Hello from Toronto

[Dianne Davis]

Hi everyone. I'm just taking the plunge into large format photography after a couple of aborted attempts and am happy to rediscover this forum. Most of my recent landscape photography has been with a Mamiya RZ 67 but I think it's time to try a 4x5.

I've got an old Crown Graphics press camera that I've taken a few shots with but I think I'm ready to try a monorail camera or a metal field camera. I've been talking with Bob Carnie and he suggested that I try a monorail camera. As I've got a bad back I'm just in the midst of determining how cumbersome/heavy that might be to take around - although Bob tells me there is a whole thread here regarding rolling cases that can help with that;)

Anyway, looking forward to exploring this amazing resource and meeting you all in these forums.
- Dianne

[Richard K.]

I'm sorry Diane but we have enough people from Toronto here...:D :)
Welcome to one of the last bastions of sanity left on the planet! Have you considered a light-weight wooden field camera such as a Wista or a Chamonix? They can be quite light and small and easy on the back...

[Oren Grad]

Welcome (back), Dianne! I lived in Toronto for a while myself, back in the days when the City Hall was brand new. :)

There are a few ultralight monorails - the Toho and Gowland models come immediately to mind. But as Richard said, do consider a wood-field camera as well. Pretty much any of them will provide you much more flexibility in movements than you have with your Graphic, and some of the better ones combine light weight with quite good rigidity.

[Marek Warunkiewicz]

Welcome Diane from the Annex!

What kind of things are you planning to shoot? Might have a couple of cameras you can look at to decide what you'd like. Bob's a friend of mine. He's always got good and sage advice.

Marek

[Frank_E]

and welcome from another "hog towner" (Central Toronto)
I am still a relative neophyte with this LF stuff, so will defer to the other experts on this forum with regards to equipment choices

if we get enough responses to this "Toronto thread" maybe we should form our own LF splinter group....

[Vick Vickery]

Welcome to group therepy, Dianne. :) I use a monorail in the field a lot since I do primarily architectural work; I don't find it to be a problem, but I am usually able to drive my truck to within feet of where I want to put the camera. If you plan to walk serious distances with your gear, then I, too, would tend to recommend a lighter field camera, many of which have as much movement available as a lot of 'rail cameras.

[Andrew O'Neill]

Toronto? Heard of it.... heh heh. Welcome aboard.
You could always transport your camera around in a three-wheeled baby buggy or a golf stroller.

[Dianne Davis]

Thanks for all the wonderful advice and the welcome. I'm mainly shooting landscapes and rarely, if ever, architecture so I think I've decided that I definitely will go with a field camera due to weight concerns. As one of the other members mentioned to me don't stress about trying to get the perfect camera the first time around as the first large format is very rarely your last!

I will definitely look into the wood field cameras but am leaning to the metal as I'm a little bit tough on my equipment, but the weight savings is intriguing.

Thanks again for all your comments.