Shenhao HZX45-IIA
|
| Shen-Hao HZX45-II image by Russ Morris (Image rights) |
The HZX45-IIA is a 4x5-inch folding field camera made by Shanghai Shenhao in China. Though it is presumably version II of a design, it is one of the company's earlier cameras; it appears in the earliest archive of the company website at Internet Archive, saved in February 2001.[1]
The body of the camera was originally made from teak,[1] but is now made from black-walnut wood.[2] The archived website shows examples with plain brass metal fittings, a 'white' finish with what appears to be aluminium (or perhaps chromium-plated brass), and with black-finished metal. In Shen Hao's current website the camera is only offered with fittings that are black-finished, except for the two thick plates (for shift and swing) below the rear standard, which are certainly an unpainted, bright silver metal, perhaps aluminium. The site states that the fittings are 'copper' ('黄铜' - Huáng tóng - literally 'yellow copper' - is brass, and a brassy colour may be glimpsed on a few edges in photos of the camera at Flickr.[3]) However, US dealer Badger Graphic describes the camera as having stainless steel fittings,[4] and UK dealer Nik & Trick say they are anodised aluminium, as they really are on many other ShenHao cameras.[5][6]
The front standard is mounted on an inner board that racks out from the base board with knobs at the front on either side. The rear standard is mounted on a carriage that rides on rails on the sides of the base board, and it can be moved forward by about half the length of the board, to achieve the shortest bellows extension.
The standards have both base tilt and a little on-axis tilt; these must be used together to obtain the maximum bellows extension.[7]
At the rear, the camera has a reversing Graflex/international back. A folding hood for this is offered, as is a reflex viewer, and roll-film backs, including a 6x17cm one. The 2001 archived website also offered a sliding back for use with a 6x7 roll-film back.
Specifications
Taken from ShenHao's site, with the spec. given in the 2001 archived page for comparison. The most significant change in the spec. is that the current camera has a bigger minimum draw, and is significantly heavier, perhaps because of the change in the wood used:
| Bellows Draw | Front | Rear | Dimension, mm | Weight | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Min., mm | Max., mm | Rise, mm | Fall, mm | Shift, mm | Swing, deg. | Fwd base tilt, deg. | Backw base tilt, deg. | Rise, mm | Shift, mm | Swing, deg. | Fwd base tilt, deg. | Backw base tilt, deg. | Axis tilt, deg. | Width | Height | Depth | kg | |
| Current | 60 | 360 | 37 | 32 | n/a | ±17 | 90 | 45 | 45 | ±40 | ±20 | 90 | 20 | Not stated | 170 | 170 | 100 | 2.4 |
| 2001 | 45 | 40 | ±45 | 30 | ±10 | 95 | 2.2 | |||||||||||
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 HZX45-IIA in the archive copy of the ShenHao website at Internet Archive, February 2001. Text rather fragmented, but has more (if small) photos of the camera than the current site.
- ↑ HZX45-IIA at Shen Hao (current).
- ↑ For example, in this photo by olitec32.
- ↑ HZX45-IIA at Badger Graphic.
- ↑ HZX4-IIA at Nik & Trick.
- ↑ See also forum post Shen Hao Hzx 45 hardware made of what? at Photrio: an inconclusive discussion presumably because owners have cameras of different ages. One poster (fifth post) describes the fittings of his early example of the camera as some kind of pot metal, with some definite copper content.
- ↑ In forum post Tachihara vs Shen Hao at Photo.net, one poster (fourth post) states that the full extension is obtained only by combining base and axis tilt of the standards.
