Call me crazy but...

[Shootar401]

You have no idea how many times I'd just want to say F- it all and sell my Nikon F4 & F5 kit a long with my RZ67 kit and replace it with a nice Speed Graphic. I mean, who says I can't take a 4x5 on vacation? I might get strange looks at the zoo or county fair, but who really cares? I have two monorails right now and obviously can't take them anywhere without much hassle. I could have a blast with a Speed or Crown graphic as my only handheld camera. Shoot HP4 with sunny 16 and be happy!

Yes I know its probably a dumb idea, but It's one that's been with me for a few months now.

Just my 2 cents.

[Cletus]

There are quite a few options out there for handheld 4x5s if that's what you really want to do. Frankly, it doesn't sound like LF suits your style of photography very well, based on what you've been using and where you want to shoot.

If 'classic photography' is your thing, why not just trade in your Nikons for a nice Leica M6 and a 50 'Cron and be done with it?

BTW - if you do decide to go the LF handheld route, I'd suggest HP5 rather than FP4...those couple stops will make all the difference. ;)

[Corran]

Why does he need a Leica and Summicron? It isn't going to be any better in IQ really, but it will of course be smaller. If that's the only problem I say get a Nikon F and use the lenses he has. Or if he wants a RF, maybe a Canonet or similar.

That said, I think there's something to be said for shooting handheld 4x5 for enjoyment, as anyone knows if they've followed my posts about my Polaroid conversion.

As long as you can afford the film - go for it!!

[RawheaD]

I took a trip out SW US this summer. I hit Zion, Grand Canyon N. Rim, Page, Monument Valley, Canyonlands, and Arches Nat. Park. Went on quite a few hikes as well, including a 10 mile hike at G. Canyon.

My camera bag consisted of my 5Dmk2 with a couple lenses, and my Pacemaker Speed Graphic w/ MC Super-Angulon 75/5.6. And I mostly shot with the SG :-)

So yes, it's very feasible.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7260/7772178644_05c4cbe91c_b.jpg

[Cletus]

No doubt. I wasn't really trying to discourage the OP from going LF if that's what he wants to do, I guess I may have been reading between the lines a little and it sounded to me like he was describing a style of photography that could have been better suited to a small camera.

As for using LF press cameras handheld, I guess that's what they were designed for in the first place, so I say go for it! It's obvious from the last couple posts here that others have been quite successful with these cameras. I guess maybe I'm a little biased and should've stayed out of the conversation - when I think of LF, it's specifically because of the fact that it tends to be a slower, tripod based process, not as well suited to handheld (or Steet type 'grabshot' use) as something like a Leica. My bad.

[Cletus]

Rawhead - that's a beautiful shot BTW! Mark one up for the Graphics!

[Shootar401]

when I think of LF, it's specifically because of the fact that it tends to be a slower, tripod based process, not as well suited to handheld (or Steet type 'grabshot' use) as something like a Leica. My bad.

Probably why I get 80-90% keepers with my LF gear compared to 50% or lower with my 35mm and MF kit.

[Frank Petronio]

If you want "keepers" of high quality, then a good medium format rangefinder like a Fuji 6x9 or Mamiya 7 - or a DSLR with a good lens - is going to produce the best results. Not that you can't make good pictures with anything but in terms of hitting focus, good exposure ranges, ability to handhold in lower light, cleanliness of the film, bang for buck ~ Just my two cents after using nearly all the options.

[AuditorOne]

I have this same crazy idea and I have been packing my 4x5 Crown Graphic around at least once a month. So far my results are not what I would prefer but I have figured out there is a bit of a learning curve with this camera. I do agree with Cletus though, I think it is better to work with Tri-X or HP-5 than the 100 and 125 film I've been using so far.

I just wish Kodak produced 12 sheet boxes instead of 10. At least then I'd get two Grafmatic loads from a box of Kodak Portra.

[BradS]

Not crazy nor dumb. A 4x5 Crown Graphic has been my main camera for about four or five years. I take it every where and only use it hand held or on a monopod...same as a small format camera. Even on vacations and business trip. I get lots of question but not really any strange looks.

Go for it!


Here are a few examples...of snap shots with the Crown Graphic. These are all hand held, range finder focus, sunny-16


http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1211/5158303593_82b66a08e9_b.jpg
Quito - from front of la Basilica


http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4123/4854830541_7b04f78be2_b.jpg
camping at Bodega Bay



http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4136/4854829059_3b5dc334c0_b.jpg
Bodega Bay

[Steve Smith]

Just do it. Don't try to live up to expectations of others or some idea you have of what you should be doing.

It's better to try it and realise it's not for you than regret not trying it.


Steve.

[Clive Gray]

You could try some of the Medium format folders from the fifties you can find nice ones not very much and the quality can be really good. I recently got a Zeiss Ikon Super Ikonta that I am liking a lot mini review of it here (http://blog.bkspicture.com/review_Zeiss_Ikon_Super_Ikonta_534_16.html) and Agfa Isolette's go for peanuts.

