WTB: 8x10 field/folding camera

[Maris]

Maris will be happy.

It's a piece of dead people's furniture! But I didn't want to spend more than I did on it so a Toyo 810 wasn't an option. It'll suit me fine for my 8x10 needs!

Yes, Tachiharas are nice cameras. The model Alastair has looks like a 810GF double extension model with up to 550mm of bellows extension. The back swing is achieved by differential advance of the left and right rack and pinion sets; quirky but nice within its limits. When the back is advanced the serial number and year of manufacture should be visible written in felt pen on the bed of the camera at the rear. My triple extension Tachi reads 91-61 indicating it was the 61st produced in 1991.

The Tachihara 810GF was first made by Masao Tachihara in 1931 and production continued via his son Michio Tachihara. The only change was some brass anodised aluminium metal components replacing actual brass to reduce weight. The wood has always been Hokkaido cherrywood at least 300 years old.

Tachihara transliterates to "man stands in the field" (= Fieldman = Fielding?) so the nameplate reads Fiel Stand 8"x10". The misspelling of Fiel for Field is supposed to be too traditional to correct.

[Alastair Moore]

Thanks for the info, Maris! The more I play with the camera, the more I like it. I'm going to be unable to use it for another week or two yet until my Sinar adapter arrives but it'll give me a bit of time to fully learn the operation of it. It's a great size and weight so finally my 8x10 sheets will see the light of day!

[smbooth]

Pretty, will we see it in Beechworth?

[Alastair Moore]

Pretty, will we see it in Beechworth?

I suspect so!

Interesting, it seems that the Tachihara 810GF is the same camera as a Wista Field 810. It's all but identical. I'll have to see what accessories there are (I fancy a 5x7 back).

[Alastair Moore]

Well, bugger me. I've just discovered my Caltar II-S lens has a big enough image circle for my 8x10. At least at f5.6 it does, anyway!

What's the best way of testing this? I'm assuming get outside on a bright day and close down the aperture until I start seeing rounded corners on my ground glass?

[Walter Glover]

Alastair,

You set the camera up with the lens in question centred and focus on infinity.

You will notice that the corners of the ground-glass have 45º openings and you look through these to ensure that you can see the full shape of the aperture of the lens.

In practical use you would stop down to the shooting aperture to check. Wide open it may be vignetting but not stopped down. You can also check that things like filter mount rings and lens shades clear the path of image-forming light.

[Maris]

Looking through the corners of the ground-glass at the exit pupil of the lens is the truly correct way of checking for vignetting but there is a quick 'n easy alternative. Look through the lens at the ground-glass. If you can see its corners then your subject matter can see them too and image cut-off won't happen.

[smbooth]

What Caltar II-S ?

[Lachlan717]

Just a tip on where infinity is, and why I believe it's a bit of a wanky thing to focus on.

Infinity is often defined as a distance at least 200 times the focal length. Diminishing impact of DoF any further renders focusing any further moot.

In addition, DoF behind of this point also is rendered moot (as its infinity, as well as atmospheric aborations impacting clarity/sharpness).

So, you're possibly better of checking the hyperfocal distance for the lens in question, and trying to focus just beyond this (a bit of wiggle room). This method maximises the image circle for images at the 200x distance.

Once you're there, the tests outlined above become your reference.

[thoughtfactory]

looks great. Alastair. Is it stable?