wooden Wista 45, revolving back or no?

I'm looking at a wooden Wista Field 45 on KEH. Unfortunately with KEH never trust the photos to determine what you’re getting. Based on my googling wooden wistas don’t have a revolving back or wooden wistas do have a revolving back. Anyone know the correct answer? I’m guessing the answer is some do and some don’t, but anyone’s input is welcome.

On a related question, has anyone had any luck emailing KEH and asking them to verify details like that? Are their staff sufficiently knowledgeable.

All Wista 4x5 that I'm aware of--including the one I own--has what's called a reversible back; release a couple of clips, flip the back to horizontal or vertical, reset the clips. Easy and quick! When I hear "revolving back", I think of cameras whereby you simply rotate the back around and doesn't require removing it from the camera.

I haven't dealt with KEH in many years, but, perhaps, a phone call would be more efficient? One thing that does drive me nuts with their website is that many items don't show the actual item for sale! When I'm buying something online I like to see multiple photos from all angles and with zoom, if available; similar to many ads on eBay.

Call KEH! They gladly take your calls, and they can describe exactly the product(s) on their site. Like some other retailers, they rely on stock photos in many instances.

I've been dealing with them for years (buy & sell), and I've never had a problem. When you do buy something be prepared to get something in better condition than described. They also handle returns very graciously.

Alan9940 said:

All Wista 4x5 that I'm aware of--including the one I own--has what's called a reversible back; release a couple of clips, flip the back to horizontal or vertical, reset the clips. Easy and quick! When I hear "revolving back", I think of cameras whereby you simply rotate the back around and doesn't require removing it from the camera.

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Maybe thats the confusion in some of the online discussion I've read. I certainly don't need a 4x5 version of the RB67 back, I just don't want to hang the camera on its side to shoot in portrait mode.

I've generally had good luck with KEH, and I like the idea of buying with a warranty, but their lack of photos can be a bit annoying when you're buying stuff that wan't exactly mass produced or had design changes in mid run. I also need to find an inexpensive 150mm, and figure out how I'm going to develop the film.

All Wista 4x5 field cameras allow you to change the orientation of the back. But following up on AlanH's post, there's a subtlety of terminology that many people aren't aware of or are confused about.

The metal Wistas, (or at least the late-model ones - VX, SP, RF - not sure about the earlier models) have a revolving back, which means that you can rotate the back while it is mounted on the camera. The wooden Wistas (various DX models) have a reversing back, which means that you have to remove the back from the camera, turn it, and put it back on in the desired orientation. But either way, you can switch between vertical and horizontal.

thanks for the clarification!

Oren Grad said:

The metal Wistas, (or at least the late-model ones - VX, SP, RF - not sure about the earlier models) have a revolving back, which means that you can rotate the back while it is mounted on the camera.

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All metal Wista cameras including the older D, N and the current SP, VX and RF have revolving backs. All wooden Wista cameras have reversible backs.

Kumar

Thanks Oren and Kumar...I totally forgot about the metal Wista's.