Advice buying my first large format camera.

[enniomorricone]

Hello All

I have a very broad question, which I presume a number of you have answered in the past.

To begin with, I have been shooting with my Mamiya RZ for around 3 years. Over the years I have mainly shot documentary style projects, a lot of portraiture work, and I have found that with travelling and working away from home the RZ has been very practical. Now I have been shooting a lot more landscape based work on my RZ and I have become disappointed with my results, and Im finding it a bit of a compromise.

Ideally I would like to invest in a 4x5 camera, but I am really concerned with the cost of film. I have seen 10 sheets of Kodak Portr go for £45 which is probably too much for me. So to cut to the chase Im after some advice about upgrading to a large format camera that I can buy a 6x7/6x9 back for. I thought to myself I would see what is available online and research from there but I am struggling to find much for sale in the UK.

Is there many benefits changing from a RZ to something like a Horseman VH-R if I am still going to shoot 120?
Any advice on cameras/film will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

First thing that comes to mind is what subjects do you like to shoot--for instance, do favor wide angle views?

Shooting medium format on a large format camera body, there's something of the dilemma to finding wide-angle view camera lenses short & wide enough to improve upon what can readily be done with 120 cameras like your RZ and commonly available lenses.

The Horseman VH-R is not a camera I've used-- but you're considering it because it's a 6x9 cm? There's not enough of a format jump to recommend it over an RZ since you're disappointed with 6x7.

[enniomorricone]

At the moment I am really focussing on landscape work. I am stuck with a 110mm lens on the RZ which is way too big for my liking. When I was studying I had access to lenses so I never invested, but I was very much focussed on portraits and would generally work with a 90mm.

I have now read the same about The Horseman VH-R. I am still trying to get my head around the technical aspects, medium format is very simple.

My main theory thinking about a large format, with 6x7/6x9 back was cutting the price down not buying 4x5 all the time, and I thought perhaps the smaller lenses on, with rise/fall and shift ability would suit landscape work more than my current set up.

Thanks for the fast reply.

[Dan Fromm]

Ennio, I'm surprised that you're pinching pence given how much money you've made from your music.

More seriously, if you want to shoot roll film with a 4x5 camera you have a broad range of cameras to choose from. Read the FAQs at www.largeformatphotography.info . You'll learn more there than you will from random answers, most of them of the "use what I do" kind, on this forum.

FWIW, I started with a 2x3 Speed Graphic (too small a format for this forum), eventually got a Century Graphic (also 2x3, also too small from this forum) and much later was given a 2x3 Cambo (real view camera, still too small for here). I now also have a 4x5 Cambo. Naturally I think you'd be happy with a 2x3 Graphic (Century or Crown, probably, they're better for short lenses than the Speed is and where I shoot short lenses work better than long 'uns). The Horseman cameras you're looking at can be seen as improved Graphics. Naturally I think you'd be happy with a Cambo. Or with a Sinar, they're equally if not more capable and equally inexpensive.

But I'm not you. I'm also not Ivan. I think I have lenses that cover 2x3 and are shorter than any of his. You quoted a price in £ so I take it you're in the UK. Look for a rental house and rent a camera you think will suit you. Iterate as needed. Or try to find people who use cameras you fancy and ask them to let you visit and try their cameras. Use http://www.lf-photo.org.uk/forum/ for that.

Odds are that your first 4x5 camera will turn out not to be exactly what you want. It will teach you more about what you do and don't want in a 4x5 camera. This has happened to many.

Oh, yes, since you want to shoot roll film people will probably tell you that you'll need a camera with a Graflok (also called International) back. Perhaps, but there are insertion type roll holders for 4x5 cameras.

Good luck, have fun,

Dan

[enniomorricone]

Nice to see my alias was picked up early .

Thanks for all the information Dave, I will start processing it. I knowingly had a feeling if I decided to invest in a 4x5 camera of some description I would really have to spend a lot of time learning. Ideally I would love a Mamiya 7 for the time being but they are so expensive right now.

[koh303]

If you are dissapointed with the results because of the level of material you get from your RZ in roll film, this will not change if you change the camera.

Shooting 4X5 is cheap if you shoot BW. color is not cheap, but - dont forget, you will be shooting less sheets then roll film frames (maybe not at start), but thats part of the cost cutting benefit of 4x5, it is slower, and thus you can make less images, use less film.

The camera/lens for 4X5 may not be much more expensive then a nice RZ set, but you can do so much more...

[Bill_1856]

I see no good reason to switch from your Mamiya to a 4x5.
My only thought is that if you're not getting good negatives with the RZ, then you're probably shooting hand-held. In which case, get and tripod and USE IT!

[Richard Johnson]

The RZ was the choice of many top photographers not that long ago, especially for fashion and portrait. But it will do landscape too. Why not simply refine your technique by using a tripod more often? You would need a tripod for a view camera anyway. The smaller degree of more subtle movements you will likely use with roll film may not be that significant or important in practice, at least for many of us who would consider using roll film.

[analoguey]

+1
Use a good tripod - I had ignored that advice, but learnt it the hard way, with LF.
Also, have you tried the wider lenses with the RZ in the first place?
I have used its cousin the RB and the KL 90, and I quite like it's rendering for portrait and urban scapes.

[Robert Brummitt]

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/viewItem...temID=17656627

That's a link to what looks like a pretty nice Super Graphic camera.