Repost from 2009: my ultra-large format Phillips camera

One week ago, I had the pleasure to acquire a Phillips 8×16″ camera kit from Richard Phillips himself. He has been making view cameras since the early ’80s, stopped production a few years ago, and is now retiring to Texas. His cameras are known for being strong, light, compact, and have a novel focussing system that allows you to focus with one hand and tilt the back with the other. He made 9 or 10 of the 8×16″s. It weighs 9 pounds, folds down to fit in my semi-rigid pack, and came with 12 film holders. I like to think of it as an 8×10 with 3″ of extra film on each side.

Mr. Phillips was a gracious host in the middle of packing his Michigan household, and spent several hours with me going over every detail and question I had. His story is fascinating.

I have already learned a lot about these Ultra Large Format cameras – mostly patience.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009 AT 07:49PM

The lenses arrived in their sinar mounts on Friday, so I’ve had 2 days to try the camera out. It has been just a seemless transition to the 8×16 – I feel perfectly at home with this camera, I couldn’t be happier. The negatives look terrific, scratch free, evenly developed, a joy to process.
I guess all that experience with 4×5 is paying off.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2009 AT 08:27PM

It is rare to be able to ask someone “How did you get into making cameras for a living?”, so I couldn’t resist. Mr. Phillips was an 8×10 Deardorff user but was frustrated when using it in cold weather – the knobs were hard to rotate. He pondered building a camera and spent many months on ideas and sketches and came up with nothing really new. The break came on vacation in the upper peninsula, when he came down with a flu-type illness. He spent the day sketching in bed. Nothing. Woke at 4:00am with the design of the front standard and focusing drive mechanism (the basics of the entire camera) solved so he rapidly sketched it all down before he would forget.

I don’t recall all the sizes they were made in but 4×5 and 8×10’s were the obviously most popular. I know they also made 7×17’s, 11×14’s, 9 or 10 8×16’s, and I think 14×17’s which take advantage of cheap xray film holders. He even made one 5×7 for a European customer who wouln’t take no for an answer. She insisted and said there’s always a price for anything – name your price. So he quoted an exorbitant price and she said “sold!” (photographers who use 5×7 regard that size as particularly “sweet”). Total 5×7 production: 1

There are no knobs on Phillips Cameras – they use bars.