The appearance of the 5x7 Ebony in ebony wood is more impressive than just about any camera I have seen. To quote one 4x5 Ebony owner, "it is a beautiful as a Leica". The cameras are not designed to look good but because of their functionality and the materials they use, the Ebony is a beauty.

Most of the metal parts are made of titanium, a metal that is extraordinarily expensive.Titanium is ideal for camera construction because it is very light, about five times as strong as steel and non corrosive. I do not know of any other camera maker other than Leica in special editions, that spends the money for titanium. The wood is Macassar ebony aged for at least 20 years so it won't warp or crack.It is a black wood with streaks of brown. Ebony is one of the very hardest woods, so it does not get dings like mahogany does.It is also very tough.Should you knock over the camera it is much less lokely to be damaged.The bellows are made of real calfskin, somewhat hardened so they won't sag. The carrying strap is cordovan (horsehide).

The camera has all movements except rear shift and fall. There is no top focus. Top focus is the ability of the camera back to be racked forward to focus wide lenses. I questioned Ebony about this. They say it would be too expensive and heavy to include, given their exacting standards. Instead they have included a second rear tilt to drop the bed if needed. This additional tilt may be used as a primary tilt and is much more easily tilted.

I tried a 75 mm Rodenstock n f4.5 lens on a flat lensboard. It was focusable at infinity with the standard universal bellows, but I had to use the front base tilt just a little to move the lens back. This impedes movements but a wide angle bellows or recessed lensboard should solve the problem.

Focusing is similar to most woodies. Focus on the right, lock on the left. The lock is a real lock, not a tightening snap. The bellows opens up to 23 inches from the ground glass to the back of the lensboard.That means that it will focus about a 560mm lens at infinity. Extension tubes and backs are made if that is not enough.A Sinar sized 5 1/2 inch lensboard is used, so the Ebony will take the old lenses. They include a technika board adapter.

There is a large titanium baseplate with 2 tripod mounting sockets, both 3/8, but one has a 1/4 adapter. Ebony houses the rear spirit levels in a miniature titanium box. There are 2 levels at right angles to each other. If the camera is above your head the levels may be observed by tilting the box's mirrored lid. There is also a front level.The front standard has a cold shoe to mount an optional lens shade holder. At least one photographer (not me) uses the shoe for a flash, though it is not wired.

Everything works smoothely. There was no flex at any time. The ruled ground glass is unusually bright.I needed no darkcloth indoors with the light in front of the camera.There is a marking for 6x17 and the camera has a graflock back so it easily takes the Canham 6x17 holder.

Overall this camera is the best in it's class. I loved it and hope to get one. The only complaints are the weight (8.8 lbs.)and the high but fully justified price, which is a little over $5000.