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Ebony SLW810
Ebony SLW810
8x10 view camera
Published by Trevor Crone
14th December 2009
Default Ebony SLW810

EBONY SLW810 View Camera by Trevor Crone

This article was originally published in B+W Photography magazine, however some minor alterations have been made.

Why 8”x10”? Well, big is without doubt beautiful. It places a wonderful window on the world. A well crafted 8x10 contact print is truly stunning. The American photographer Edward Weston used an 8x10 view camera for the majority of his photography, content to produce only black and white contact prints.

I purchased my first Ebony view camera, an SW23 (6x9cm) in 1999, it was soon followed in 2000 by its big brother, the SW45 (4”x5”). SW stands for super wide, so called for their ability to handle very wide angle lenses.

Ebony produce view cameras from 6x9cm to 20”x24”. They are beautifully designed but expensive however they are constructed using only the finest materials and workmanship. They are built in Japan by the Ebony Co. Ltd., which was founded in 1981 by Hiromi Sakanashi.

All of the cameras metal hardware, even down to the screws are made of titanium and the wood is either Macassar ebony or Honduran mahogany. Cared for these cameras will last a lifetime or indeed several lifetimes and will deliver years of trouble free and reliable service.

I yearned for an 8x10 view camera ever since I started to get serious about my photography during the mid 1970’s. Seeing the work of Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, George Tice and others just fuelled my enthusiasm for this format. I also attended a platinum and palladium printing workshop ran by photographer Ian Leake and this was enough to tip me over the edge. So I ‘bit the bullet’ and ordered through Robert White an Ebony SLW810 view camera. The SLW810 is a custom configuration to special order and is only offered in Honduran mahogany. The timber is quarter-sawn heartwood and seasoned for over 20 years to insure stability. Its sibling the SW810 is available in ebony which increases the weight and price! The SW also has more to offer in the way of camera movements. I chose the SLW because it’s lighter, 3.2kg (without lens) and has the bare essentials in the way of camera movements, that is, 80mm front rise, 80mm front fall and 30 degree lens tilt. There are no swings or shifts, something I rarely use, and there are no back movements. I wanted absolute rigidity of the camera back so I was happy to forsake the back movements. As already mentioned if you require more in the way of movements you will need something like the SW. I should mention at this point the SW range is the non-folding type.
They have rack and pinion focusing front and back which allows the camera to obtain its full extension and they are very rigid even when fully extended. The plus side of this form of view camera is you can leave the lens mounted on the camera and they are quick to set up, quick to set up in view camera terms that is. Their downside is they are slightly bulkier then the folding type and because of their design they limit the use of long focal length lenses. The longest lens usable on the SLW810 is a 360mm; the shortest lens is a 90mm on a flat lens panel.

The SLW810 measures 34cm H, 35cm W, 16cm D. Has an international sprung back which is removable and can be rotated to portrait position. This is achieved by sliding the backs two retaining clips on top of the camera, lift the back from its brackets, rotate and re-secure the clips. For levelling the camera has a double spirit level on top of the back standard with folding viewing mirror. This mirror is a really useful little feature especially when the camera is high up thus allowing easy viewing of the levels. There is also a single spirit level on the front standard.

The ground glass focusing screen has a standard 1cm grid pattern with zone focusing lines useful when using lens tilts. The front standard has an accessory shoe (like a flash ‘hot shoe’ but smaller) for Ebony accessories such as the lens shade clip holder. Underneath the camera are two tripod head sockets, one ¼” and one 3/8” screw thread.

The bellows are good quality leather and smell divine (sorry, but I just love the smell of new leather). The rear third of the bellows is more rigid then the front two thirds. This clever configuration prevents the bellows from sagging when at full extension, and the extra flexibility of the front bellows allows for easier camera movements when the two standards are close together. This happens when using wide angle lenses focused at or near infinity.

The camera takes two types of lens panels in common use today; Sinar and the smaller Linhof. I favour the Linhof type, being smaller they take up less room in the camera bag. Also included is a lens panel blanking plate and a metal ground glass screen protector plate. The camera is topped off with a quality cordovan leather hand carry strap.

The camera is supremely crafted; every moveable part is smooth and positive. Rigidity of both front and rear standards is maintained even at full extension. My only quibble is I wish the focusing screen was a little brighter. However, all in all it is a joy to use.

A quick note about lens focal length on the 8x10 format. To convert an equivalent lens on the 35mm format to the 8x10 format, multiply this by six, e.g. 50mm on 35mm = 300mm on 8x10.









www.ebonycamera.com
www.robertwhite.co.uk
__________________
"To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which will never be seen again" Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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