We Just got the very first VDS 8X10 camera from Hungary. This is a precision made, finely hand crafted camera, with sharp looks and interesting features. The key point evident everywhere around this camera is the though put in to reduce weight. It is LIGHT - weighing at 3.35KG, this not even the "ultralight" model (which is made of all American Walnut and aluminum vs Stainless Steel hardware here).
This is truely a mix of old and new worlds, with fince wood working and thoughful design, along with very neat and efficient hardware and fixtures of modern composite materials.
The wood finish is a smooth matt oiled finish with no coating which makes the camera feel almost alive. Despite its feather weight, the camera feels solid, and rigid when closed, and especially when fully set up. Bellows is made of high tech fabric (dust/water/tear proof) and lined with fine leather. The bellows is interchangble, though we have not yet seen a bag bellows option for this camera - we cannot imagine there is something VDS cannot do, so do not rule that out as a future option. The hand strap is hand stiched and lazer engraved, and looks and works great.
All hardware is polished stainless steel, with some aluminum lock nuts (though most are SS). All nuts sit on nylon washers which are coupled with SS washers to provide a very tight lock with out the need for a lot of force. The locking nut's cut is very coarse and offers excellent grip.
The basic design offers an almost full range of movements:
Front - Rise/Fall, Shift, Swing, Tilt (on and off axis), all in generous amounts.
Rear - Tilt, swing. Swong and negative tilt are fairly limited, but that is most likely due to an attempt to keep the rear as rigid as can be with this type of setup. The camera takes standard Sinar/Horseman boards, or you can order custom VDS wooden boards to fit the camera.
Folding/Unfolding the camera works much like most reverese closing field cameras (deardorff/tachihara) and latches closed with a small swinging clasp. The focus rack is similar to that found on Nagaoka/Ikeda cameras, with two axles racking the same frame. Both Must be unlocked to rack the focus. The camera offers 22+ inches of max draw and under 3 inches minimum (with bed frame racked all the way in).
Ground glass is a basic glass unit, that could optionally be upgraded to a Polycryilic lazer etched unit. The basic GG offers good brightness and no markings.
Pairing this with ultra light wooden 8X10 film holders seems only natural, and the wood on wood feel is smooth and nice.
Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed
Complete photos and info here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.854182344700603.1073741855.276274625824714&type=3
This is truely a mix of old and new worlds, with fince wood working and thoughful design, along with very neat and efficient hardware and fixtures of modern composite materials.
The wood finish is a smooth matt oiled finish with no coating which makes the camera feel almost alive. Despite its feather weight, the camera feels solid, and rigid when closed, and especially when fully set up. Bellows is made of high tech fabric (dust/water/tear proof) and lined with fine leather. The bellows is interchangble, though we have not yet seen a bag bellows option for this camera - we cannot imagine there is something VDS cannot do, so do not rule that out as a future option. The hand strap is hand stiched and lazer engraved, and looks and works great.
All hardware is polished stainless steel, with some aluminum lock nuts (though most are SS). All nuts sit on nylon washers which are coupled with SS washers to provide a very tight lock with out the need for a lot of force. The locking nut's cut is very coarse and offers excellent grip.
The basic design offers an almost full range of movements:
Front - Rise/Fall, Shift, Swing, Tilt (on and off axis), all in generous amounts.
Rear - Tilt, swing. Swong and negative tilt are fairly limited, but that is most likely due to an attempt to keep the rear as rigid as can be with this type of setup. The camera takes standard Sinar/Horseman boards, or you can order custom VDS wooden boards to fit the camera.
Folding/Unfolding the camera works much like most reverese closing field cameras (deardorff/tachihara) and latches closed with a small swinging clasp. The focus rack is similar to that found on Nagaoka/Ikeda cameras, with two axles racking the same frame. Both Must be unlocked to rack the focus. The camera offers 22+ inches of max draw and under 3 inches minimum (with bed frame racked all the way in).
Ground glass is a basic glass unit, that could optionally be upgraded to a Polycryilic lazer etched unit. The basic GG offers good brightness and no markings.
Pairing this with ultra light wooden 8X10 film holders seems only natural, and the wood on wood feel is smooth and nice.
Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed
Complete photos and info here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.854182344700603.1073741855.276274625824714&type=3
