Shooting landscapes with a monorail?

Bob S

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He also didn’t have access to today’s films and lenses. But John Sexton, Bruce Barnbaum and many others with an association with Adams do shoot 45.
 

Nokton48

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juan said:
The Domke postal pads are really good.
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Yes those Domke Postal Pads are good. I would snap that Z6 white strap to my 4x5 Norma case. Believe it or not it worked for me. I never stood on the case in the landscape field but I could have.
 

Alan9940

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Donald Qualls said:
Hint: don't try to carry the tripod with the camera still mounted. Not that the camera's likely to come loose (at least not with the head I have), but it's really awkward and seems to gain fifteen pounds when carried that way.
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I carried my 8x10 Deardorff with Schneider 360/6.8 lens mounted on top of a Ries A100 tripod head combo over my shoulder for about 20 years without issue. I would fold the dark cloth in half and toss over my shoulder for padding. Personally, I found this to be a very comfortable and convenient way to move the setup from place to place. No idea how much it all weighed in total, but if you're familiar with the equipment I listed, then you'll be keenly aware that it ain't light!

I will admit, though, that at nearly 70 years young now it's an Intrepid 8x10, Fuji A or C lenses, and a carbon fiber tripod, if I plan on hiking any distance at all. Not as young as I used to be!
 

Vaughn

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I strapped a hard case with a some sort of 4x5 rail camera in it (belonged to the university) to the top of my Kelty frame pack -- looked like a 6'4" Sherpa -- and hiked 8 miles or so up the trail. Then from camp wandered straight up the mountainsides, etc.

Dang-- to have those legs, lungs and heart again!

A bad reproduction from a dusty neg from the above trip -- learned why changing film under one's sleeping bag can be problematic.

Trinity Alps (Thompson Peak) perhaps 1979. This wilderness has just been closed to hikers until November due to fires and lack of personel to manage the wilderness use.
 

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xya

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for many years I carried an early linhof kardan standard into the field. weighs next to nothing, folds to a light monorail tube with the standards attached that fold to not more than the size of a book. as it is so light, you only need a light aluminium tripod. I strapped the tripod to the monorail and carried this in my hand. the rest was in a very small backpack. you are ready within 2 minutes and you can make a whole day out.
 

ic-racer

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Not monorail, but some in our local group used jogging strollers to haul 7x17" and 8x10" format field cameras.
 

ic-racer

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The only time I used a 4x5 monorail was in graduate school. I did not have a car on campus and I could not carry it with my bike. I wound up shooting my assignment either in my apartment or just out side. It seemed impossible to transport.
 

John Earley

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ic-racer said:
Not monorail, but some in our local group used jogging strollers to haul 7x17" and 8x10" format field cameras.
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I use a jogging cart to carry my 4x5, 5x7 or 8x10 gear. Works great as long as you don't try it on very gnarly trails.

Pocahontas Park by JOHN EARLEY, on Flickr

I had an extra rail for my Toyo 45G that I cut down to 7" and with a good bit of padding I was able to carry the camera in a backpack. I just screw the regular rail onto it and it's ready to go. I normally use my Shen Hao when I'm out and about so this is only used on a rare occasion.
 

Neil Poulsen

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Ditto, but with a different backpack. My camera now is more Oschwald era than F-Line. But either camera is portable.
 

Mal Paso

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I've always used a monorail for everything. Camera on the tripod, on the shoulder with the focusing cloth for padding. Everything else goes in an Amazon Basics Backpack. 3 lenses, 12 holders, spotmeter, bag bellows, extension rail and bellows coupler. I have a Cambo SC that weighs almost nothing and a SF I can use in wind. I find myself using a 370-400mm close mixed with the landscapes and need bellows for that.
 

abruzzi

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I shoot my Technikardan 45 in the field all the time. The only thing I don’t like about it is that the steps to fold or unfold it require loosening the rail position lock, shift, and swing on both the front and rear standard, moving everything into place, then locking all six locks. The problem is about 1 in 20 shots I forget to lock one of the locks. That happened this morning, I forgot to lock the front standard in position on the rail, and I didn’t notice until I started folding it back up. So I’m hoping it held focus, but I won’t know until I get a chance to develop it. But that’s a flaw in me, not the camera. Oh, and when Bob says it’s the size of a book, think calculus textbook, but still, it’s surprisingly compact, and very easy to use.
 

Andrew O'Neill

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I did exact same as DonW, with a Cambo as well for several years. Then I got an old Linhof Tech IV, and never touched the Cambo again. Poor thing is still sitting in its box...
 

GLS

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+1 for the Technikardan.

I currently use it with the Lowepro Whistler BP 450 AW backpack. It fits the camera, 72, 90, 150, 210 and 300mm lenses, standard bellows, bag bellows, cable release, Sekonic L-758D, loupe, 6 x Toyo double holders, Lee filter holder/hood, and numerous filters. I then strap my Gitzo tripod to one side of the pack and a 1.5L water bottle on the other. All of this does weigh a bit, but perfectly doable.

The pack really is about at its limit though, and I would like to get something bigger at some point to allow another lens or two, more holders etc. Maybe something from F-Stop.
 

Donald Qualls

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narsuitus

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I use a Calumet CC-402 wide-field/short monorail 4x5 inch view camera for shooting landscapes.

The lenses I use include:
135mm Fujinon f/5.6 (38mm equiv)
90mm Fujinon f/5.6 (28mm equiv)
65mm Schneider f/8 Super-Angulon (18mm equiv)
Pinhole lens on mounting board

The 90mm is the lens I tend to use most often for landscapes.

I carry the equipment is a large hard case. If needed, I put the case on a luggage carrier with wheels.

I mount the camera on a Tiltall tripod.


Monorail by Narsuitus, on Flickr
 

DREW WILEY

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I backpacked at least 10, 000 miles with the Sinar 4X5 monorail system. And I'm including a lot of steep high-altitude off-trail usage. The next 5000 miles or so are a little more difficult to recount, since I sometimes used the Sinar, but more and more started using a little Ebony 4X5 folder on long treks instead, as I got older. Now I frequently have a Sinar 4X5 Norma in my backpack for day hikes, or else an 8x10 Phillips folder, or even MF gear, but still rely mostly on my 4X5 Ebony for multi-day hikes. The Sinar is much faster to use, and more versatile, than any folder or technical camera like the Technika, which my brother used.

Any extended trip also necessarily includes all kinds of extra gear and supplies in the same pack - sleeping bag, tent, mountain-worthy clothing and gear, sufficient food and stove stuff, and in my younger years, a certain amount of climbing gear too. Since I prefer longer narrower perspectives, I keep an 18 inch cumulative rail on the Sinar, which is of course easily shortened if I need to shoot a wide angle lens instead. I use true external frame vintage US-made packs for all of this. Any official camera pack wouldn't begin to carry enough, or last very long either. Now the bigger question is, how much longer will I last before I wear out?
 

dpurdy

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I started with an Omega rail camera for which I had a custom aluminum case made. Lugging that thing with a couple lenses and a stack of film holders and a tripod, I had to stop every short while to catch my breath. I can't work by looking for pictures out of my car window like hunting for pheasants. I got rid of that camera and got a wooden field camera with 14 inch bellows and tilting/sliding back along with rising tilting sliding front standard and that is the way to go.
 
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