Joe Kashi's Wedding Present from his Wife (a Nagaoka)

Words and pictures by Joe Kashi

Joe Kashi's wedding present from his wife

Joe Kashi: Here's the back story about my Nagaoka 4x5. It was my first large format camera, a 1976 wedding present. I still own and use it.

While at MIT in the early 1970s, I had some photography coursework with Minor White and first became acquainted with large format photography in the process. But, I could only afford a screw-mount Pentax Spotmatic and a few lenses, which I also retain.

After MIT, I moved to DC in 1973 to attend law school. While in DC, I married a woman who was an accomplished artist, a painter in oils. (By the bye, she studied at the Corcoran through high school.) We often backpacked in West Virginia's Spruce Knob/Dolly Sods wilderness, and getting a super-light and compact large format camera seemed a natural.

Just before we married in 1976, we saw an ad for a new Nagaoka, then being imported by Graphic Imports of Honolulu. We surmised that any craftsman still building wooden cameras in 1976 was elderly and likely not long for this world—that was 44 years ago! So, we promptly ordered one as my wedding present from her. My camera is engraved as serial number 517. I recall that it cost about $600 new, a non-trivial sum for a law student in 1976. [Inflation Calculator: $2,741 today —Ed.]

The only lens that I could afford back then was an older 120mm Goerz Dagor, which turned out to be a sharp, handy lens that worked well with 4x5 color film, even though it was not coated.

Some of my nicest early images were made with that 120mm Dagor, so of course I sold the lens, the only time I've ever sold any photography gear. I regret doing so to this day and could never find another Dagor in that focal length. Currently, the camera sports a 145mm Zeiss Double Protar VIIa triple convertible lens.

Fast forward to 2020, when I have been living in semi-rural Alaska for decades. Now, my preferred non-digital format is 5x7 B&W. When I saw the article about Mr. Nagaoka not only alive but still at work, I hazarded an inquiry about whether he might be willing to construct a 5x7 field camera comparable to my 4x5. Apparently, he's ill at the moment but I'm willing to wait.

If Mr. Nagaoka is able and willing to make a 5x7 comparable to his compact 4x5, I promise to put it to good use. I've looked for a 5x7 Nagaoka on eBay for years without success although some were reputedly made in years past.

Although I have other 5x7 cameras now, I have zero doubt that a new Nagaoka 5x7 would be the epitome of a super-light-weight but practical 5x7 field camera. (Outdoor photographers can be a bit weird about an extra pound or two. It's probably no surprise that my digital preference is Micro 4/3.)

I've weighed the Nagaoka against other ultra-light-weight 4x5 cameras like my Toho FC-45X and Calumet-Gowland. The Nagaoka is noticeably lighter than even these, and easier to use.

By the way, it folds intuitively and easily. I've never had a problem with the bellows.

Out of curiosity Friday evening, I looked for other Nagaoka cameras on eBay and found several. One 4x5 claimed a serial number identical to mine, 517. After a double-take, I double-checked. Mine's definitely #517.

That eBay camera is advertised as "mint" but looks as though it's been used to pound large nails. It seems such a shame to do that to a camera that was jewel-like when left Mr. Nagaoka's small shop!

Joe Kashi

UPDATE Monday Sept. 21 from Joe Kashi: "Hi, all: A few replies consolidated as one comment:

1. Between 2006 and 2018, I went fully digital, mostly Micro 4/3 but also with a full-frame kit that's heavier than the 4x5 outfit. I began adding large format film back into the operational mix two years ago because I felt that I was becoming stale using a digital-only approach. The slower, more thought-out large format film approach is, for me, a good complement to digital-only. I occasionally take my Olympus Pen-F along to meter and use its B&W mode to help frame and visualize large format images faster. Melding classic and modern tools makes sense.
2. Unfortunately, I don't have a large format photo gallery online. While I've had a fair number of solo exhibits and juried show acceptances, there's no online gallery. I'm still a firm member of the mounted large print school.
3. The closest optics that I've found to that classic 120mm Dagor are a late-model Schneider 120mm Angulon, itself a more recent 'reverse Dagor' design, and a multicoated 125mm ƒ/5.6 Fujinon NWS. They’re both sharper, almost as light, and less expensive used than classic Dagor lenses. Redesigned late model US-made and Swiss-made Dagors using modern optical glass and still-repairable shutters are superlative but very expensive on the used market. Typical of most classic field cameras, the Nagaoka handles lenses from 75mm (21mm-e on full-frame) to 300mm (85mm-e) without fuss or hassle. Large format is largely extreme-wide-angle through short-telephoto photography."

Original contents copyright 2020 by Joe Kashi. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Please help support The Online Photographer through Patreon

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Fred Haynes: "This is a pretty camera! Jewel-like is right. The metal fittings are shiny and new looking. Are these fittings and controls off the shelf? Or does Mr. Nagaoka custom manufacture those as well? As beautiful as it is, it’s not something I’d be interested in unless I was younger, lived in a more picturesque part of the country, and had a good working darkroom, and a few bucks in my pocket. The last is the most important! Oh, I like the pictures you took that support the writing. Very nice!"

