Shooting landscapes with a monorail?

Ha! Heavy cases or dedicated camera packs with a lot of redundant heavy foam padding might be fine for studio use or car transport shoots, but often weigh as much or more than the camera itself. A well built classic external frame pack which wonly 4 or 5 lbs is capable of hauling over a 100 lbs of gear (not so the newer made in China substitutes). And ordinary bubble packing and fomecore board dividers weigh next to nothing. In the mountains, I'd wrap the monorail with my goosedown jacket. I'm not trying to discourage the purchase of dedicated camera packs; they have their legitimate uses.

So if you want to carry a monorail comfortably, or over a long distance, real backpacking packs are the way to go, and external frames designs can manage a fully set-up monorail quite conveniently. I just pull mine right out of the top compartment, plop it on the tripod and tighten, and extend the bellows, maybe even leaving a particular lens and compendium shade on the whole time. Plus you can conveniently handle an extremely wide range of lens focal lengths. Want to save weight? A basic Sinar rail clamp weighs a lot less than a regular tripod head, and long focal length lenses of conventional design weigh just a fraction of telephoto equivalents, and tend to be optically superior too, with significantly bigger image circles.

Most monorails are also far easier to balance atop a tripod than overhanging flatbed designs, so potentially save tripod weight in that respect too. In other words, you need to think of the cumulative weight of the entire working system, not just the camera body weight per se. It makes a big difference. But if you need to squeeze the entire nine yards into an airline carryon, well then, flatbed field cameras tend to make more sense.

It's possible for 4x5" for sure but hardly ideal. Anyone using a 5x7" or above monorail for landscape has to have their head examined though!

unityofsaints said:

It's possible for 4x5" for sure but hardly ideal. Anyone using a 5x7" or above monorail for landscape has to have their head examined though!

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On the other hand, with a Sinar the weight/volume of the "undercarriage" (rail clamps, function carriers, etc.) remains constant no matter what format you're shooting--an 8x10 might give you more bang-for-the-buck than a 4x5. (FWIW, I find my loadout with my Norma doesn't really change that much going between 5x7 and 8x10--it's the latter's film holders that really start to eat up cubes.)

Well, I regrettably turned down a lovely 5X7 Norma. The width just wouldn't have fit directly in any of my packs without detaching the bellows and swinging the frames. Slightly bigger holders are no big deal; I often carry an 8x10 folder and those size film holders using the same pack. But the bulk issue is obviously strategized in a different manner when a flatbed is involved. Broken down into components, Sinars can be fitted into surprisingly small spaces; but I like them quickly ready to go. That makes a helluva difference in conditions like blizzards, or minimizing the effects of blowing grit or pollen.

The bigger problem is just the 5X7 format per se. I love its proportions. But unless you cut down 8x10 sheets yourself, many films are hard to obtain in this size. Additionally, all my punch and register gear in the darkroom is optimized for either 4x5 or 8X10. Yes, it will accommodate 5x7 film if necessary, but not as conveniently. And if I wish, I can always crop down an 8x10 shot into a super-sized 5X7-ish proportion. And at my age, going the other direction in equipment size, 6X9 roll film format gives me very nice analogous result as long as I'm not enlarging too big. Roll films backs for my 4X5's have proven quite valuable for long-haul hiking now that Quickload and Readyload sleeves are no longer available.

I doubt any wooden folder would have survived the kind of torture I gave my Sinar equipment in the mountains. Being a modular system, components are easy to replace and to recycle into new configurations. A standard bellows ending up with some pinholes at the pleats gets turned into an excellent compendium shade, for example. So for me personally, the Sinar was indeed an ideal backpacking camera, and in fact, probably cumulative (tripod n all) allowed me to work lighter than most of the folder options of the era. The usual outdoorsman's standard of the day, the 4X5 Technika, ended up considerably heavier apples to apples if one factored in all the variables.

Yes, there were lightweight wooden Wistas and Nagaokas and Tachiharas, etc, but none of those were practical for the long lenses I favored, and probably would have ended up in splinters. In fact, I kept a 28 inch bellows on my Sinar (the Horseman version, which didn't sag or need an intermediate bellows like Sinar's own box bellows. Now I use a tapered Norma bellows instead). Today things have changed somewhat, and some of the ultralights like Chamonix look quite durable. But for someone like me, who went back and forth between rather extreme outdoor applications and architectural shoots, sometimes on the same trip, the Sinar system was unquestionably the gold standard. You could reconfigure it into a completely different kind of specialty camera in less than a minute.

