C41
Kodak Portra 160
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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The Linhof Color Press (1958) is a simplified folding 4x5 technical camera produced by Linhof GmbH of Munich, positioned below the Technika IV in the product line. Where the Technika IV and V offered the full suite of geared and friction front movements — rise, fall, shift, tilt, swing — the Color Press reduced the movement set to front rise and swing only, giving the camera a lighter, less complex front standard. The result was a camera that could be manufactured at a lower cost, making the Linhof quality of construction accessible to newspaper press photographers and commercial studios that did not require perspective-correcting movements in all axes.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 4x5 format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Before you buy used
The Color Press is uncommon enough that inspection opportunities should be taken seriously:
Prices typically range $600–$1,400 depending on included lenses and overall condition. Examples with a cammed 150mm lens in working condition command the higher end of this range.
About this camera
A streamlined 4x5 technical camera aimed at press and commercial photographers who needed Linhof quality without the full movement complement of the Technika.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 4x5 in (roll-film backs: 6x9 via Super Rollex) |
| Mount | Linhof Technika lensboard (96 x 99 mm) |
| Years | 1958–1966 (approximate) |
| Bellows extension | ~320 mm maximum |
| Front movements | Rise, swing (simplified — no shift, tilt, or fall) |
| Rear movements | None (fixed back) |
| Rangefinder | Coupled, with cammed lenses |
| Viewfinder | Interchangeable optical bright-line |
| Ground glass | Removable with film-holder substitution |
| Build | Aluminium, steel, leather covering |
| Weight | ~2,300 g (approximate) |
| Battery | None |
By the late 1950s Linhof occupied the premium end of the 4x5 folding technical camera market, with the Technika IV retailing at a price that put it out of reach of many newspaper photographers and smaller studios. The American Graflex Speed Graphic and Crown Graphic dominated the international press photography market on price; Linhof had no equivalent mid-range product.
The Color Press was introduced in 1958 to address this gap. It used the same lensboard system and rangefinder architecture as the Technika but with a reduced-movement front standard that lowered manufacturing cost and simplified operation for photographers who did not need the full Technika movement range. The name "Color" likely reflects the period's association of colour commercial photography — increasingly common in advertising and magazine work by the late 1950s — with the camera's intended commercial-studio applications.
Production overlapped with the Technika IV (1956–1963) and into the Technika V era. By the mid-1960s the 35mm press market had shifted decisively toward motor-driven 35mm SLRs for news work, reducing demand for 4x5 press cameras across the board. The Color Press was discontinued, with no direct successor.
The Linhof Color Press sits in a specific historical position: it is the German industry's response to American press-camera dominance, offering Linhof build quality and the Technika lensboard ecosystem at a more accessible price. It was made in a period when the 4x5 press camera was genuinely used in the field under deadline conditions, not as a studio instrument.
On the current used market it is rarer than the Technika III, IV, or V. Collectors of Linhof products seek it as a less-common variant; practical photographers value it as an entry point into the Technika lensboard and accessory system. The reduced movement range makes it less versatile than the full Technika for architectural work, but for landscape and portraiture where front rise is the primary movement needed, it performs identically.
The Color Press uses the same lensboards as all Technika generations:
Rangefinder cams are required for coupled rangefinder use and must match the specific focal length; the same cams used on Technika IV/V bodies work on the Color Press for lenses that were available in that era.
BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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