Shen Hao HZX45-IIa 4x5 Field Camera with Rodenstock Geronar 150mm 6.3 Lens
Availability: | In stock |
Delivery time: | Hurry! Buy Now before it is GONE! |
This pre-owned product is in good condition. There are very few external blemishes and the product contracts smoothly. The lens is in good condition with no scratches or defects.
1. Build and Construction
- Material: Crafted primarily from cherry wood with metal components made from aluminum, the Shen Hao HZX45-IIa is both lightweight and durable, ideal for fieldwork.
- Weight: The camera itself weighs approximately 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg), making it portable for a large-format camera.
- Design: It features a folding design, which allows it to be compact and easy to transport when not in use. When fully opened, it offers ample movement and adjustability.
- Bellows: Comes with a flexible leather bellows that provide the extension needed for a wide range of focal lengths, including the 150mm Rodenstock lens.
2. Movements and Controls
- Front Standard Movements:
- Rise/Fall: 30mm rise and 20mm fall, allowing vertical shifts for perspective control.
- Tilt: ±15° front tilt for adjusting the plane of focus.
- Swing: ±20° front swing for fine-tuning the plane of focus.
- Rear Standard Movements:
- Tilt: ±20° rear tilt for perspective correction and adjusting focus depth.
- Swing: ±20° rear swing for adjusting focus and perspective.
- Shift: ±15mm rear shift for horizontal adjustments.
- These movements make the camera ideal for architecture, landscape, and still-life photography where perspective control is key.
3. Ground Glass Focusing
- The camera is equipped with a bright and clear ground glass focusing screen for precise manual focusing. The screen has grid lines to help with composition and alignment.
- It includes a spring-loaded back for easy insertion of 4x5 film holders.
4. Lens Compatibility
- The HZX45-IIa is designed to accommodate a wide range of lenses with a Copal shutter, from wide-angle to telephoto, due to its adjustable bellows.
Rodenstock Geronar 150mm f/6.3 Lens:
1. Focal Length and Field of View
- Focal Length: 150mm, which is a standard focal length for 4x5 format, providing a "normal" perspective that closely matches what the human eye sees.
- Field of View: The 150mm focal length on a 4x5 camera gives a moderate field of view, making it versatile for a wide range of subjects, from landscapes to portraits.
2. Aperture
- Maximum Aperture: f/6.3, offering adequate brightness for focusing and composing in most lighting conditions.
- Aperture Range: f/6.3 to f/64, providing deep depth of field options, which is critical for large format photography. At f/64, nearly everything in the scene can be kept in focus, which is ideal for landscape and architectural photography.
3. Optical Performance
- The Rodenstock Geronar is a 3-element lens in 3 groups, offering excellent sharpness and contrast at most apertures. It’s known for being lightweight and compact, making it ideal for field work.
- Image Circle: At f/22, it provides an image circle of around 180mm, enough to cover the 4x5 film format with room for modest movements (rise/fall, tilt, and shift).
4. Shutter
- The lens is mounted in a Copal #0 shutter, offering precise, mechanical shutter speeds from 1 second to 1/500th of a second, along with a "B" (bulb) setting for long exposures.
Overall Use and Applications:
- Portability: The Shen Hao HZX45-IIa's folding design and lightweight wooden construction make it an ideal companion for photographers on the go, such as landscape photographers who want the high resolution and detail of large format images.
- Versatility: With extensive movements and the pairing with the Rodenstock 150mm lens, this setup allows for high levels of creative control over focus, perspective, and composition, making it suitable for landscape, architecture, portrait, and still-life photography.
- Film Size: Shooting with 4x5-inch sheet film provides exceptional image quality and large negatives, which can be scanned or enlarged to create detailed, high-resolution prints.
This camera and lens combo is an excellent choice for photographers looking for a classic large format experience with precise control over image-making in the field.