a survey

[Chris Gittins]

> $31,000 Approximate

Holy #%*&!!! That's... That's... That's a downpayment on a nice house. Or three, maybe four, kidneys on the black market. Wow. (Very nice hardware though.)

My purchases were a tad more modest:

Used:
Agfa-Ansco 8x10,
a few 8x10 film holders,
Caltar 300/5.6,
Caltar 150/5.6,
Rodagon 150,
several old Componons and an old EL-Nikkor,
dry mount press

New:
Bogen tripod head to accommodate the 8x10

I probably spent around $1500 total - almost certainly less than I did in 2003. The most likely major purchase for 2005 is a 6x7 system - definitely used, probably Mamiya.

Chris

[joe a kras]

Great thread! But what are you going to do with this? Blackmail?

Canham 8X10
Assorted lens boards and adapter
SS150
SS210
2 gigs of ram for scanning
Additional DVD burner for saving images
Buckets of Film

projected
11X14 with all affiliated necessary gear (gulp)

I don't know what I actually spent, but I do feel I got my monies worth!

Joe

[MIke Sherck]

Now that I think about it, strike the two lenses from my response: the Fuji 180 mm and the Caltar II-N 240mm. I bought those the year before. It's 2005 now, duh...

Mike

[Rich Long]

Tuan, I'm curious. You spent money on E6 processing but not film. Do you have a big freezer full of film, or what? I see by your website that you're shooting far more than I.

[QT Luong]

Rich, my freezer is full of cheap, out of date 8x10 Astia from freestyle, some purchased as low as $0.50/sheet. Andre, in order to keep your respect, I won't disclose the amount I spent on digital 35mm :-( and computer equipement, since I am just replying textually to Ellis's questions, which was about LF.

[Vamsi M]

All used equipment: Speed Graphic with lens, ready to shoot: $150, Calumet monorail + 150 Apo Sironar + tripod, $550, fast aerial camera lens $125, Film and processing about $1200.

Alas, I don't see my film costs are going down in the future. But I doubt I'll spend much more on equipment.

[Nature Photo]

1. Epson 4870 (not Professional), Adobe PS CS upgrade, RAM, RAID.
2. Expired B&W film (Maco IR).
3. Rented various lenses (5-6 times, generally one lens each time ) from local store.
4. Kelty Backpack. WalMart plastic box.

[John Kasaian]

I don't remember.

Then again, maybe I'm in denial.

[Daniel Geiger]

Just started in LF end of last year, so its a complete outfit:

New
Arca 4x5 F line compact, WA and long bellows, three boards, spare ground glass, fresnel, 30 cm extension rail --
Sekonic 558L --
Polaroid, Quickload holders --
Gitzo 1325, short column, Arca B1, Bogen 3552 long lens support, second Arca rail clamp. --
Focussing cloth --
Toyo 6x loupe --
pneumatic shutter release --
flash hot-shoe to x-sync connector cable --
Lowepro supertrecker AW --
Calumet bellows extension calculator card thingy --
Shutter wrench --
Also for 35 mm use: Lee filter set-up: filter holder, pol-holder, B&W 105 mm pol, graduated ND filter set, 81, 81A, 81C, compendium shade, 3 adaptor rings. --
Tupper ware for film holders (dust protector)

Used
Schneider 90 mm f/8 --
Rodenstock/Sinaron 150 mm --
Nikon T 360 plus 500 rear element (looking for a 720 rear element) --

Ah, the total: hmm, 7-8 grand, I'd guess. Worth every penny. Daniel

P.S. Film and processing not included, shot maybe 100 Quickloads, more in the freezer, some 30 Polaroids. Getting there.

[Gem Singer]

Hi Ellis,

Out of curiosity, do you plan on taking the same survey on the other LF forums? If not, why only on this forum? If yes, what is the actual purpose of this survey?