[jp]

It's not a dumb idea. I usually have a speed graphic in my car/truck. If I don't, I have a rolleiflex which is another good simple choice. Either way, load it up with 400 film (I choose tmax 400, Ilford's a good choice too) and use it once in a while when a monorail would be too much work. I use the speed handheld, on a tiltall, or a monopod. A speed graphic is comparable in weight to a pro quality DSLR with a pro lens on it, and a TLR is lighter than most DSLRs I've owned.

[BrianShaw]

+1... not dumb idea. I've been doing just that for more years than I care to mention. I wouldn't give up my smaller format gear, but...

[Dan Fromm]

You have no idea how many times I'd just want to say F- it all and sell my Nikon F4 & F5 kit a long with my RZ67 kit and replace it with a nice Speed Graphic. I mean, who says I can't take a 4x5 on vacation? I might get strange looks at the zoo or county fair, but who really cares? I have two monorails right now and obviously can't take them anywhere without much hassle. I could have a blast with a Speed or Crown graphic as my only handheld camera. Shoot HP4 with sunny 16 and be happy!

Yes I know its probably a dumb idea, but It's one that's been with me for a few months now.

Just my 2 cents.Not a dumb idea, but before you do it think hard about how many focal lengths you use on an excursion.

A Graphic with a Kalart range finder can be used, in practice, with just one lens. Setting up the RF for another lens is fiddly, can take half an hour. If just one lens will do for you, go ahead.

Graphics with top range finders can be used, in practice, with more than one lens but (and it is a big but) finding RF cams to match the lenses you want to use won't be easy. For more on this, go to www.graflex.org, read the FAQs (I'm not sure they say anything about making cams but reading them won't do you much harm), use the search function, and ask on the forum.

If you're going to use a Graphic mainly on tripod then you can focus and compose on the GG and are free to use any lens that will make infinity on the camera.

If you decide to get a Graphic, think hard about how badly you want to use short lenses. The 4x5 Pacemaker Speed Graphic's minimum flange-to-film distance is 66.7 mm, the 4x5 Crown's is 52.4. For a variety of reasons, you really need two Graphics, a Speed and a Crown.

As for using barrel lenses with a Speed's focal plane shutter, well, I shoot barrel lenses on mine and am much happier with the lenses hung in front of a leaf shutter. The reason? a Pacemaker Speed Graphic's focal plane shutter's slowest timed speed is 1/30.

Good luck, have fun,

Dan

[Brian C. Miller]

I could have a blast with a Speed or Crown graphic as my only handheld camera. Shoot HP4 with sunny 16 and be happy!

Yep, that's the idea! If you really, really need movements, then buy a Super Graphic or a Linhof. If you don't need movements, then anything with a rangefinder is fine. The 135mm lens length works great for a lot of stuff, no problems there. HP5, Tri-X, or TMY is what you want to use when shooting handheld. Otherwise, once you wind up in the shade, you'll definitely need a tripod or you'll have to live with some hand shake in the image. For changing film on vacation, get a large tent like a Changing Room or a Harrison. The Changing Room is a horrific squeeze for 8x10, but 4x5 is pretty decent in it.

For the rest of you: he has monorail cameras right now, and the rest are roll film cameras. I have a Calumet Orbit 4x5, and I've actually never used the thing. I need to donate it and get it out of my closet. I keep using my Super Graphic, no problem.

For using my camera hand-held, I've found that the sports finder and the distance gauge on the top get things close enough. If you tote a tripod, just attach it, and leave it attached. With the legs folded, it becomes a monopod.

Go for it. You won't be sorry.

[BradS]

I've brought my Crown Graphic to so many of my sons' cub scout / boy scout outtings that it rarely even gets noticed anymore. I do get a lot of questions from the older boys who're interested in photography though.

It's just a camera...he's got a nikon...over there, a canon, athat guy got a new panasonic...and his dad uses an old film camera. Frankly, the crown does not get any more or less attention than a spotmatic.

[BrianShaw]

Brad, same with me... until I pop a flashbulb... then people start noticing the difference!

[Roger Cole]

I feel crazy for sometimes having the opposite thoughts - sell my 4x5 gear and just get a nice RB or RZ67 system to replace it, and possibly to replace the M645 Pro as well (I'll always keep my Yashicamat - or replace with a Rollei some day - and 35mm gear, though) and be done with the hassles of sheet film. Between the costs, hassles, and occasional dust, given the quality one can get from 6x7, I sometimes really think it's not worth it.

I'm also tempted to get a DSLR but that's a different thing for different purposes and wouldn't really replace any of my existing cameras. That would be for all the vacation shots and event photos and family stuff that people want me to shoot, and I generally want to shoot, but don't begin to have time to print.

[Drew Wiley]

Yeah, I'd call it dumb ... who want to take a Speed Graphic when you could carry a nice
8x10 on vacation instead?

[Shootar401]

I'm also tempted to get a DSLR but that's a different thing for different purposes and wouldn't really repl.....

I had a Nikon D3 and D300 once. Meh.

[Shootar401]

Yeah, I'd call it dumb ... who want to take a Speed Graphic when you could carry a nice
8x10 on vacation instead?

