Wisner still in business?

dave lackey

dave lackey

Veteran
Local time
3:36 PM
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
9,416
Does anyhone know if Wisner is still around? I have been unable to contact by email and/or phone.

I am interested in a 8x10 camera...if not theirs, I guess I will contact Wista.

On the other hand, can I get by with a 4x5 and enlarge the negs to 8x10 for printing?:confused:
 
newsgrunt said:
have a read...


http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=32145

Plenty of new cameras out there...Chamonix, Shen Hao, Canham, Ebony etc etc. depending on the size of your pocketbook.

If you're wondering about an 8x10 print from 4x5, looks great or are you thinking of making an 8x10 neg from your 4x5 neg ? Contact printing ?
Click to expand...

Ahhh...it seems they are indeed out of business. :mad:

So, do I go for a 4x5 from another manufacturer and if so, I would like to enlarge a 4x5 to 8x10 for contact printing. Just not sure if the quality will be there at the 8x10 neg. This is important if I want to do platinum printing.
 
Lots of 8x10 cameras out there if that's what you want. Most of the manufacturers newsgrunt listed make 8x10 models.

Also lots of 8x10s on the used market. I've not had good luck with enlarged negs. I prefer to shoot 8x10 for platinum printing.
 
APUG.org may be a better place to go for Large Format answers.

I purchased a Tachihara 8x10 from Adorama a few years ago and am really pleased with it. I do mostly location portraits with it and it has held up really well.

If you want to make 8x10 platinum prints the process with the larger negative is definately worth it. Up-scaling 4x5 (or any other size) negs ultimately leads to some loss of tonality...
 
APUG & Large Format Forum for all the news that's fit to print.

Richard Ritter is working on a new camera that will accept 4x5, 5x7, 8x10 and possibly other size backs. GOOGLE can find Ritter camera information.

8x10 cameras, lenses, holders, etc. are listed for sale frequently on the Large Format Forum. A Want to Buy ad there might bring good results also.
 
I shot a Wisner 810 for a long time, but my hands stopped getting along with the small round knobs, so I traded it for a Canham. Few wooden cameras as solid as the Wisner, sad to see them winding down. The back movements on the Technical Field are well worth tracking one down if you're into landscapes.

That said, the Canahm is quite wonderful, and the folks there are a real joy to deal with. I had a small set screw work it's way loose and lost a stop, so needed some parts and he sent them right out, even including the tiny allen wrenches needed to install them. Canham weighs a lot less, which as I get older is nicer.

Ebony also makes some nice field cameras, I played around with one a long time ago at Lens & Repro in NYC, but haven't seen the new ones.
 
I agree that for contact printing, making an 8x10 neg from a 4x5 original seems a lot of work. Dan Burkholder has a book on making digital negatives for contact printing. The information used to be freely available on his website, now it's a retail book. From my memory, well worth it if you decide to go that way.

Edit: From Burkholder's address it seems I drove right by his street last summer while traveling to visit friends in Germantown, NY. Damn!
 
Last edited:
Trius said:
I agree that for contact printing, making an 8x10 neg from a 4x5 original seems a lot of work. Dan Burkholder has a book on making digital negatives for contact printing. The information used to be freely available on his website, now it's a retail book. From my memory, well worth it if you decide to go that way.
Click to expand...

IIRC, for silver printing, Burkholders methods were pretty good - but there was some difficulty getting high enough density in the digital negs to do Platinum prints. Been a while since I played with it though, techniques may have evolved since 2002.
 
I have a Wisner 5x7 Traditional. It is a very beautiful camera. Wisner himself was quite charming, but could be maddening to deal with, from a customer service point of view. Still, he ultimately did everything that he said he was going to do on his side of the bargain, if not on the timetable I'd have preferred.

If I was going for a new 4x5 camera now, I'd look at a Shen-Hao from Badger Graphics. They take Linhoff boards, have very reasonably priced accessories (compendium shade and so forth) and are quite robust. I have one of those as well and really like it. I believe that they make an 8x10 as well.

http://www.badgergraphic.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=925

There are tons of good used deals out there as well. The relatively simple design of view cameras makes these inherently less risky, IMHO, than buying an older camera with electronics in it.

Good luck with your purchase!

Ben Marks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom