The Toho FC-45A Ultralight 4x5 View Camera - yes, I do mean Toho, not Toyo. For a while I was really put off from taking anything larger than a medium format camera out into the field, because of the weight. I was just not enjoying myself. I have even been known to take out an old wooden Kodak 10x8, but that's only possible in town where you can carry all the kit on a shopping trolley.

This article and the photographs were kindly contributed by John Marriage.

John has a web site at www.tapestry.org.uk

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It is, of course, a compromise. It's a monorail camera, made of black anodised aluminium. The clever parts are extrusions, especially the telescoping monorail. It travels in a stripped-down form. The monorail and the clamps for the standards stay together as one unit, and the bellows, which is glued to the front and back panels, collapses and is carried separately. Lenses, of course, live in their own lensboards and are fitted as required. The whole thing with all parts of the camera, three lenses, four Fidelity darkslides (or a Grafmatic), meter, focusing cloth, and all the usual odds and ends, fit into a Lowepro mini-trekker. All-up weight of the outfit including the bag is 4.7kg, which is less than many 35mm outfits I've carried. Add a carbon fibre tripod with a small Gitzo head, at 2.2kg, and that's your lot apart from lunch.

To use the camera, first you set up the monorail on the tripod. All the movements are at the clamps (so you can only have base tilts) and the front and back panels are clamped to these. At setup you decide if you want it landscape or portrait, and fix it to the clamps accordingly. The lens boards are discs. This is good, as it allows you to orient the lens the way you like it, however the camera body is set. You can also get these discs with eccentric holes, to give extra rise or cross just by rotating the lens board in the front panel.

Set up the camera using the telescoping action of the monorail, and moving the clamps along the monorail as required. Focus action is at the rear standard, using a rack and pinion. All the usual movements are available, in reasonable quantities. The range of extensions is 58 to about 300mm, with the obvious limitations on movement at the short end. You can also get a 400mm rail, this I haven't tried. I would try not to use lenses outside the range 90-300mm, and the lenses that I carry around at present are a 90mm Super Angulon, a 150mm Symmar-S and a 210mm Angulon. One day I shall find a 300mm that I like and can afford. The focusing hood is detachable, and I have fitted a Fresnel to the screen. Not sure I like it, and it may come off again.

The Toho is perfectly viable in the studio as well, though the light weight is not a benefit there, and for pure studio work I would choose something with on-axis tilts.

What are the drawbacks? It is not flimsy, in fact it is quite good for rigidity, despite its lightness, so long as you let it settle for a few seconds before opening the shutter. However, it is probably fragile. This is not an industrial strength studio camera, and shouldn't be dropped. The lack of on-axis rotations is a pity, but this only slows you down, doesn't stop you taking the picture you want. With a Grafmatic in the back it seems to be OK in practice, but a Grafmatic is heavy, and I never feel quite so secure somehow. The bellows are a bit stiffer than I would like, and I don't know why they have to be. A bit more flexibility would help a lot with wide angle lenses - or if they made a bag bellows; the manufacturer reckons that the eccentric panel makes up for this, but I'm not entirely convinced.

I don't have up to date prices, but at the time I bought it the price was half that of a Canham, and the weight is less too. It is not as silky-smooth in operation as the Canham either, as usual "you pays your money and you takes your choice".

John Marriage 2002