/6.8 Angulon and 135 Symmar convertible or Caltar II-N (Sironar-N)--all three take 40.5mm filters or Linhof slip-on 42mm filters.

 

[mtnjunkie]

Thanks for the ideas David. I'll probably get a chance to try out some packing methods on a hike tomorrow.
I'm also planning on the 90/6.8 Angulon, but with a 150mm/6.3 Fujinon, and a 240/9 Germinar. I'm excited to see how it goes.

 

[Vaughn]

I have done extensive bicycling and backpacking with my Gowland (2x6" rails). I have a standard on each rail, seperate the rails, loosen the swings and fold it flat. I made an open-cell foam case for it, and slipped that into a water-proof stuff sack.

It is light enough to keep on the tripod while walking/hiking around if there are immeadiate photo opportunities. I did not do this on my 6-month bike trip over-seas, as a trip and fall would potentially ruin 5 years of saving money for the unique adventure...just too risky.

The set-up time was a bit longer, but it forced me to see better w/o the camera and worked well with my shooting style (less exposures with a higher return rate -- I exposed about 70 negatives on that 6-month trip and got a solid portfolio of 20 prints.)

If I remember right, your camera is very much like mine -- bail handle, very simple design. I love it...others hate it (an Ebony-user probably would look down his nose at it!)

Have fun!

Vaughn

 

[Edwardv]

Not to change the sujbect. I want to know, "how are you gettng the correct exposure using your Norman 200B on manual?

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

For the night shots on Halloween, I was using a 200C pack and GVI Vari-strobe on auto.

In the image where you see me with the 200B, manual LH2 head and tele-reflector, I'm using the strobe mainly as fill. I've tested it using all my diffusers and reflectors with a flash meter and with film and made an exposure table. I have a set of tables taped to the tele reflector and another table taped to one of the heads I usually use with other reflectors and diffusers. I determine the subject distance by looking at the focus scale on the lens.

Here's a shot I made in Central Park using the setup you see there with the strobe as fill--

That's a fairly accurate scan of the original 35mm slide, cropped a bit if I remember correctly. It has a bit of a "flashed" look from the fill being fairly close to the daylight, but the heron was in the shadows, and a longer exposure (for more sun as the main light) wouldn't have yielded a sharp image.

 

[Robert Oliver]

i left the gowland rail attached to tripod. The camera folds flat without the rail inserted. I wrapped the camera in a domke wrap and placed it in a square padded case.

 

[John Ossi]

The Gowland, roll back(s), extra lens, meter, etc. fit very nicely in one of the original white Zone VI bags, which occasionally turn up on EBay.