Posted by Keith Anderson on November 20, 2006 at 12:54 AM
Well let me start first by saying this is the first review I have ever done on anything, I am by no means a expert and will probably skim over some things others may pick up on if they were to review a piece of equipment, So here goes.
I have always, well since I started taking photography more seriously, wanted a 6x17 camera, but the cost of Linhof and Fuji cameras were, and still are way out of my budget. Both cameras costing over $10,500 AUS with a lens. So for the last 10 years, at least, the thought of owning one of these panoramic cameras was just a dream.
Then along came a new contender. Fuji have stopped making their camera and Linhof's are now a incredible $10,895 for body and lens. They have to be joking right? This new contender was a Chinese company called Fotoman. I won't go into to much detail about the company as all information can be read from their website. http://www.fotomancamera.com One thing I will quote from the website is “Fotoman Camera is dedicated to continual improvement of the products we offer to the film based photographer. Our goal is to provide the photographer with affordable, high quality, feature filled cameras. Cameras that make photographs on BIG film. Photographs that can be printed to massive size and still retain the exacting detail and subtle tonalities that only large film can provide.” The part I like was affordable, high quality cameras. This I believe they have achieved.
So Lets have a look at the camera.
The body is made from a single solid billet of T6000 series aluminum. This makes for a light but very rugged body.
The top of the camera has two winding knobs. Both have no sideways play in them and are stiff to turn, not to stiff but not lose either. This is good in my opinion as it means there is no creep when you have film loaded. The top also has three shoes, the one in the middle if for the viewfinder and the other two are for the spirit level (supplied with the camera) and the other could be used for a flash.
The bottom of the camera is quite plain, just the simple tripod mount is there. I have a Manfrotto Proball 468rc4 and the huge quick release plate it comes with. I have had no problems with the plate slipping on the tripod mount area at the bottom of the camera.
The back of the camera has the red little window on the back that you can open and close to see what number exposure you are up to. It also has the film number you should be using so you can't forget. The film is loaded right and wound to the left, That takes a little getting used to but shouldn't cause to much of a issue. The issue I have found is early morning/late evening shots. It can be hard to see the numbers on the film and you need a small torch, make sure you don't shine the torch directly into the window, I fogged my first roll of film doing this. The back door opens a little more than 90 degrees and clicks with a good feel of firmness. One thing I would love Fotoman to do would be for the rear door to be able to fully detach, for use with the Ground Glass.
The front of the camera has the two handles, providing excellent grip for aerial photography. Something I'm looking forward to trying around the Great Ocean Road area here in Victoria Australia. From there you have the lens mounts. Four good sized screws hold the mount on the body and so far I haven't needed to tighten them up from when I got the camera brand new.
One of the fascinating and unique things about Fotoman cameras is that they can take a multitude of different large format lenses. I brought my kit with the excellent but big Schneider Super Angulon 5.6/90XL.along with it's huge Iva center filter. This came with a viewfinder that has a 90mm mask on it. You can replace the mask depending on the lens you are using. The viewfinder also has a spirit level built in that you can see while looking through it. It not dead accurate and takes a little getting used to what will be in the frame and what wont. I brought the ground glass for this reason and also to make the use of ND Grads a little easier. Although when buying this lens take into consideration the price of filters to fit it. Lee make excellent filters but the cost of the holder alone is
about 135 pounds.
So that's it except the how does it shoot and am I happy with it.
I brought my camera from http://www.mainlinephoto.com.au. It cost around $5,300 AUS with the lens included. Half the price of the Linhof. It uses the same lens as the Linhof. Linhof in Australia charge more for the Schneider lens in their lens mount than I paid for the whole camera including the exact same lens. This isn't rocket science to realize that Linhof is charging a premium for the name.
I can imagine that the Linhof camera is made to a higher standard, well you would want to hope so, but a $5,000 dollar higher standard. I'm extremely happy with the Fotoman after all it's the lenses to me that are more important than a box to hold film. I would happily buy two of these cameras over a Linhof. Image quality is better than I have ever had, The lens is just beautiful and you don't have to look at the tranny under a loupe to realize just how sharp it is.
In conclusion, if your looking into the wonderful world of 6 x 17 panoramic photography do yourself a favor and look into the Fotoman system
I also have one of these cameras. In fact I have owned a 617 for about 15 years, a Linhof, but recently sold it to buy a Fotoman - why?
Well I also owned a number of LF lens ( all useless for the Technorama) - but most importantly the Nikkor 90mm -SW F4.5 - now a legend - and I CAN fit this and other lenses ( providing they have a big enough Image circle ) to mounts that Fotoman make. This is a LOT cheaper than buying the propriety mounted lenses from Linhof and its opens up the opertunity to use a lot of other lenses that where never availiable to the 617 market ( I am saving for a 400mm Fujinon and mount)
Yes the camera isn't as refined as a Linhof, its operation more basic, but it produces the same results. I am realy looking forward to seeing the shift mount.
If you are looking at 617 then look at Fotoman you will not be sorry you did.
T
Posted by Anil Rao on November 22, 2006 at 8:33 PM
A very nice review, Keith. I have always wondered about these cameras and your writeup was very helpful.
Thanks.
