To Tim and all others interested ... yes, I am very happy with the Shen Hao 5 x 7 camera. I was looking at Ebony options and the Walker 5 x 7 wide, but just couldn't deal with the expense. I was a little apprehensive about sending almost $1400.00 to China by wire but after corresponding with Mr. Zhang Fuming at Shen Hao over the course of a few days, it seemed that it would be fine. With the money I saved, I spent extra for a new Schneider 210 L lens, a Black Jacket focusing cloth and some 5 x 7 film holders. The camera has generous movements and folds to a compact size. I travel with it (by air) using a Lowepro Photo Trekker AWII backpack. This will hold the camera, film holders, film, lenses and anything else I can stuff in it. I was worried about processing the film at first, then after reading forums, I came up with an idea that works well and allows me to have cleanly developed sheets, although I have to process one sheet at a time. I simply use a Paterson tank and load one sheet sideways in it. I am using minimal-agitation development with Pyrocat (thanks Sandy King and others for your writings on this) so this process is perfect for me. Using multiple tanks, I can process a few sheets at a time. I am returning to large format photography after several years and I am enjoying it very much.
