In case you've never seen one, there is a Carbon Infinity up for bid on eBay at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1286891875

I have absolutely no affiliation with the seller of this camera - I don't know him from Adam. There are a lot of jpegs of this truly unique and rare camera accompanying his auction listing, so I thought some of you might want to see what one of these babies looks like.

P.S. for Tuan. Since the eBay listing will expire 30 days after the conclusion of the auction, you might not want to archive this post. Also, you might want to email the seller (or eventual buyer) and ask if they would want to write a review of the camera for your web site - or at the very least if the seller would allow you to lift the jpegs from his auction listing for inclusion on your web site.

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), October 18, 2001

Answers

Kerry I saw the camera you mention, although unusual I have serious doubts as to it's stability. My gitzo CF tripod has 1 and 1/2 inch thick legs...the little standards in this camera seemed to flimsy to me, in addition the way it extends on just a strip of CF rod...I don't know I certainly would not spend $6000 dollars on something like this, if I recall correctly it is the second time it has been put for auction. BTW the weight of my TK45 is 6 punds, and my Gandolfi 8x10 8 pounds, this camera is 7 pounds....why use CF if you end up with a camera just as heavy as the rest?...lol.

-- Jorge Gasteazoro (jorgegm@worldnet.att.net), October 18, 2001.

Greetings,

I actually saw and held one of these. It did appear to be quite stable and nicely made. The only thing I did not like about this camera is its size. Folded into its case it's quite a large package, bigger than some 5x7's. It also takes a bit to setup and break- down. Interesting nonetheless.

Regards,

-- Pete Caluori (pcaluori@hotmail.com), October 18, 2001.

As a word to the wise. Ken Hansen Photo has 4 or 5 new ones and will sell them new for $1800.00.

$6000.00 was a long time ago.

-- Bob Salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), October 18, 2001.

Jorge,

I'm certainly NOT recommending this camera to anyone. I've never seen or handled one in person (and I avoid recommending anything I haven't tried myself). Just thought folks might want to see some pictures of what one looks like.

As far as rigidity - again, I haven't used one - the legs on carbon fiber tripods are hollow, the standards and rails on this camera (from the picture) appear to be solid. Carbon fiber is a very light material, that CAN be very rigid. The rigidity of the material depends on how it is manufactured. The overall rigidity of a carbon fiber camera (or tripod) is also HIGHLY dependent on the mechanical design. Not saying the Carbon Infinity is or isn't a rigid camera, I don't know. Nor can I tell just looking at the pictures.

WRT price - was it really $6000? I seem to recall the price being more like $3000 back when the company was still in business.

"why use CF if you end up with a camera just as heavy as the rest"

This is the real mystery. I remember asking myself this very same question back when this camera first came out. Yeah, it self-cases and I seem to remember bold claims about the durability, but really, I don't stand on, or drive over my cameras. Nor do I know anyone who does.

Finally... Bob, thanks for the tip on Ken Hansen. Do they have a web site? I'm not in the market for a new camera, but if they really have several sitting around unsold, perhaps they might be willing to send me one for review. At $1800 it's priced more in line with other brands of comparable specification.

Kerry

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), October 18, 2001.

212 317 0923

-- Bob Salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), October 18, 2001.

The Ken Hansen website is www.phototoys.com, but it's not too informative.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), October 18, 2001.

WOW!! Groovy looking camera!! Seen an advert for one for sale but never known what they look like. A dealer here in the UK has had a used one advertised for about 3 years!! Priced at £2000 (UK pounds). Obviously price was their downfall? It would be really interesting to hear from anyone who has actually used one.

-- paul owen (paulowen_2000@yahoo.com), October 18, 2001.

BTW, this camera was made by 2 people in GB working basically in their garage so it is English in concept, design and execution.

-- Bob Salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), October 18, 2001.

"it is English in concept, design and execution"

As is the Gandolfi Traditional I am currently reviewing. You could not get two more different cameras in terms of materials, design or construction - or tenure. Seems like the Carbon Infinity folks went out of business almost immediately upon producing their first batch of cameras. Gandolfi, on the other hand is plugging along quite nicely in the 116th year.

Kerry

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), October 18, 2001.

Cool looking camera, and the case is straight out of Star Wars! $3- 6,000 buys a lot of camera, so I can see why they didn’t sell too many at that price, but for $1,800 it’s worth a look.

-- Michael Mahoney (mmahoney@nfld.com), October 18, 2001.

I'm not too hot with computers - why do I just get red x's instead of photos?

-- Wayne DeWitt (wdewitt@snip.net), October 18, 2001.

I used one as my field camera for many year, bought directly from factory for about $3000 when the U.S. price was $4500. I was happy with the camera until I switched to Fuji QuickChange film holder. QuickChange does not slide into the rear standard, have to remove the groundglass to fix the holder in place. Too many trouble. Bought a Linhof Technika 2000 to replace the Carbon Infinity. It is a great field and studio camera, has all the movements plus more.

Regards Hisun Hong Kong

-- Hisun Wong (hisun@mac.com), October 18, 2001.

All that fiber! It should keep its owner regular at least.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), October 19, 2001.

Note to Wayne on not being computer oriented... If you get the boxes with a little red X...Sometimes you can tweak the photo out by pointing your mouse at the box, click your right button, and selecting the "show picture" option.

I know this post isn't LF oriented, but it might help a few fellow surfers... -Dave

-- Dave Richhart (pritprat@erinet.com), October 19, 2001.

Kerry, thanks for the heads-up. I happened to see this add and my first reaction was indeed to save the images and then ask the seller for permission to republish.

-- Q.-Tuan Luong (luong@ai.sri.com), October 20, 2001.

Thanks Dave - that's how I usually handle the situation, but it wasn't working in this case. I changed some of the properties in Explorer and now right clicking does work. I'll take my rants anout Microsoft to another board.

-- Wayne DeWitt (wdewitt@snip.net), October 20, 2001.