Posted by Keith Anderson on November 22, 2006 at 8:41 PM
I have just noticed that Fotoman now also make a Auxiliary Rangefinder. More money as I can't be bothered trying to guess distances all the time and this little beast will do it for me. Again it's on their site.
Thank you for the kind remarks and nice to see someone else with a Fotoman here
Discussion
4 repliesI have always, well since I started taking photography more seriously, wanted a 6x17 camera, but the cost of Linhof and Fuji cameras were, and still are way out of my budget. Both cameras costing over $10,500 AUS with a lens. So for the last 10 years, at least, the thought of owning one of these panoramic cameras was just a dream.
Then along came a new contender. Fuji have stopped making their camera and Linhof's are now a incredible $10,895 for body and lens. They have to be joking right? This new contender was a Chinese company called Fotoman. I won't go into to much detail about the company as all information can be read from their website. http://www.fotomancamera.com One thing I will quote from the website is “Fotoman Camera is dedicated to continual improvement of the products we offer to the film based photographer. Our goal is to provide the photographer with affordable, high quality, feature filled cameras. Cameras that make photographs on BIG film. Photographs that can be printed to massive size and still retain the exacting detail and subtle tonalities that only large film can provide.” The part I like was affordable, high quality cameras. This I believe they have achieved.
So Lets have a look at the camera.
The body is made from a single solid billet of T6000 series aluminum. This makes for a light but very rugged body.
The top of the camera has two winding knobs. Both have no sideways play in them and are stiff to turn, not to stiff but not lose either. This is good in my opinion as it means there is no creep when you have film loaded. The top also has three shoes, the one in the middle if for the viewfinder and the other two are for the spirit level (supplied with the camera) and the other could be used for a flash.
The bottom of the camera is quite plain, just the simple tripod mount is there. I have a Manfrotto Proball 468rc4 and the huge quick release plate it comes with. I have had no problems with the plate slipping on the tripod mount area at the bottom of the camera.
The back of the camera has the red little window on the back that you can open and close to see what number exposure you are up to. It also has the film number you should be using so you can't forget. The film is loaded right and wound to the left, That takes a little getting used to but shouldn't cause to much of a issue. The issue I have found is early morning/late evening shots. It can be hard to see the numbers on the film and you need a small torch, make sure you don't shine the torch directly into the window, I fogged my first roll of film doing this. The back door opens a little more than 90 degrees and clicks with a good feel of firmness. One thing I would love Fotoman to do would be for the rear door to be able to fully detach, for use with the Ground Glass.
The front of the camera has the two handles, providing excellent grip for aerial photography. Something I'm looking forward to trying around the Great Ocean Road area here in Victoria Australia. From there you have the lens mounts. Four good sized screws hold the mount on the body and so far I haven't needed to tighten them up from when I got the camera brand new.
One of the fascinating and unique things about Fotoman cameras is that they can take a multitude of different large format lenses. I brought my kit with the excellent but big Schneider Super Angulon 5.6/90XL.along with it's huge Iva center filter. This came with a viewfinder that has a 90mm mask on it. You can replace the mask depending on the lens you are using. The viewfinder also has a spirit level built in that you can see while looking through it. It not dead accurate and takes a little getting used to what will be in the frame and what wont. I brought the ground glass for this reason and also to make the use of ND Grads a little easier. Although when buying this lens take into consideration the price of filters to fit it. Lee make excellent filters but the cost of the holder alone is
about 135 pounds.
So that's it except the how does it shoot and am I happy with it.
I brought my camera from http://www.mainlinephoto.com.au. It cost around $5,300 AUS with the lens included. Half the price of the Linhof. It uses the same lens as the Linhof. Linhof in Australia charge more for the Schneider lens in their lens mount than I paid for the whole camera including the exact same lens. This isn't rocket science to realize that Linhof is charging a premium for the name.
I can imagine that the Linhof camera is made to a higher standard, well you would want to hope so, but a $5,000 dollar higher standard. I'm extremely happy with the Fotoman after all it's the lenses to me that are more important than a box to hold film. I would happily buy two of these cameras over a Linhof. Image quality is better than I have ever had, The lens is just beautiful and you don't have to look at the tranny under a loupe to realize just how sharp it is.
In conclusion, if your looking into the wonderful world of 6 x 17 panoramic photography do yourself a favor and look into the Fotoman system
Image taken with the Fotoman, Velvia 100
This is also the start of my new website.
Keith Anderson
what should I say. I really really want to get a 6x17 camera. One day.
Well I also owned a number of LF lens ( all useless for the Technorama) - but most importantly the Nikkor 90mm -SW F4.5 - now a legend - and I CAN fit this and other lenses ( providing they have a big enough Image circle ) to mounts that Fotoman make. This is a LOT cheaper than buying the propriety mounted lenses from Linhof and its opens up the opertunity to use a lot of other lenses that where never availiable to the 617 market ( I am saving for a 400mm Fujinon and mount)
Yes the camera isn't as refined as a Linhof, its operation more basic, but it produces the same results. I am realy looking forward to seeing the shift mount.
If you are looking at 617 then look at Fotoman you will not be sorry you did.
T
Thanks.
Thank you for the kind remarks and nice to see someone else with a Fotoman here