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About Us

Chamonix View Camera was founded in 2003, by a Chinese photographer and mountaineer on a mission to design and build the lightest, most rigid, and most beautiful cameras for large format photographers. Now, our team of experienced craftsmen has grown from eight to fifteen in our small workshop in Haining city of Zhejiang Province, China. At Chamonix, cameras are designed by photographers for photographers. 

There is an old Chinese saying:

A journey of ten thousand miles starts with the first step. 千里之行,始于足下。

We took our first few steps with encouragement and support from photographers all over the world. We are humbled and are very grateful for that support. 

Now, 21 years later, Chamonix View Camera builds 18 different camera models in formats ranging from 4x5 to 24x32. We carry the popular 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 cameras, as well as cameras with unusual formats such as 5x8, 6.5x8.5, 7x17, 8x20, and 12x20. In addition, we also make beautiful film holders and accessories for all the formats we build.

We make tools for photographers to release their creativity. Today, you can see our cameras all over the world. From Antarctica to the arctic coasts, and Mt. Everest to Sahara desert. Glorious and beautiful images are created daily by our camera users today.

 

 

Best Sellers

 

 

Update About Wood

Although some cameras shown in these pages are made of sapele, North American sugar (hard) maple, and American walnut, now we only use teak and cherry. We have deliberately limited the woods we use because we have stringent requirements of stability in the wood used to build a camera or film holder. Both teak and cherry are woods of exceptional color, grain and stability. woods are aged/cured for many years before use to ensure their stability. Thus in this website you will see cameras that are made of woods that are no longer available; we show these cameras to show you the very high standard of fit and finish that are hallmarks of the Chamonix team's work.  

 

 

Featured Videos

 

The 45N-2 is our most popular camera, and Michael Gordon gives you an excellent introduction to the construction and features of Chamonix View Cameras.   

Martin Sowter demonstrates the wet plate process.


 

 

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