Toyo VX23D with Fuji GFX 50R mounted. The lens is a Schneider Kreuznach Apo-Digitar 80mm f/4 (in barrel instead of the more common Copal 0 shutter). The standard Toyo rail is replaced with a lightweight aluminum rail in this picture.

The front and rear standards slide onto a Toyo rail and are held in place with a friction knob. The bag bellows is held on with clips.

The front standard accepts 110mm x 110mm Toyo lens boards for the Toyo Field 45A series cameras (and others, e.g., 23G). The rear standard has an opening specific to the VX23D. It accepts adapter boards for various medium format backs. I built a custom board to mount my GFX 50R (see below).

Front view. The standard holds to the rail via the friction knob (underneath). The double-knob on the left is for fine focus and focus lock. The knob on the right locks the tilt mechanism. The lever under the standard locks the swing mechanism. Shift takes place using the flat wheel on the left, underneath the number "4" on the shift scale. Swing and tilt are manual. Shift and focus are geared.

Rear view. The knobs, wheels and levers are exactly the same as on the front standard. Notice how the shift mechanism allows 20mm in one direction and 40mm in the other. It's the same on the front standard, so a combined shift of 60mm is possible.

Tilt mechanism has a zero detent, and allows 25 degrees of base tilt (forwards and backwards) on each standard.

Both standards allow the same amount of rise (70mm). Rear "rise" provides the "fall" movement.

Standards can mount on either side of the tripod block, or both on one side. I use them like this because it balances better on the tripod. The tripod block on the VX23D uses a foot that looks similar to an Arca-Swiss foot, but it's too wide for most Arca clamps. The clamp in this picture is a Hejnar F63, which opens wide enough for the Toyo VX23D foot. After making this picture, I machined the foot to Arca-Swiss dimensions so that I could use it with other clamps and heads.

The supplied Toyo rail is 24cm when the two sections are used. The standards and the tripod block will not fit on just the short section, but they fit easily on the long section, and allow enough distance to use longer focal length lenses. I can focus my Schneider Kreuznach Componon-S 180mm f/5.6 lens down to under 1m on the short rail.

For times when I need a lighter load, I replaced the supplied Toyo rail with a 12cm piece of a Toyo/Omega aluminum rail. It's hollow and very light compared to the original rail. The fine focus knobs allow 14mm of travel in each direction. This is enough to allow focusing to 1:2 with my longer lenses.

With my short, hollow rail, the camera is quite compact, and 350 grams lighter than it would be using both sections of the standard rail.

The bellows is a leather, bag-style unit. It attaches to the standards using clips that look similar to the ones visible here, which are for lens boards.

The rear standard has a square opening with rounded corners that mounts the "camera board". Notice the twin bubble levels. Sliding and stationary adapter boards for medium format backs were available.

I had to fabricate a custom "camera board" to mount my Fuji GFX 50R. My first one was a simple aluminum plate. This one is 3D-printed plastic. The camera mounts to a section cut from a Fotodiox Pentax 645 to Fuji GFX adapter. The weight of the GFX 50R camera is carried by a rim that was milled into the adapter; the rim fits into the hole in the camera mounting board. Screws hold the mount piece tight to the board.

Fuji GFX 50R attached in landscape orientation. There is plenty of room between the front of the camera and the camera board for my fingers to reach the front function button and the lens release button. It's possible to mount the camera even closer to the board, but that makes using the buttons impossible without a tool.

Switching to portrait orientation simply involves unclipping the board, rotating 90 degrees, and re-attaching. Both orientations work (i.e., top camera controls on the left, or on the right). The clip that holds the lens board in place does not lock. Not shown here is a small locking device I built to prevent that.

The Fuji GFX 50R sensor, seen from the front. The piece from the Fotodiox adapter is held to the camera board with four screws that are recessed into the board. The holes are filled and painted. Importantly, the weight of the camera is carried on the milled rim of the adapter, which rests on the inside of the hole. The screws simply hold the two pieces together.

Medium format lenses that can be mounted to a lens board and spaced to reach infinity usable on the VX23D. I use Pentax 645 lenses. To mount these, I used a Toyo recessed lens board and attached the front section cut from the Fotodiox Pentax 645 to Fuji GFX adapter that supplied the section I used for the camera mount. This part has the same milled rim as on the camera mount. Therefore, the weight of the lenses is carried by the milled rim, rather than by the four screws that hold the adapter part to the lens board. I have used the heavy Pentax 645 zooms with this arrangement, but I no longer use them because they are so heavy that they cause unwanted tilt. The smaller Pentax 645 primes are all fine (e.g., 35mm, 75mm, 150mm).

My solution to the tight space for the aperture ring is this white aperture turning tool that I attached to my lenses. I can operate the aperture from behind the camera using the lever. This tool is easy to make, and removable if necessary.

