[LargeFormat] 8x10 Cameras (was RE: Horseman or Gandolfi?)

[Tim Atherton]

> I don't have anything against wooden cameras, but many Deardorffs are too
> much like furniture for my taste.
>

Actually, my feeling exactly - as photographer Geoffrey James said to me
when I was talking to him about getting a Phillips - once it arrives I'll
realise that the Deardorff is really a very nice piece of Victorian
furniture - rather like your maiden aunts sideboard... :-)

I now tend to agree. By comparison, the Phillips is closer to a stealth
bomber or a 49er Dinghy....

On the Kodak Master - I've never really used one, just fiddled around with a
friends. But it does strike me as a great camera that does well what it's
supposed to - and at the same weight as a Dorff (which is still too heavy
for me...) . All though they sometimes seem to go for a bit of a high price
on ebay, I've seen a few recently go for very good prices - even if you had
to replace the bellows.

I know Hoffman still makes/made them for a ridiculous price, with even more
movements, but it always struck me that a Kodak Master, utilising some more
modern materials (aircraft aluminium, titanium etc, could be made which was
somewhat lighter, but still with all that it offers...

In a way the Toyo 8x10 is a modern Kodak Master - but it's darned heavy for
a field camera.


tim