William Schneider: "In 1984, Petersen's Photographic magazine published a 'buyer's guide' comparing features and cost of various studio 4x5 cameras and folding field cameras. In a fit of nostalgia from reading recent posts, I scanned the summary chart and placed it online. This list, while chock full of view camera choices, omits some field cameras like Tachihara and Ikeda. It was indeed the golden age for view camera photography."

Philip Ramsden: "My introduction to 4x5 was while working for Leica in the 1980s. We had the Linhof agency. So my wife found a Linhof 'press type' camera, no movements and a 127mm lens. It served me well until I started teaching Scientific Photography at one of our colleges. We taught students to use movements on our 4x5 studio cameras. My next move was to an Ebony because Linhofs are heavy. Ha ha! Ebony is one of the heaviest timbers around and my camera is probably as heavy as the Linhof. But the results are superb. I only shoot B&W and process at home. If the shots are good enough I have a 4x5 enlarger so can make an 8x10. Bliss. I still shoot 35mm B&W and digital with Fuji cameras but that is for colour. Thanks for all the photos of the Nagaoka."

Luke: "I took my 4x5 Crown Graphic to the baseball stadium back when the Braves were big losers and the place was only one-third full. I set it up across the field from the spectators to shoot back at the action. A security guy soon showed up, saying 'No video!' After he got a closer look, he said: 'Oh! That's the kind of camera they used to take your picture sitting on a pony when you were a kid!' My antique 'pony' camera captured a view of about half the stadium. With a loupe on the original chrome, I can easily see my wife and her dad in the crowd, and see his wristwatch."

Comments

[JOHN B GILLOOLY]

Joe, do you happen to have a gallery where we could see some of the images you made with this camera? Great article!

[Sal Santamaura]

"...If Mr. Nagaoka is able and willing to make a 5x7 comparable to his compact 4x5, I promise to put it to good use...I have zero doubt that a new Nagaoka 5x7 would be the epitome of a super-light-weight but practical 5x7 field camera...

In this post by Oren, he points out that Nagaoka-san's current camera production is based on the Phillips front standard design, so a new 5x7 wouldn't fold or necessarily weight the same as Joe's 4x5:

https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?159962-Nagaoka-cameras-are-still-made-in-Japan-The-story-of-a-wooden-LF-craftsman&p=1567315&viewfull=1#post1567315

[adamct]

If you don't mind sharing, I would love to see some of your pictures!

Best,
Adam

[Rob de Loe]

Wonderful story! My 4x5 field camera was a Wisner Technical Field in cherry. At the time I recall some hassles getting the thing. Now, after reading all the horror stories from other people, I'm surprised and grateful I got it at all!

I don't have it anymore so I can't compare, but the folded picture of the Nagaoka suggests it is slimmer folded than my Wisner (so kudos to Mr. Nagaoka for the craftsmanship and design).

[Crabby Umbo]

I have to laugh about the lens...for years, at a studio I worked at, we had a one million year old Carl Zeiss 250mm f/4.5, uncoated, in an old compound shutter (fuggedabout syncing with strobe), and I, and everyone else, used that thing from 1:1 macro-photography, all the way up to infinity, and I still look at the sheet film (including 8 X 10 at 1:1), and I can't believe how sharp it is!

[Joe Kashi]

It was my oversight, but I neglected to mention the focal length range that this 4x5 Nagaoka can accommodate.

75mm is the shortest ultra-wide-angle lens that works easily with a standard flat Technika lens board. The 75mm pictured above is a modern Fujinon SW 75mm/f8, equivalent to a 21mm lens on full-frame.

The longest usable lens is the 305mm/f9 G-Claron pictured above. It's roughly a full-frame e-85mm. The older Schneider 305mm/f9 Repro-Claron is just as sharp and somewhat smaller and lighter, a plus for a light wooden field camera.

[JohnW]

Good craftsmanship NEVER goes out of style.

[Earl Dunbar]

Well, Joe might want to look at this eBay listing. It may not be the same version of the Dagor he owned, and the description and photos don't bode well. And I bet Joe has moved on to something more capable in that focal length.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-C-P-GOERZ-DOPPEL-ANASTIGMAT-DAGOR-KOILOS-120MM-F-6-6-LARGE-FORMAT-LENS-4X5/184448481000

[Rick in CO]

I enjoyed using a 4x5 Nagaoka with a Fuji-L 210mm f5.6 Tessar-type lens for several years. Mine had the dual round knob releases for the front swing as shown in the previous post. Very nice for hiking into the mountains - just don't let the wind catch it!

[Dan Khong]

Joe

Thank you for your treatise on LF experience. Although I've never used one, I remember how these were used by the school cameraman to take pictures of class groups year after year. The funny part was of course the way the photographer covered himself with a cloth before he took the shot.

Two #517 (or more?) is interesting. Since you bought new, that must be the real McCoy. Unless of course they reused the same number again, over and over - like 007.

Dan K.

[William Wragg]

Intrepid are now doing a 5x7, super lightweight like all their cameras https://intrepidcamera.co.uk/products/intrepid-5x7