Does anyone know if Toyo currently produces a 5x7 metal field camera for the European market? I am in the final stages of making a decision for a 5x7 camera as find the larger negative size and the proportions very appealing. Thanks in advance.

-- Michael Kadillak (m.kadillak@home.com), November 08, 2000

Answers

Michael: The Toyo web site only shows a 5x7 reducing back for the 8x10. Maybe there is a 5x7 available, but it doesn't show it on the site.

Regards,

-- Doug Paramore (dougmary@alaweb.com), November 08, 2000.

Mike, the last I checked, Robert White was selling the 5x7. Toyo still makes 5x7 but it is not sold by MAC in USA. I also think the 5x7 is a perfect compromise between 4x5 and 8x10, but for some reason the marketplace has orphaned this camera a bit, making film and accesories hard to come by....

-- Bill Glickman (bglick@pclv.com), November 08, 2000.

Michael:

The 5x7 that Toyo makes is not a field camera - it's a monorail. As far as the European market goes, it's available at Robert White.

Ciao.

Alan

-- Alan Agardi (alanagardi@sprintmail.com), November 08, 2000.

I have one of the older 5X7 Toyo Field Cameras. Most, including mine, were factory configured to be 4X5 cameras. But they were in fact 5X7's. This camera is remarkable for it's features. For example a rotating back, 16" of bellows draw and it is a very stable platform.

What it lacks are back movements (tilt only) and front shift. I would rarely use back movements in the field anyway so that doesn't bother me at all.

So a 5X7 Toyo field camera did exist, but the hard part is going to be finding one that's a 5X7. If you get the 4X5 version, be prepared to use it as a 4X5 for a long time. I would expect it would be difficult - to say the least - to find the 5X7 adaptation.

-- David Grandy (dgrandy@accesscable.net), November 09, 2000.