gear

THE DIGITAL SOAPBOX OF ANDY CLEAVENGER

SHEN HAO HZX4X5-II

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Email:  graycard18@gmail.com

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This camera signifies my triumphant return to large format photography.

Well...  sort of.

For a couple of reasons I no longer shoot 4x5 sheet film. The first reason is I hate developing 4x5 sheet film. This involves HOURS spent in a pitch black room agitating trays. And God forbid any of your film sticks to each other. You will have wasted the entire day as well as the shoot. And since I know you’re going to bring it up, I’m way too cheap to pay someone else to do it. The second reason I don’t shoot sheet film anymore is that I was really intrigued by the idea of shooting in a panoramic frame. So the perfect answer came in the form of Shen Hao’s 6x12 roll film back. I use this camera exclusively as a panoramic camera now, and only shoot 120 roll film in it (which can be developed in a tank under safelights). I’ve even taped off the ground glass to only show me the 6x12 frame when composing.

Before this my only large format camera was the Toyo 45 CX, which was my studio work horse during school. The Toyo is a very big, very heavy monorail camera. It’s case is about the size of one of those dorm room refrigerators. By comparison, the Shen Hao has been a revelation. Everything in my kit (camera, 65mm, 90mm, 150mm, 210mm, light meter, loupe, roll film back, and tripod) fits comfortably into a Lowepro MiniTrekker backpack, and it’s still lighter than the Toyo was in it’s big silver case.

In terms of build quality, I would say the Shen Hao is perfectly adequate. Of course it’s no Ebony (probably the most beautiful camera I’ve ever seen), but it gets the job done quite well, has an impressive range of movements, and as long as you’re not rough with it, it should last you a good long while.

When I first started looking for a field camera my first stop was the Toyo 45 CF. But then I discovered that the 45 CF had very little rear standard movement. Next stop was the Tachihara. Same general price range and feature set as the Shen Hao but it did not have a Graflok back, which was important to me since I wanted to put a roll film back on it. The Shen Hao had everything I needed, including the Graflok back.

If you’re interested in purchasing one I’d get it from either Midwest Photo Exchange or Badger Graphic. Badger is probably the better bet for actually having them in stock. They also have a ton of accessories for them that Midwest doesn’t seem to carry.

One of those accessories is a very tempting 6x17 roll film back.