I got one of the early ones; bought it second hand from a guy who upgraded to Sinar. I already had a Sinar but never used it due to it being so g*d&mn heavy.
I've been using the Intrepid for a while and it sure is light weight and fairly quick to set up. I see some improvements on the video which may (or may not) alleviate some of the issues I have with my older version:
Bellows easily creeps into the image frame. Basically, with a 300mm lens, movements are virtually out of the question; I get maybe 20mm of rise or fall and beyond that, it gets problematic. Tried all manner of
things with clamps and elastic bands, but nothing helps. I get the impression that the bellows on the one in the video is of a different type; maybe it fares better. I tried my 165/8 Super Angulon on the camera and it's a non-starter. It's literally impossible to fill the frame; the bellows are always in the way. It's not the baseplate that's the problem.
The 'rotating' back design is slightly different, too. Mine also clamps with two magnets, but in addition has two screws to secure it. This in principle is a nice touch, were it not for the fact that the screws are fidgety and never really want to align well. The back is held in place with (heavy-duty) elastic bands, which seems to work better/more conveniently than the camera I see in the video. I have no trouble sliding in and out the film holder.
I see the baseplate is a new design; mine is still plywood with nuts sunken into it, although I notice that this is still the case for the part that the front standard screws into on the new version. I doubt this will hold up to long-term use. But so far, no complaints.
I wonder if they managed to get the focus mechanism to be a little more user friendly. It's also virtually impossible to focus a somewhat heavy lens (I mostly use a 300/5.6 Symmar S) downward; the whole contraption is just too shaky and unstable for that. Which brings me to...
...the front stand, which is just plain annoying to work with with the kind of (heavy) lens you typically need for 8x10. It's a flimsy, rickety design and securing the lens so it doesn't tilt inadvertently involves screwing the front stand so tightly that I fear it'll wear out the ironware prematurely.
Being as lightweight as it is, it's a rather effective wind vane.
The ground glass is meh. Also, I don't think a fresnel is available for it, although one could be fashioned to fit. I've not yet gotten round to this, yet.
However....since it's relatively light weight, I have actually used it, which I could not (or barely) say about my Norma. Also, it's an 8x10" camera that's available new and at a very attractive price.
Having said that, I've recently unpacked the Norma due to the issues listed above which make the Intrepid less than optimal to work with.