I am finding the long (20" or 22") rail on my Calumet C400-series view camera to be something of a PITA. Shorter rails are not available from Calumet and I am very reluctant to take a hack saw to the rail, since I may someday want that extra extension and won't be able to get another rail.
Does anyone have advice? Does anyone know of a cheap way to fabricate a replacement rail for this type of camera or have a stash of them squirreled away somewhere?
I am finding the long (20" or 22") rail on my Calumet C400-series view camera to be something of a PITA. Shorter rails are not available from Calumet and I am very reluctant to take a hack saw to the rail, since I may someday want that extra extension and won't be able to get another rail.
Does anyone have advice? Does anyone know of a cheap way to fabricate a replacement rail for this type of camera or have a stash of them squirreled away somewhere?
My suggestion would be to take the current rail to a machine shop for comparison and have them mill a groove in a chunk of aluminum round stock. As far as I can measure, my CC400 rail is just 11/16" diameter round stock.
One option is to sell that camera and upgrade to a Sinar F1 or F2. You can basically add rails and bellows out to the horizon if you want. Very expandable and a great system.