Generically-speaking, there were monorail options even lighter than most wooden folders, which sometimes turn up for sale, like the Gowland, Toho, and Galvin. Some people loved these, but I distinctly prefer a more wind-resistant larger diameter main rail. There was also the Sinar Alpina, as a kind of compromise.

1992 Great Sand Dunes No 1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Our goal was to ascend the Great Dunes. This is the view when we stepped off the parking lot. Notice the figure in the distance; when I got there (to that point) I HAD to rest! 4x5 Sinar Norma 90mm f8 Norma Super Angulon HP5 d76 1:1. 8x10 fibre print Fortezo Dektol 1:2 Omega Dii Omegalite 180mm black Rodagon. I knew this was going to be something special. It was late afternoon sun

1992 Great Sand Dunes No 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

The sand is blowing up to my knees. If I lowered Norma it would be catastrophic. The light was starting to get really, really good. 4x5 Sinar Norma 90mm f8 Norma Super Angulon HP5 d76 1:1. 8x10 fibre print Fortezo Dektol 1:2 Omega Dii Omegalite 180mm black Rodagon.

1992 Great Sand Dunes No 3 by Nokton48, on Flickr

I am sinking knee-deep into the sand. This is a glorious experience. I stayed in this spot quite a while just enjoying everything about this. 4x5 Sinar Norma 90mm f8 Norma Super Angulon HP5 d76 1:1. 8x10 fibre print Fortezo Dektol 1:2 Omega Dii Omegalite 180mm black Rodagon.

Once upon a time I carried my 5 x 7 Kardan Bi everywhere - usually with the tripod and monorail on my shoulder. Only damage was a slightly bent fine focus shaft (still works perfectly) from slipping and falling down a hill. Now I use an M 679 with either a film back or Phase One P45+ Digiback. Slowly figuring out how to transport it with my power wheelchair.

Horatio said:

Anyone do this on a regular basis? If so, how does one pack and carry? Backpack? Rolling case? I bought a Busch Pressman to use as a field camera, but it has limited movements. My Omegaview has all the movements, but it seems awkward for use in the field.

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monorails belong in a studio if you want to avoid back pain!

Jim Andrada said:

Once upon a time I carried my 5 x 7 Kardan Bi everywhere - usually with the tripod and monorail on my shoulder. Only damage was a slightly bent fine focus shaft (still works perfectly) from slipping and falling down a hill. Now I use an M 679 with either a film back or Phase One P45+ Digiback. Slowly figuring out how to transport it with my power wheelchair.

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oh do tell. Since I need one hand for the joystick on my electric wheelchair, I have no idea on how to transport a 4x5 on top of that.

RalphLambrecht said:

I have no idea on how to transport a 4x5 on top of that.

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Trailer?

RalphLambrecht said:

monorails are awkward in the field.they are made for studio work. a metal field camera will do a better job and luckily take the same lenses.

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As we he had it about them in a recent thread: the Becher couple used a Plaubel Peco Profia N.

Of course your point is valid. BUT if one only got a view camera for LF or if one needs its movements, then the OP's issues come up.

“monorails belong in a studio if you want to avoid back pain!”

obviously you have never looked at or tried the LInhof TK45 or 45S. They are very full featured monorails that fold smaller then many field cameras, set up faster, handles extreme wide through 360mm lenses and has center tilts and swings front and back as well as front and back shifts and rise and front fall.

Bob S said:

“monorails belong in a studio if you want to avoid back pain!”

obviously you have never looked at or tried the LInhof TK45 or 45S. They are very full featured monorails that fold smaller then many field cameras, set up faster, handles extreme wide through 360mm lenses and has center tilts and swings front and back as well as front and back shifts and rise and front fall.

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+1

I would add though that the TK45(S) has about 500mm of extension, so can easily handle lenses longer than 360mm. It is the TK23 that only extends to 355mm.

