From: Michael Healy (mjhealy@kcnet.com)
Date: 12/11/02-04:18:26 PM Z
Philippe, I own a Cambo that looks an awful lot like this monorail (parts of
mine are Calumet, parts are Cambo, same thing). It serves me well. I had to
spend more than this auction's current price, but I got also bellows, bag
bellows, and two lens boards w/ it, including a recessed board.
The camera is not light, but not heavy, either. I have used it quite a bit
as a field camera (no choice), and it's fine. I don't even need a strong
tripod, though this did curse me when I was using it to shoot night work
near San Francisco hillsides or at Ocean Beach.
Arca Swiss it ain't, of course. Tho it offers full movement, it does not
have the precision you might need in a studio camera. In fact, I did a
project 18 months ago where I was shooting dolls' heads at appx 1:1, and
such work made me REALLY wish I'd had a top-of-the-line studio camera. The
tiniest shifts would be over or under by just that much, and the Cambo
sometimes got kind of humbling. Precision dials would have been a godsend.
So if I were running a studio, I suspect that it would start causing me some
grief before too long. However, that was an unusual situation. If you're
doing more "ordinary" tabletop, or portraits, or outdoor work, I'm sure it
would serve you just fine.
With that said, there is nothing wrong with this camera. Short of running
over it or dropping it off a cliff, I doubt you'll be liable to damage it
(ground glass another story, but that's not camera-specific). Additional
lensboards may be pricey. (You might check Calumet for "going rates".) I've
managed w/ my standard and recessed, and have managed to avoid this problem.
With pinhole, I've even just resorted to fashioning lensboards from black
matte board. They work fine w/ the front standard. The Calumet/ Cambo
lensboards are made of some kind of metal that is tough, and consequently
perhaps a tad heavier than if they were made of wood. Not a serious
complaint, though. If I had four 4x5's maybe I'd reach for this only 2nd or
3rd, but it would depend on what else I had. As it is, I don't have any
complaints about it, apart from the shortcomings of non-precision movements
in extremely close-up work. The camera has worked fine for me in the field,
and in general it's been great for tabletop as well.
Mike Healy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Philippe Monnoyer" <philippe.monnoyer@skynet.be>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 1:29 PM
Subject: 4x5 cambo camera question
Hello folks,
I plan to buy a 4x5 cambo camera on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1943452788
Is that basic camera a good tool, I don't know potential weak points on
large format cameras.
I need your feedback, in the next 6 hours ;-)
Would that one be a better choice:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1943402834
Thanks,
Philippe
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