i am looking for my first view camera, which is reasonable for hiking, my target will be arca swiss 45 discovery, but just now i find Linhof Karden E 45, also have rail,even longer(18inch),but smaller lensboard, and similar price range as discovery. so anybody has experience of that Linhof camera, and which will be your choice? N.B. from linhof site , just a brief description of Karden E, even not mentioning the weight! thanks benz

-- benz (wchiping@hotmail.com), January 31, 2002

Answers

Hi benz,

actually I owne the Kardan E, too. It's the low budget version of a studio-camera, still big and can't be folded to a compact size for hiking. Normaly when I shoot landscapes I use a Technika. If you are looking for a compact design and want monorail, in case of Linhof's you should consider the Technikardan which folds up to a similar size. To make your own decision you should compare the two cameras side by side. The Kardan is a simple and not so compact design, so I would opt for the Discovery.

-- Thomas Vaehrmann (TVaehrmann@web.de), February 01, 2002.