Wasn't a camera like this ever made?

Hi Juan,
You have been given many good suggestions in this thread.

I have a fully mechanical MF camera with fixed 47mm lens which allows me 6x6, 6x7, 6x9 formats by changing the backs. It is lower priced than a Brooks veriwide camera.

I mean the Graflex XLSW. I have been using this camera for nearly twenty years now.

Here is an image of the XLSW [online link]http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00P/00POeu-43330184.JPG

The Schneider Super Angelon 47mm/8 gives approximatey a 21mm perspective for 35mm format. The 47mm/5.6 is the later model lens, which I don't have. The depth of field is so great that focusing can be done by guessing the distance.
 
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Frank, raid, thanks for the info...

Yes, Frank... It IS what I'm thinking of: the GS645W is as small as MF can be, and the lens is exactly what I'm looking for... And I see there's another version, one stop faster and with AF... Interesting series by Fuji... You really nailed it!

Cheers,

Juan
 
Envoy Wide Angle Camera

Envoy Wide Angle Camera

If you want to go really vintage, there's the Envoy Wide Angle camera. I've never owned one; would love to try it out, but they seem to be pretty rare. 6x9 format with a 64mm TTH lens... sounds cool.
 
The Perkeo serves this purpose amazingly well. It's much more compact than your Hexar, Juan!!

I found even the "inferior" Vaskar lens to be very capable, as long as you don't mind a little swirly bokeh (I sure don't):
 
I'd love to see a updated version of the classic 6x6 box camera.
If it had a decent, adjustable lens and modern film transport
(i.e. NO red window) I would be *very* interested.

How about it, Holga? Super Holga? Holga Deluxe?

Chris
 
How about the Fuji G690 with a 50mm lens. All mechanical, interchangeable lenses, 6X9 format. Looks like a large 35mm rangefinder. Very durable.
 
Fuji GSW690

Fuji GSW690

The Fuji GSW690 series has a great lens and a clear view finder but.... Nobody ever accused this camera of being compact. It's a huge beast and my heaviest camera. That said, I took it hiking last summer in California with great results, but I admit, it was tiring to lug it all day. In addition, there is no meter - it didn't matter much in the sunny skies of California as everything was shot at f16 & 1/500 with Tmax400. In addition the lens only goes to f/5.6 and 1/500 is the fastest shutter speed.

If you can live with those limitations it is a great camera. I try to use it on every occation that I can as the negs approach view camera quality.
 
compact 4x5 answer

compact 4x5 answer

The best answer for the sort of thing described below is the Chamonix Saber. Amazingly compact, very flexible (6x12, 4x5, polaroid backs, etc.), as good a lens as you want to put on it, a rangefinder that is surprisingly accurate, and just a great piece of gear all around. Fantastically light too.

-Ed

drewbarb said:
I like where you are going with this, Juan.

Lately I've been thinking about basically the same thing but for 4x5 film. With a dedicated slow wide angle lens, you could build a 4x5 camera that could really be about the size of the Mamiya 7 (focused at infinity, anyway). A grafmatic back gets six shots; two of these would get you the same film load as a single roll of 120- although even regular two sheet backs would be fine (especially if you could carry lots of them)... not to hijack the thread but what about this? Anyone built one?
Click to expand...
 
f8nbethere said:
If you want to go really vintage, there's the Envoy Wide Angle camera. I've never owned one; would love to try it out, but they seem to be pretty rare. 6x9 format with a 64mm TTH lens... sounds cool.
Click to expand...

ENVOY WIDE ANGLE VIEW-1 by johnnyh4, on Flickr
For me, this 'ticks the boxes' of fixed-focus, no electronics, simplicity, and may be, as far as I know, the most compact 6x9 nominal 'real-estate' roughly equivalent to a 28mm lens on 35mm film. (25mm is often quoted, but ~28mm allows for a realistic negative width of 80mm).
I find the shutter release positioning, and mechanical leaf shutter, suits me well for hand-held shots at the lowish speeds necessitated by working with small apertures. (It is to be found with many different brands of shutter - I have seen on-line Agifold, Envoy [in-house or a re-brand?], Epsilon, Synchro-Compur, Prontor).
You can choose to use either 120 roll film or individual cut film.

More links are:
http://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Ilford/Envoy_WA.html
http://www.gaspweb.co.uk/cameras/envoy.html
http://www.ensign.demon.co.uk/gent.htm
http://photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00QnJB
 
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