1992 Great Sand Dunes No 4 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Those are the beginnings of the Sandre De Christo Mountains in the background. By the time I got back to the parking lot, I was exhausted. No sign of my Assistant Charlie who had the car keys. A nice Guy from Santa Fe (50 miles south) gave me a ride back to our campsite, he had an Uber+ Motor Home. Told me he owned one of the top restaurants in Santa Fe. Had an over the top Linhof 4x5 Technikardon I remember. We laughed when he said to me "You B&W Guys always use wooden tripods". What a fantastic evening.

4x5 Sinar Norma 90mm f8 Norma Super Angulon HP5 d76 1:1. 8x10 fibre print Fortezo Dektol 1:2 Omega Dii Omegalite 180mm black Rodagon.

Bob S said:

the LInhof TK45 or 45S. They are very full featured monorails that fold smaller then many field cameras, set up faster, handles extreme wide through 360mm lenses and has center tilts and swings front and back as well as front and back shifts and rise and front fall.

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And if you have the budget of a small nation, you can afford one...

Donald Qualls said:

And if you have the budget of a small nation, you can afford one...

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Don’t exaggerate to try to prove a point. It is no more expensive then other top end cameras. And requires fewer add ons, like rails.

Bob S said:

Don’t exaggerate to try to prove a point. It is no more expensive then other top end cameras.

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Spoken like someone who can afford one.

I haven’t priced one in years. What do they actually cost, especially decent used ones? OTOH I don’t think they come up used that often. People who have them don’t seem to want to part with them and that says something too.

This one is priced less than I paid for my first 4x5 Norma, 30+ years ago

I've spent just about that on all my large format photography -- cameras, lenses, film holders, film, developing tank, even film holders and sheaths for my plate cameras -- over the past twenty years.

Very nice cameras - but "you gotta know how to fold them." Words that come to mind when I think of them.

Horatio said:

Anyone do this on a regular basis? If so, how does one pack and carry? Backpack? Rolling case? I bought a Busch Pressman to use as a field camera, but it has limited movements. My Omegaview has all the movements, but it seems awkward for use in the field.

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I experimented with this using my Cambo SC monorail. A short rail is essential! Honestly, fitting it into a not huge backpack wasn't terribly difficult, just pop off the front and rear standards and pack them in. It's not all that heavy either, esp compared with an RZ or a Hassy with a few lenses. Plenty of movement on the Cambo, even with a standard bellows. I never got to wide angle LF lenses so never bought a bag bellows.

My biggest challenge is aging eyeballs, so I've decided to let go of 4x5.

Bob Eskridge said:

Very nice cameras - but "you gotta know how to fold them." Words that come to mind when I think of them.

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No you don’t.
you look at the focusing knob and it has pictographs instructing you how to fold. Just put all movements at zero. Unlock all shifts and turn the focus knob. Much easier and quicker then putting a folding field camera.
but like everythin, practice makes perfect.

I have taken a monorail portable outdoors, and ONCE (only once) on a day hike. Horseman LS weighs 14 lbs. with no lens boards or lenses. Rotate the standards parallel to the rail, and it fits into a 20" x 18" x 6" padded case which was sold by Dynalite for transporting its studio lighting system components. And I use the monorail camera mounted on a Bogen 3036 tripod, which was itself a beast, adding another 12 lbs. without head to the load. I was young (and stupid) in deciding to take it all on a day hike one weekend. Having seen and hefted the Linhof Technikardan (and lusting for it, if I needed an easily portable 4x5 monorail) I knew it was ill suited for anything other than unloading from the trunk of my car and transporting it all for relatively stationary location work.

I got my TK45 pretty cheap—much less than I paid for a beat up master technica or a decent condition Shen Hao. When you consider that many people here are buying Chamonix cameras (which I’m sure are great cameras) for more than that particular TK is listed at, it doesn’t seem all that crazy. It’s actually the camera that sold me on monorails. The only non-monorail view camera I still use is a Horseman VH (6x9) and that only because I have found myself a TK23 yet.

Nokton48 said:

Linhof 4x5 Technikardan Camera w/Hood Parts *9821191 | eBay

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This one is priced less than I paid for my first 4x5 Norma, 30+ years ago

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In the same range I’m thinking about paying fur a new Chamonix, thanks. More than an old used field camera sure, but not at all out if the question.