This is a set of user notes on the Shen-Hao HZX4x5-II 4x5 field camera.
The Shen Hao is one of the cheapest new 4x5 cameras available. The camera is made by Shang Hai Shen Hao Professional Camera Company Ltd. http://www.shen-hao.com/. The version I have is made from Teak and black stainless steel and is sold in the US by Badger Graphic Sales, Inc. http://www.badgergraphic.com as the Shen-Hao HZX 4X5-IIA Camera (Item #: 2594) $625.00. The various web sites which describe this camera are inconsistent with regard to weight and size (due in part to the availability of different woods, and of either bronze or steel fittings from the Chinese factory). The version sold in the US by Badger Graphics weighs 5 pounds six ounces. It is 6.7 inches high, 6.7 inches wide, and 3.75 inches deep. It has front rise, fall, tilt and swing, and rear rise, tilt, swing, and shift. The rear standard moves forward for use with wide angle lenses. It comes with a graflok back which can be mounted either horizontally or vertically, and takes Linhof Technika lensboards.
Shen Hao closedI bought my Shen Hao after six years of doing large format landscape photography with a Supergraphics after I decided I really would like rear movements. My style of landscape photography involves backpacking for long day hikes (for example, 15 miles yesterday), so I concluded that I needed another field camera rather than a monorail. After looking at the alternatives (and their prices), I decided that a Shen Hao would meet all of my needs for a thousand dollars or more less than its competitors, even if the latter were used rather than new. So I ordered a camera, a bag bellows, a focusing hood, and three lensboards from Jeff at Badger Graphics. The rest of this page outlines my experiences with comparisons to the Supergraphics.
In terms of logistics, the Shen Hao is a few ounces lighter than the Super Graphics, and about the same size. The protrusions (knobs) make it a bit harder to pack. Set up is not quite as fast, since you cannot leave a lens mounted, and there are no infinity stops or rangefinder for quick presets. It is still fairly fast to set up -- yesterday I found a pika sitting on a large rock as I came over a ridge, and got the camera set up in time to get a picture of it. The main disadvantage involves fragility (or my perception thereof) -- with the metal Supergraphics I would just dump the camera in a regular backback with no padding. Given the nice teak on the Shen Hao, I feel I ought to pad it, so I wrap it in ensolite (which negates the slight weight advantage) if packing it in a regular backpack -- I am also more likely to use a padded Tamrac camera pack which holds the camera, two or three lenses, and a couple of graphmatics.
The movements all work, and the camera is fairly solid with everything locked down. With the 360mm lens, the setup is less solid than I would like, although part of this is due to the tripod/ballhead which I use for backpacking. Never-the-less, it is less solid that the Supergraphics. With shorter lenses, this had not been a problem.
I remounted all of my Supergraphics lenses onto Shen Hao or Technika lensboards. The only problem was that both my 65mm and my 90mm Super Angulons are mounted in size 00 shutters, and the recessed lens boards come only in size 0, 1 and 2. I epoxied washers of the appropriate size to the lensboards to reduce the opening, which is klugy but functional. The recessed lensboards come with an external cable release socket connected to the shutter by a piece of piano (music) wire (size 055). The piece of wire packaged with the lenses was long enough if you get it right the first time (with the 65mm lens I didn't), but four foot lengths are only half a dollar at a hardware store even here in central Alaska. The regular bellows can be replaced easily with the bag bellows. The bag bellows is useful with the 90mm lens, although one can get reasonable movements without it. It is less useful with the 65mm lens, partly because of reduced lens coverage (at least with my f/8 Super Angulon) but also because of interference between the front standard and the camera body with extensive use of movements.
The ground glass is dim (I had a fresnel lens on the Supergraphics which made it seem brighter) although calibration for metering through the ground glass reveals that there is no real difference. Most of my lenses are f/8, and I have a great deal of difficulty seeing the corners of the image -- especially if I have left the dark cloth at home and am using my jacket. I bought the extra viewing hood, but it does not seem as useful as the one on the Supergraphics -- in retrospect, I would not have bought it. It does swing out of the way nicely to allow direct access to the ground glass, which is a major improvement over the Supergraphics where I had to remove the hood frequently. Shen Hao from the rear with the hood swung out of the way. The graflok back is sturdy enough to work with grafmatics and rollfilm backs - even the large 70mm 50 exposure ones. The ground glass is marked for 6x7 rollfilm.
Last month I spent a week day hiking in Kluane National Park in the Yukon Territories with the Shen Hao, lenses, film holders, and various accessories, food and clothes in a medium-sized internal-frame backpack. This week I packed the same (less the 360mm lens and the sweater) into a small Tamrac photopack for a trip into the White Mountains north of Fairbanks. The main disadvantage of the backpack was coming up with padding for everything (which didn't matter with the Supergraphics) - I will probably end up making a set of custom padding for the pack. Oh, the pictures came out great :-)
The Shen Hao is much more flexible than the Supergraphics, and only slightly harder to set up. Size and weight is about the same. Either is a couple of pounds heavier than a Wisner pocket expedition for example, but also alot cheaper, and therefore IMHO more suited to being packed up hill and down dale.
