Postby alex gard » 09 Sep 2014, 11:28
I got a Chamonix 045-f1 to replace my damaged Toyo 45AII.
It is a fantastic looking camera but I'll be honest and point out my two main problems with it;
The biggest problem, for me, is the gap between the rear standard and the bed. This gap lets in a lot of light and makes focusing at small apertures harder for me. I'm sure this could be overcome if I could wrap the darkcloth around the film back itself rather than the whole camera, but because this area (IE the ground glas part) is quite narrow, it is hard to do.
The other problem I find is that the front standard is really hard to use for tilts and swings because it seems to sit so freely, a little bit of front tilt and the lens component will slip down in the rails, meaning you have to recompose the hwole scene again. I'm new to the camera, but the Toyo 45AII was really easy to use in these aspects, and had it not been for the weight issue of the toyo I'd almost go as far to say that I probably preferred using the Toyo over the Chamonix.
Mind you, the chamonix hasn't seen much use since I got the 8x10, maybe I just need to take it out and play with it a bit more. But in all respects the 045f1 is a pretty sweet little kit of engineering and it's easy to see how far he's gone to keep the weight to a minimum.