Practicality of using LF and especially ULF in the field

[Vaughn]

I have a friend who packs people into the wilderness with burros. I just might have to hire him to get my 8x10 out into the mountains -- I might be able to tag along when he takes someone else out. Having a base camp to work out of for a week would be sweet. I have only done that once before.

The 4x5 still goes on some backpack trips -- lately the Rolleiflex has gone out on the longer trips. A CF tripod might help matters with the 4x5 -- silly to have a camera that weighs 2.5 pounds with the lens on a 7 pound pod/head combo (Gitzo, old series 2).

[Alan Gales]

The 4x5 still goes on some backpack trips -- lately the Rolleiflex has gone out on the longer trips. A CF tripod might help matters with the 4x5 -- silly to have a camera that weighs 2.5 pounds with the lens on a 7 pound pod/head combo (Gitzo, old series 2).

I own A100 and J100 Ries tripods. Both have 1/4" and 3/8" tripod screws for the double tilt heads so I can use any camera on them. I recently bought a Mamiya C220f TLR so I'll just use the J100 with it. I'm not going to buy another tripod for just that camera especially since I am mostly going to shoot it handheld except for indoors with studio lights. I also own a tiny Fujifilm X100s digital camera. I always shoot it handheld but I've been thinking of taking out the Ries A100 with it on the street just to mess with people.

[jnantz]

Am interested in how others have approached this "problem".

For me I can relatively easily backpack up to my 8x10 with a few lenses and film holders for a mile or two up a trail or lot less distance following a stream up a gorge. Tripod over the shoulder. From one bad experience, a GG protector a must to have and use.

Using the 11x14 is a totally different experience. The camera, a few film holders, and a few lenses all easily fit within a customized/altered large vintage Sinar camera case. but it is very heavy and have to use and deal with it from the trunk of my car and transporting the equipment anymore than a short distance very unpractical.

Tried hauling equipment in a drag-behind-me cart but totally didn't work... trails I like to hike in New England too narrow and usually very rocky (vibration of equipment case really worried me). I tend to hike on class 3 and class 4 trails up mountains.

look forward to comments...

hi greg

the funny thing is that LF & ULF really are not practical at all.
people might say it is, they might have sherpas or mules or hot air balloons to get it to where
it needs to be, as you climb and hop from log to stone to log to ford a stream and then climb up a small wall ...
in the end it is all about what you are willing to put up with ...
bigger than maybe 5x7 might be a chore, but in the end none of that really matters
because you somehow got the camera and all its "stuff" where it needed to go.

while im sure if i really wanted to i could stick a camera and holders &c carefully in a yukka pack and do what i need to do
i don't bother traveling far distances or up, just here or there. i see what others have done / where they have gone ( with any size U/LF ) and i am pretty impressed.

john

[Fr. Mark]

A Sinar P 5x7 in its case with all the trimmings and a tripod sure are fun once they are set up. I bet 8x10 would be too but the llama thing appeals to me a lot. Meanwhile, I hope to put together a light 8x10 kit and hike that. Some day I'd love a whole plate kit for smaller size and 14x17 for special occasions and sometimes the idea of 8x20 (or 10x24)has its appeal. As does a Rollei TLR especially when family is along. Practical? That's an iPhone...or Olympus XA or...? I don't think this is about practical. To paraphrase JFK "we shoot LF not because it is easy but because it is hard (and worthwhile).

[Mark Sampson]

Another answer would be to find an assistant/acolyte. They can ride in the car, unlike llamas or burros, and with a little skill on your part, can be taught to work unpaid or for meals... or the 'life lessons' you can impart. Ha! That's a joke son! a joke! (cue Foghorn Leghorn)
And per Jim Noel... I realize that I don't quite know where I first heard, or read, that famous quote. I'll say that it was before I ever heard the name 'Morley Baer' but that proves nothing. A bit of folklore perhaps, what they like to call a 'meme' today? Like many 'quotes' from Winston Churchill, Mark Twain, and Yogi Berra, it does contain an essential truth.

[John Kasaian]

I agree with john nanian----it's not practical!
That's part of the charm, the how can I do this? challenge.
It is what forms a sort of Historic fellowship with Vittorio Sella, William Henry Jackson, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, etc..

Even before miniature cameras existed, a talented artist with a sketch pad could be considered far more practical at recording images, just as a Fujikon Mk 6000 Pixellator on a drone might be today--but the experience as well as the results would also be different.

I also agree that a lot can be found within fifty yards of the car, but try schlepping a 12x20 kit fifty yards! It ain't gonna be easy.

[Alan Gales]

My practical camera is my tiny Fujifilm X100s. My fun camera is my big Wehman 8x10.

[Vaughn]

I own A100 and J100 Ries tripods. ...

I have an A100 for the 8x10 and 11x14. I would not bother with CF for the 8x10 at this point. While heavier, the A-100 has gotten me into and back from places that a CF tripod would not have. It is a great climbing-assist tool when carrying a heavy pack off-trail...but I found it difficult to pack on the bicycle.

[Alan Gales]

I have an A100 for the 8x10 and 11x14. I would not bother with CF for the 8x10 at this point. While heavier, the A-100 has gotten me into and back from places that a CF tripod would not have. It is a great climbing-assist tool when carrying a heavy pack off-trail...but I found it difficult to pack on the bicycle.

Hi Vaughn! How do you strap your CF tripod to your bicycle? Do you use a rack over the rear wheel?

[Vaughn]

Hi Vaughn! How do you strap your CF tripod to your bicycle? Do you use a rack over the rear wheel?

Sorry for any confusion -- do not have a CF pod. I did strap the A100 to the back rack. If I had been riding on a road I would have put on a red flag on its end! The A250 head was over the raised part of the rack (in the front) so I did not have to worry about it sliding back.

The Gitzo (Al) series 3 pod I took on the bike tour was strapped on top of gear on the back rack. The pod, sleeping bag, and my tent were strapped on the back rack cross-wise. Day trips the Gitzo was strapped length-wise with bungi-cords. I would consider a closed-cell foam pad between the rack and a CF pod.