Don't tempt me. That's my next purchase if I can sell off one of my 4x5's and reorganize my camera situation.

[Roger Cole]

I had a Nikon D3 and D300 once. Meh.

Well if I get one I've pretty well decided on a Pentax, mainly because I have K mount lenses that will work with it. Plus the Pentaxes have internal VR which works with any lens. Should make my k mount lenses handy. But again, it would mainly be for record shots, family events, that sort of thing.

[David Starr]

Mine's been reduced to a Busch Pressman 4x5 & I don't regret it at all. I can use it handheld with the rangefinder & 135mm raptar, or since I opened up the front of the bellows frame, I can use my 210mm Caltar, 135mm Nikor or 90mm Nikor & focus on the ground glass. Also got a flash gun and a bunch of press 25 & screw base bulbs. Fun city.

[Peter Gomena]

I once hauled a Crown Graphic to NYC on a vacation. It was easy to hand-hold and really not a hassle to carry. With one lens a meter and a few holders, it doesn't need a huge camera bag. One of the things I remember most about it (I now longer own the camera) is how well balanced it was for hand use. It was light enough for use with a fairly lightweight tripod.

Peter Gomena

[Lenny Eiger]

There are very interesting, and lightweight, not to mention gorgeous handheld options for 4x5,. I would also add that I have an aluminum monopod that weighs about 5 ounces or so, those can help a little with the stability, if needed. Half a dozen holders weighs very little.

Of course, there is also the Mamiya 7 II, which weighs like a 35mm but the lenses are unbelievably sharp. Personally, I wouldn't use 35mm. It doesn't scan well and one seems to be two steps back already in the quality. But quality is not what everyone is after, so that's all just my opinion.

None of these things are that expensive, why not get one of each. Then you can choose the right tool for the particular vacation....

Good luck,

Lenny

[jmccl@yahoo.com]

I'm getting the crazy bug too. Just thinking about doing something different than the rest of the world. From the reading I've been doing, a Graflex seems to be a fairly cost effective way into the LF world and they fold up nicely in what appears to be a reasonably durable package for field carrying. I'm a long way off from acting on this impulse, but that photo of GC really stirred my apperture. What was the camera out on the ledge? Or is the Graphic so great it can photograph itself?:o I have figured out that I would need some film holders that I would have to load in a dark closet and then carry out on a shoot, but I'm trying to find out if there is some kind of a product that the exposed film could be put into until I get to a processing lab. I don't have the space for a dark room to develop my own stuff, so I'd only be a half-fast LF photographer:rolleyes:. Any ideas on light proof paper sleeves that you could put the exposed film in? Can you just stack exposed film in a light tight box and not have chemical bleed between the sheets?

This site is going to be my undoing and push me over the crazy edge.

[Roger Cole]

There are very interesting, and lightweight, not to mention gorgeous handheld options for 4x5,. I would also add that I have an aluminum monopod that weighs about 5 ounces or so, those can help a little with the stability, if needed. Half a dozen holders weighs very little.

Of course, there is also the Mamiya 7 II, which weighs like a 35mm but the lenses are unbelievably sharp. Personally, I wouldn't use 35mm. It doesn't scan well and one seems to be two steps back already in the quality. But quality is not what everyone is after, so that's all just my opinion.

None of these things are that expensive, why not get one of each. Then you can choose the right tool for the particular vacation....

Good luck,

Lenny

A Mamiya 7 with lenses is not "that expensive?" This must be a new usage of the phrase "none of these are that expensive" with which I was previously unfamiliar.

(Says the guy who just flew a rental airplane 2.2 hours with a flight instructor in the last three days, checking out in a new-to-him plane and reviewing the autopilot in the other before taking it on a trip. We make ways to afford things if we enjoy them enough. That was cheaper than a Mamiya 7, but it only lasted 2.2 hours.)

[jp]

I'm getting the crazy bug too. Just thinking about doing something different than the rest of the world. From the reading I've been doing, a Graflex seems to be a fairly cost effective way into the LF world and they fold up nicely in what appears to be a reasonably durable package for field carrying. I'm a long way off from acting on this impulse, but that photo of GC really stirred my apperture. What was the camera out on the ledge? Or is the Graphic so great it can photograph itself?:o I have figured out that I would need some film holders that I would have to load in a dark closet and then carry out on a shoot, but I'm trying to find out if there is some kind of a product that the exposed film could be put into until I get to a processing lab. I don't have the space for a dark room to develop my own stuff, so I'd only be a half-fast LF photographer:rolleyes:. Any ideas on light proof paper sleeves that you could put the exposed film in? Can you just stack exposed film in a light tight box and not have chemical bleed between the sheets?

This site is going to be my undoing and push me over the crazy edge.

If you're doing B&W, you can put the exposed film into a light tight box such as a combiplan tank and develop it at home without a darkroom. Just gotta load it in the dark. Graflex is a good choice for many people, and has been through much of the 20th century. people who put away exposed film after shooting such as while traveling, use a light tight film box like the film was purchased in. Just mark the box so you don't mix the new stuff with the exposed stuff.