Newbie for the 1st LF: I have been fed up, how about you!

[Dongyun Hao]

It appears to be that the more I read/studied and the more I tend to get confuse d on what I should get to start with. DO you think, more than one month busy rea ding would be too short to become a little knowledgable to LF? How did your guys get out of a fog eventually (I presume someone used to be like me are here too) . Is there an itemised guide like those for MF and 35mm with price ranging plus gears that fit? Or I ask a stupid Q, since the LF is nothing comparable to MF or 35mm at all. Thanks!

Dongyun

[Robert A. Zeichner]

I believe the frustration you're experiencing stems from the difference in the way large and small format equipment is marketed. There doesn't seem to be any end to number of features manufacturers incorporate in 35mm and MF equipment. They are all competing for the consumers business (of which, I have to believe, is many times larger than in the world of LF). To make an informed decision on what LF camera to acquire, one must first gain a little understanding of LF technique and then secondly, determine what kind of image making you want to do. All LF cameras are pretty basic in their design, but differ in ways that make one more appropriate than another for particular types of work. For example, if you do landscape photography, you probably won't need the type of camera used by someone doing product photography on the tabletop. What I would suggest is getting some books on LF technique, see what the authors use for their type of work and then consider what you will be doing so you can narrow down the field to those cameras that make sense. One more thing to think about: If you decide, for example that you're going to do landscape work out of a backpack, it won't make nearly as much difference in the final photograph if you select an old used Deardorf or a new Wisner, as will the proficiency you gain in using either. Photographers make photographs, not cameras. It's just a tool.

[Ray Dunn]

This is the LF page that helped me a lot when I went through the same frustrations last year: http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~qtluong/photography/lf/ I read and studied anything I could find, and finally made the decision to get a camera and some gear largely based upon what I learned from this site. Good luck!

[Alan Gibson]

A good guide for features to look out for is "View Camera Technique" by Leslie Stroebel.

The best way to acquire knowledge is through practise. You can keep reading until you are blue in the face, but it's not until you start doing it that you will discover what it is really about.

If you can find a second-hand dealer near you, perhaps now is the time to take a risk and buy something. You will never know what you really want until you buy something different.

LF is not like 35mm or MF: you are not buying into a system. So you can buy a second-hand camera and lens secure in the knowledge that if you subsequently don't like the camera, you can probably use the lens on a different one, from a different manufacturer.

[Ron Shaw]

It seems that you are interested in LF, but dont have a real need for it. (Thats OK!) In that case, I would recommend starting with something used and low cost. My favorite camera to recommend to beginners is the Speed or Crown Graphic. These make great landscape/nature photos, and give you a very capable platform to get used to LF without spending too much. A couple hundred for the camera, and another 100 or so for a nice 'press' lens (like an Optar or Raptor) will spoil you for sure. Get used to using this setup for a year, and you will then know what you need if you wish to continue in LF photography.

[james norman]

if you will give us some idea of what kind of photography you want to pursue (architecture, landscape, portrait, etc), those of us who do that sort of thing can give you information on exactly what we use. unlike 35mm, which can be easily toted around and used for almost any kind of application, most LF users tend to specialize in a certain aspect, and tailor their gear accordingly. the rewards of LF work are well worth the effort.

[Erik Ryberg]

Dongyun,

I second Ron's comments above. Trying to figure out what you need from a book will take you a little ways, but as Alan said, it's practice with the gear that lets you figure out what you need and want in a camera. But the good thing is that if you buy your gear used you can turn around a year later and sell it without much loss. The Speed and Crown Graphics are fabulous cameras, they're terrifically cheap, and you can get wonderful lenses for them. Get one in nice but used condition, get one or two or possibly three press lenses, (depending on the type of photography you do) throw caution to the wind and go shoot some pictures. In no time you will be able to look at the other gear and realize if it's for you, and if it is, you can sell the Graphic at a loss of, oh, twenty or fifty bucks or so, and go forward.

[John O'Connell]

I found that there was a ton of introductory material on LF on the web and in print. ("View Camera Photography for Dummies" would not surprise me.) I used View Camera Technique and the aforementioned LF home page, mostly, and I did fine.

I did fine because I didn't buy into a system. If I hate the way my Leica M6 or Hasselblad loads after I buy it, tough. If I hate film holders, however, in LF I have options: rollfilm, quickloads, readyloads, Polaroid. Practically any interface item can be exchanged with one that suits you better: ground glasses, knobs, etc. It's hard to really screw up buying LF equipment because of this -- my rail has issues, but my lens is good. Used? Test the shutter, examine the lens, know the lens's reputation, examine the camera for light leaks... New stuff is easy: it's all listed in View Camera Technique in excruciating detail.

A month's reading might be enough to know the ropes of most of the stuff you'll encounter when buying your gear, but loading your film holders and physically taking the first photograph will teach you more.

[Masayoshi Hayashi]

I completely agree with Alan. I was like you one and half years ago. It's probably the best to have some camera to practice with while reading a technique book and using polaroid to check if you are doing right. I recommend you to start with a low cost camera but again you need to let us know what kind of photography you want to do with LF to select the right camera (yes, you still have some selections for less than $500-$700). If you are looking for the itemised guide, there was a special issue for gears in shutterbug recently. Also check out the appendix of View Camera Technique. But we're here to help you!

[Vinod]

Large format is not nearly as intimidating as it might seem on the pages of a book such as Stroebel. The best thing you can do is get some Polaroid film and a camera and play with it. Movements can be easily understood after playing with a camera. You are never going to know until you try.

You will find the interface far more intuitive (at least I did) and simpler than any other camera that you have used when it comes to precisely composing images. I find that composing on a ground glass can make squinting through a viewfinder on other types of cameras seem a bit primitive and unnatural.