I know there's a bit about this on the home page but I thought going into a little more detail could be helpful for some.

As you know if you've been looking for a 4x5 camera for long there is no lack of variety to be found. This is great as it gives you plenty of options to choose from and allows you to get the best tool for the photographic job you have in mind. However if you're new to view camera and 4x5 photography it can also be rather confusing.

I won't go much into one brand over another in this article. Instead I'll try and stick mainly to general view camera types and features.

So, one of the first things you may want to try and decide on is:

Monorail Camera VS Field Camera

This is a bit of a generalization but for the most part all 4x5 view cameras can be broken up into these two design categories.

Monorail Cameras:
A monorail style view camera is built around a central rail which the camera front and rear slide back and forth on to adjust focus. Typically this type of design allows for more movement of the lens and film planes than a field camera design. (If you're unfamiliar with "camera movements" in large format photography this is just referring to the ability to shift and tilt one or both ends of the camera in relation to the other in order to achieve a desired effect of distortion, or often times correction, such as with architectural photography.)

Another advantage is that monorails usually allow for more bellows extension and therefore a greater capacity for close up or macro work. In adition to this these cameras are usually a bit more stable due to the solid design of a single rail as the central attachment for the front and rear parts of the camera.

On the downside monorail systems tend to be notably heavier and bulkier than field cameras. This may not seem like too bad a thing since you're thinking about moving up to a large format camera anyhow - why not go all out? But it can definitely be a challenge if your photography will have you carrying your camera all over and setting it up and taking it back down multiple times in a short period. And don't forget, with a heavier camera comes a heavier tripod...

Field Cameras:
These cameras are the compact lightweight counterparts to the monorails above. They are most often designed to fold down and collapse in on themselves making a nice compact easily tote able package. A good 4x5 folding film camera usually takes up no more space than an average size slr with a couple of lenses thrown in with it. In addition to the tidy size they are usually constructed of wood where possible (as opposed to metal for most monorails) therefore further cutting back on weight.

The downsides are that they generally have less range for movements and the film plane and lens plane can't be separated by as large a distance, cutting down on their capacity for close up work. **This is not always true however. One exception that pops to mind is Ebony. They make some amazingly versatile field cameras capable of movements that are outdone by very few studio/monorail cameras... but you will pay for that ability and quality.

So in the end, like you probably knew all along, it really just depends on what kind of pictures you want to make. Here's what I would suggest. If you're wanting to set up studio shots in your garage (or kitchen or bedroom...) or if you want to mainly do still life work or close up well lit shots and probably if you want to do architectural work, go with a monorail setup.

If you want to get out and wonder around with your camera and certainly if you want to do landscape work (particularly nature related, ie. hiking or backpacking with your equipment) then by all means get a field camera. It will be lighter and most will still provide you with plenty of movement for most situations, such as focus correction.

I hope that's helped shed a little light on one of the things to look at when you're purchasing a 4x5 view camera. I'll be posting again soon on other features you'll want to keep in mind.