Gaoersi cameras

[Van Camper]

be careful quoting the manufactures their only interested in selling their product in particular i note all the rubbish on the fotoman web site re film flatness - any of the removable cone type cameras are able to have a spacer inserted between the body and the cone all you need is good quality fibre board a fret saw and some creativity
or a friendly machine shop to machine up an insert. Perhaps pauls afraid of the shen hao 6x17 which being a bellows camera will focus as close as you like and will also give substantial tilt and shift (fotoman can do this ?) and will take any kind of lens without having to change focus cones all the time

Do you own a Fotoman? Fotomans are known for film flatness if you did some reading on it. Making a spacer from fibre board....huh, good luck. Please show a photo of one that you have made, or don't you own one of these cameras, and it is all talk? You really don't know what you are talking about. Why would I make one when they are only $25 for a 10mm spacer. Some spacers can be up to 45mm....now how is 45mm of fibre board going to look at the base of the cone (it is not hidden out of sight).

Why would Paul be afraid of a Shen Hao 617 camera? Apparently you don't realize a Fotoman and Shen Hao are different, for different purposes? One comes with helical focusing, depth of field scale and hyperfocal scale, and finder....the other is a traditional view camera, and not hand holdable. I shoot wildlife with a Fotoman 617, something I can't do with a Shen Hao. You sure like to talk nonsense.

What rubbish are you talking about at the Fotoman website. The only rubbish I am seeing is coming from you.

[Van Camper]

any of the removable cone type cameras are able to have a spacer inserted between the body and the cone

Only the Fotoman has the ability to add spacers that I am aware of. It is the only camera I know of that can do very close focusing because of this feature, which has been a complaint by some of us using Goarsi, Technorama, Fuji, Widepan. Building a spacer is also not a good idea once you see what is involved ....grooves in them on both sides (male/female) to mate accurately to the cone and body. It is not just a flat surface that you could cut out of wood, gasket, metal. Unless you have screws like Fotoman/Goarsi use to mount cones to body, the locking mechanism might also not work on other models. To machine them can be done, but $. Photos show both sides of Fotoman 617 spacer (not so easy to tell from photo the differences). This is the 10mm spacer, and you can get them up to 40mm+. or combine different sizes. I always carry a spare in the bag which brings my 150mm Rodenstock Sironar S focus down to 1/2 from about 9ft.