Jon W
14-Nov-2015, 08:29
Hi all,
I have a problem with a recently-acquired Gaoersi 4x5, but since I’m fairly new to the forum and I don’t want my first substantive post to be a request, I’ll make some general remarks about why I thought it might be a good option.
I’ve used a Tachihara folding field camera before, for several years, before I had to sell it in 2014 at a moment when I was really short of money. I mainly used it for city scenes at night, and I found that:
I almost always used a 90mm lens.
I never ever used tilt and swing, but I used front rise almost ubiquitously.
Composing on a gg screen at night was pretty difficult (I used to place a torch on the ground in front of the camera and move it around to indicate where the bottom of the frame was, or use the light as a point for focussing on).
Opening and folding the camera was a pain, especially when I used the same lens 95% of the time.
Looking into how much it would cost to re-equip recently, I happened to come across a Gaoersi 4x5 going pretty cheap on ebay, which came with a 90mm lens cone and a viewfinder included. I’d never seen a design of this type, but it seemed to address most of my concerns, namely:
Eliminating movements I never use, retaining the one I use all the time.
Adding a viewfinder to simplify composition, and a lens mount with pre-marked distances to simplify focussing at night.
I could keep the camera ready to go, or even carry it round by the handle.
But mainly it was cheap (about $350) so it seemed worth a go.
The camera looks fit for purpose, and the front rise works fine, but of course there was a catch, which I’ll explain in a separate post.
I have a problem with a recently-acquired Gaoersi 4x5, but since I’m fairly new to the forum and I don’t want my first substantive post to be a request, I’ll make some general remarks about why I thought it might be a good option.
I’ve used a Tachihara folding field camera before, for several years, before I had to sell it in 2014 at a moment when I was really short of money. I mainly used it for city scenes at night, and I found that:
I almost always used a 90mm lens.
I never ever used tilt and swing, but I used front rise almost ubiquitously.
Composing on a gg screen at night was pretty difficult (I used to place a torch on the ground in front of the camera and move it around to indicate where the bottom of the frame was, or use the light as a point for focussing on).
Opening and folding the camera was a pain, especially when I used the same lens 95% of the time.
Looking into how much it would cost to re-equip recently, I happened to come across a Gaoersi 4x5 going pretty cheap on ebay, which came with a 90mm lens cone and a viewfinder included. I’d never seen a design of this type, but it seemed to address most of my concerns, namely:
Eliminating movements I never use, retaining the one I use all the time.
Adding a viewfinder to simplify composition, and a lens mount with pre-marked distances to simplify focussing at night.
I could keep the camera ready to go, or even carry it round by the handle.
But mainly it was cheap (about $350) so it seemed worth a go.
The camera looks fit for purpose, and the front rise works fine, but of course there was a catch, which I’ll explain in a separate post.