Is a “Zone” Large Format Camera with gold plating legit?

Question

Has anyone heard of the brand "Zone", who makes large format cameras? I've been looking into buying a 4x5 large-format camera, and have been digging through eBay items. I came across this one:

NEW ~ Zone VI 4x5 Large Format Field Camera RARE MINT

It looks nice...however I am curious about the "Gold Plated Hardware" comment. Seems a little sketchy for a $1200 camera...a Linhof costs some five times as much, and it looks a lot less pretty. Is this thing legit? Is "Zone" a viable brand, or should I stick with the well-known brands like Linhof, Wista, Tachihara, etc.?

Answer

The brand is actually "Zone VI" and yes, it's a real, legitimate LF camera. Here's a blurb on that camera from largeformatphotography.info (which has a lot of good info on various large format stuff).

No idea on the gold plating, through.

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