While I do like the Wisner a great deal - it looks fantastic with it's red bellows and cherry wood body, there's a lot I don't like about it. Fer'instance
- The standards can and do drop off the end of the rail/rack if I wind them too far back or too far forward. I find that annoying beyond belief.
- It's very difficult to use with wide angle lenses, which I really enjoy shooting with. I've got a 90mm on it and focusing to infinity is almost impossible and I find I often need to focus to infinity with that lens.
- It feels inaccurate - most of the movements don't have a "zero" notch so I'm never convinced everything is set to zero.
- The ground glass is very dim.
- The bag bellows I have are essentially useless, but I suspect that is probably due to their age perhaps - they sag inwards and get in the way of the screen so I'm getting a huge amount of vignetting.
While it's only a short list, it's long enough that I can often get frustrated with it.
What I do like about it is:
[list]
[*] I can carry it out easily and use it most anywhere.
[*] I do shoot a lot with it, because it's easy and it's pretty much the form factor I like.
[*] I get approving smiles from attractive girls when I shoot with it (I guess girls dig cherrywood and brass).
[list]
So, having come into a little extra money - not Ebony extra, but enough for a new camera - I'd like to buy the camera I shoot with for the next decade or two! I'm very set on 4x5. I really like that format - it's easy, it's cheap(ish), it's accessible so I don't see myself moving to anything else. I really like the foldable camera form factor
If my budget was around $1500, with all the above in mind, is there anything you would suggest? I did ask a similar question on LFPF but things have changed a little. I want a camera that doesn't frustrate me, essentially.
At the moment, I've narrowed it down to either a Chamonix 045n-2, or either the Shen Hao TZ45-IIB or Shen Hao XPO. I have considered a 5x7 with a reducing back but don't want to get into replacing my lenses etc. I'm currently more swayed towards the Chamonix at the moment as that appears to tick all the boxes but any other advice you guys could offer would be great.
Cheers!
Alastair