[LargeFormat] Sinar system.

[Jim Brick]

I went to Brooks Institute of Photography, and worked as a 
commercial/illustrative photographer for many years afterward.

I have owned and extensively used...

4x5 Crown Graphic
4x5 Graphic View II
4x5 Calumet monorail (same vintage as the Graphic View)
8x10 Deardorf plus 4x5 back
4x5 Sinar P
4x5 Linhof Master Technika
and now...

4x5 Linhof Technikardan 45S

which for me, as a universal 4x5 camera, is hands down the best of the lot!

I would not trade it for anything. Incredibly smooth, very very compact, 
extremely easy to set-up, extending monorail - you only pull out what you 
need, will comfortably handle my 58 mm Schneider as well as my 720 mm 
Nikkor, degree marking on all movements, levels everywhere, and the list 
goes on...

It resides in my LF backpack exactly where my Master Technika used to 
reside. Perfect fit.

The Master Technika was a great camera but could neither handle a 58mm 
(barely a 75mm) nor a 720mm. The rangefinder was useless unless you were 
doing press photography so I had Marflex remove it. I replaced the 
anatomical grip with a leather strap (made for some versions of the MT.) 
After the frustrations of barely being able to use my 75mm lens and having 
virtually no back movements that could be controlled with any level of 
accuracy, I sold and bought the most wonderful Technikardan.

I owned a Sinar P and used a friends Sinar P2. All I can say is, great 
studio cameras, lousy field and location cameras. They don't pack easily 
and they are h-e-a-v-y.

The Deardorf is a "beautiful" camera. But it ends there. All movements are 
hit and miss. The camera sags and yaws on its own depending upon its 
orientation. Very inaccurate and very fiddly.

The Calumet and Graphic View II are simple, but very old and not compact. 
Good budget studio cameras.

The Crown is a nice camera for what it is. More of a hand held camera than 
a tripod camera.

IMHO,

Jim



At 06:40 PM 5/11/2002 -0700, Rich Lahrson wrote:
>Hi Martin,
>
>      I'm sure this subject is of general interest for this list in
>particular.  I'm
>currently looking to purchase a large format camera. I've used two 8x10s,
>a Calumet and an Ikeda.  I'm considering smaller size.
>
>      In any event, the principles apply regardless of format.  I've seen the
>sales brochure when the then new Sinar P style was introduced decades
>ago.  I was impressed by the principle employed and saw one in a large
>photo store.
>
>      Perhaps Linhof is more available in Europe, but here in the US there
>is much more Sinar available, as indicated on the eBay.  Further, in the
>large photo center of NYC more Sinar is available for rental than Linhof.
>
>      That being said I'm very pulled to the Linhof Technikas solely because
>of their quick setup and rangefinder option.  There's even a 5x7 previously
>made.
>
>
>
>                                                       Rich