4x5 Tachihara
A light 4x5 made in Japan, that folds up into a small package.
4x5 Tachihara on a Ries J250 tripod head (Color photos of the camera were made with a Nikon F, 55mm f/3.5 Micro-Nikkor-P.C, and Portra 400.)
Good for long-distance travel and hiking
The Tachihara is a ‘wood field’ camera made in Tokyo. Among large format cameras, it is unusually light and compact. The camera, one lens, a half-dozen film holders, a wooden tripod, and the rest of a 4x5 view camera kit is portable enough for a trip involving air travel and hiking along the trail.
Using the 4x5 Tachihara in the field. Cambodia, 2001. The camera bag is visible under the tripod. Photo data not recorded.
The Bayon (Angkor region, Cambodia). 4x5 Tachihara, 150mm f/5.6 Caltar II-N, Plus-X. Negative: 2001. Print: Platinum-palladium, 2025.
4x5 Tachihara.
Other Japanese 4x5 wood field cameras
There were other Japanese wood field cameras: Anba Ikeda, Nagaoka, Hasemi, Wista, and more. They’re similar to the Tachihara but with detail design differences. None are in production today.
Roppongi, Tokyo. 4x5 Tachihara, 90mm f/8 Schneider Super-Angulon, Tri-X, early 2000s.
4x5 Tachihara.
Roppongi, Tokyo. Negative: 4x5 Tachihara, 150mm f/5.6 Caltar II-N, FP4+, early 2000s. Print: Cyanotype on Strathmore 300 watercolor paper. 2023. A different interpretation of this negative is in the portfolio, ‘More platinum-palladium prints’.
4x5 Tachihara at full extension. On an older model Bogen/Manfrotto 3047 tripod head.
Hotel Room Arlington, Va. 4x5 Tachihara, 90mm f/8 Schneider Super-Angulon, Tri-X, mid-2000s.
References / further reading
Adams, Ansel. The Camera. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980. A Japanese 4x5 wood field camera is on p. 32.
Stroebel, L. 1993. View Camera Technique, 6th ed. Boston: Focal Press.