From m4/3 to MF to LF

I'm soon to be new to Large Format cameras, so I've been lurking on the site trying to gather as much information as I can on the Agfa Ansco 8x10 that I'll be trying to refurbish. It's being given to me later this spring (by my mom) because she knows I have a passion towards photography, and know a thing or two about woodworking and refinishing. I live up in Northern Lower Michigan, where there are plenty of opportunities when it comes to landscape photography. Currently I shoot with an Olympus EM1ii and a Mamiya M645.

Thanks for taking me in.

-Clint-

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Hi Clint, welcome to the forum.

So, explain your moms possession of this camera - is it one she used?
Would be great if it is in usable condition so you can try it out, take a few exposures, before jumping into refurbishing it.

Keep us informed.

Welcome to the forum, Clint. We are glad to have you.

You will have to post before and after pics of your project camera. We would all like to see them! :)

Thanks everyone. The camera was owned by her cousin...but I'm not sure where he got it from or how long he had. All I know is that the cousin wasn't taking good care of it and her brother got it from him and he at least transferred it to a dry area storage. From there it sat for a number of years until last year she took possession of it. When my mom realized that I was shooting film again she mentioned that she had it and that she was going to pass it down to me. She mentioned that the bellows were in bad shape, but how bad, remains to be seen.

I'll take detailed shots before I start, to assess the situation and get some recommendations on where to start.

This should clean up nicely.


Kent in SD

It looks like a nice camera. It may be from an era before film holders were standardized and so you may want to use some sort of precision tool to check the film depth compared to ground glass and use shims if need be get them to match. Bellows can be made or bought or patched with black gaffer's tape or draped with a dark cloth. Even tattered bellows can yield valuable clues as to how to make replacements. Also, don't think just cause the lenses are old or don't have shutters hat you can't make awesome pictures with them, especially in black and white. I'd say you have a real treasure coming your way. 8x10 can be a lot of fun as contact prints. Or scanned or... also most 8x10 X-ray film fits most 8x10 holders. Much cheaper to learn with and has a different set of looks depending on the X-ray film. There's an enormous thread about that. There's also a huge diy section. Welcome aboard!

If you need a new bellows you can get a nice one here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Professiona-...kAAOSwEzxYahmq

I purchased a bellows from this seller for my 5x7 ARCA and they did a very nice job. You can send the bellows frames from your camera to them in Hong Kong camera and they will attach the bellows to them if you want. Just message him first.

How do you like the E-M1 II?

Thanks for the info on the bellows...I'll probably head down that road as the videos on how to build a bellows don't look like a whole lot of fun.

As for the em1ii, it's an amazing camera. The image stabilization is crazy good and like most things Olympus, the camera is highly customizable.

Thanks! I have the mark I. The II has everything I wish the prior version had, and so much more that I don't care about. Actually, the mark I has a lot of things I don't care about too. My favorite things about it are that it is capable, yet handy and small. Sized like a Pentax MX or Olympus OM-1 instead of the giant lumps that DSLRs have become.

I treated myself to an upgrade from the em1...last December. Having the high Rez mode and a usable c-af were two of the primary reasons...everything else is just gravy.