The Samyang 24mm f/3.5 Tilt-Shift lens is a new addition to my outfit. It adapts very well to my setup. I had to disassemble and re-mount on a Toyo lens board. The tilt and shift mechanism is removed, and those functions are peformed from the camera.

Pentax 645 lenses have their aperture control ring at the rear, close to the lens mount. There's very little space inside the recessed lens board for fingers to turn the aperture ring. It's possible, but a bit awkward.

The aperture turning tool covers the aperture numbers. Marks engraved into the ring line up with the numbers. I know my lenses well enough to know which aperture I'm using while I'm behind the camera (count the clicks).

Mamiya G lenses from the medium format Mamiya 6 rangefinder system are excellent performers on the GFX 50R. They require their own custom mount board, and a mount conversion. I converted my 50mm f/4 and 150mm f/4.5 Mamiya G lenses to the Olympus OM mount. The mount board is a standard Toyo recessed board with a 60.35mm hole for the rear of the lens, and a K&F Concept OM to EOS adapter attached on the rear.

The Mamiya G 50mm f/4 lens is small, light, and extremely sharp. It is almost free of distortion, and I have yet to see any issues with chromatic aberration. I had a skilled Mamiya repair person disassemble the lens and lock the shutter open. I then removed the electronic connections, and constructed a replacement mount using parts from an Olympus OM 50mm f/1.8 lens. These modifications are irreversible. The lens shifts up to 15mm without lens cast.

The Mamiya G 150mm f/4.5 is a compact and relatively light lens. It's extremely sharp and contrasty from wide-open. Like the Mamiya G 50mm f/4, it shifts cleanly 15mm. The modifications made to this lens also are irreversible.

I tried several 60mm enlarger lenses before finally settling on the Schneider Kreuznach Apo-Componon HM 60mm f/4. My copy is the industrial version in the Makro-Iris mount that uses the BV mounting system. The same lens cells are used in the enlarger version. To mount the Makro-Iris version on a standard 39mm x 1/26th inch thread enlarger board, like the Durst unit I screwed to the back of this Toyo recessed board, you need an adapter like the one you can see in this picture (silver ring on the rear-end of the lens). The more common enlarger version of the Apo-Componon 60mm f/4 screws directly to my board without needing an adapter. Instead of f-numbers, the Makro-Iris mount for machine vision systems uses numbers 1, 2, 3, etc to represent f/4, f/5.6, f/8, etc. Even with its small image circle (nominally 60mm at infinity), this superb lens can shift 9mm at infinity, and more at close distances.

Typically, people who used this camera when it first came out would have used lenses mounted in traditional shutters (Copal 0, Copal 1). This is a Schneider Kreuznach Apo-Digitar 80mm f/4 in a barrel. Normally these are fitted into a Copal 0 shutter. Both styles mount directly to a Copal 0 recessed Toyo lens board. (This is the shallow recessed board. The one used for the Pentax lenses is the deep board.)

The Schneider-Kreuznach Makro-Symmar 120mm f/5.9 is a superb macro lens. My copy is in the Schneider-Kreuznach Makro-Iris industrial mount used for line scanning applications. It mounts using an adapter that converts the native Schneider-Kreuznach BV mount system to M42. I then used an M42 adapter ring that passes through a Copal 1 hole on the flat Toyo lens board. At its design distances (ideally under 2m), this lens is incredibly sharp, contrasty, and free of aberrations from wide-open. However, at long distances, it needs to be closed down to f/11 for maximum sharpness across the whole frame. No special flare protection measures are needed beyond a hood; the lens has exceptionally good coatings.

The Schneider-Kreuznach Componon-S 180mm f/5.6 is an enlarger lens. However, mounted properly it's also an excellent taking lens that is sharp and contrasty even at infinity. Mounting it properly requires special care on the rear side. The huge image circle of this lens sends stray light everywhere. I rejected this lens initially because I thought it was low contrast and couldn't be protected from flare. It definitely needs a hood, and I use a much longer one than the one shown here. However, a hood is insufficient. Any shiny surfaces in adapters, like the one shown here, must be fully flocked, and I had to use a special flocked tube inside the adapter to eliminate stray light.

For times when lens hoods and shades do not provide enough protection from stray light, a Toyo compendium shade can be used.

The compendium shade attaches to the front standard and swings up and out of the way as needed. Longer lenses can be accommodated by using special extension rods that let the compendium slide further forward.

Medium format camera systems are not light! I work in the field, so a good transport system is essential. This is an Ortlieb Atrack 35 litre pack, an excellent, fully waterproof hiking day pack.

I built a custom foam insert for the VX23D and the GFX. Lenses and other parts are packed loosely in the remaining space.

The pack zips up with a waterproof T-zip on the rear side. I'm not keen to try for myself, but the pack can be submerged in water in emergencies.