name that camera

[abruzzi]

I was playing around on Google maps, and saw the following:

https://goo.gl/maps/X9NNJKwF58W1cU3x9

It was kind of amusing to see a LF field camera (Wisner?) on Atigun Pass in Alaska.

 

[grat]

Wista 45, I believe.

 

[Oren Grad]

4x5 Tachihara Fiel Stand.

EDIT: Here's a page from the old Tachihara website, showing the available finishes for the double-extension 4x5 Fiel Stand:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130929195847/http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~tachi-ss/4x5.2dann.html

 

[removed account4]

you are all LF Gods
I just thought "cool LF Camera" ...

 

[grat]

4x5 Tachihara Fiel Stand.

EDIT: Here's a page from the old Tachihara website, showing the available finishes for the double-extension 4x5 Fiel Stand:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130929195847/http://www.netlaputa.ne.jp/~tachi-ss/4x5.2dann.html

I retract my initial guess.

The rear standard knob/bracket is different, and indeed, looks more Tachihara than Wista.

Those are two very similar designs, though. Well spotted.

Jnantz: Actually, I'm indecisive. In March, while bored under lockdown, I decided large format would be fun-- and spent about a month researching the various permutations of "modern" 4x5 cameras (I didn't want something I had to fix for my first camera).

 

[campy51]

Wista 45

 

[Ian Grant]

It's not a Wista as the front struts hinge to the rear the Wista 45D and DX(II) hinge in front of the front standard, also this camera has an adjustable position rear standard, Tachihara 45GX it's in the link Oren posted.

It doesn't help that many of the parts used by Wista and Tachihara came from the same source. These Japanese cameras were evolved from British style field cameras made by Houghton India Ltd. Viscount Astor born in the US had moved to the UK with his parents and as aide de Camp to the Viceroy of India just before WWI, Astor and his wife and family were major shareholders in Houghton Ltd in the UK and he helped found the Indian offshoot. Other Indian companies copied their cameras, some in turn being copied by the Japanaes.

Ian

 

[abruzzi]

this camera has an adjustable position rear standard,

This was what I noticed first, which is why I thought maybe Wisner, but the rear positioning guide ( the flat metal that positions the tilt of the rear, I don't know what the piece is called,) is kind of unique due to the narrowness and the curve. The tachihara looks correct.

 

[Ian Grant]

Those bits are struts, used to brace and lock the standards in position. There's no other camera that looks like that model Tachihara except the ebonised one with the Nickel Chrome finish.ions double extension that means the maximum bellows extension is double the standard FL lens for the format, with 5x4 that's 12"/300mm, triple extension is 18"/450mm.

The rear positioning of the standard is a compromise used on some British cameras, better models have front and rear focussing

I'm regularly identifying (or trying) to identify British field cameras and you get a feel of what to look for. Even well known manufacturers allowed cameras to be badged by the retailer so would sometimes not have their own name on a camera. Essentially hardware tends to be regional or even quite local so in London 5 companies use the same fittings and make near identical cameras. In the US Rochester cameras use some common hardware.

Ian

 

[grat]

A comparison between the two:

Wista 45DX:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/162130719914-0-1/s-l1000.jpg

Tachihara:

https://www.stevemidgleyphotography.com/_MG_1134.jpg

It's definitely the Tachihara... I just find looking at a thumbnail on a wayback-machine site painful.