Welcome Rob. Reading your introduction I thought to myself, you won't have any trouble at all. Chef's have to think on their feet and multi-task at creative problem solving and I can't think of a better description of what we do in this hobby. Enjoy!
I think I didn't see or notice the kickstarter for the 4x5, but I am happy that it was a success for Intrepid! And, frankly, just as glad that they took the feed back from the people who got those first cameras and made some changes in the design. The "new" version I have has an, apparently, better front standard.Originally Posted by Alan9940
I'm glad to hear you've been pleased with the camera because I'm hoping I'll be as happy with the 8x10...we'll see. Lead time was months for me, anyway, as I was part of the Kickstarter campaign. Last I heard, they should start shipping our cameras next month.
I think that the lessons they learned from the evolution of the 4x5 will certainly carry over to the 8x10 so your 8x10 ought to be pretty good!
And I read--either on their website or their facebook page--that they were hiring/training some more staff to deal with the demand for the cameras.
And, while I wasn't exactly happy about how long it took me to get my camera, I was happy that they took the time they needed to make the cameras rather than lowering they quality to make production faster. My only real complaint was the lack of communication during the process.
Rob
Hahahaha!
Thanks for the laugh, Jim! I have learned some important things so far:
A) Prep is just as vital for this as it is in any kitchen I've worked in. So, I do keep good notes and write lists for both.
B) I definitely need a fairly specific routine for using my camera--my first outing I had two film holders loaded--the daylight tank I am using will do four sheets at a time. The third photo I wanted to make was ruined by me by not closing the shutter after composing but before pulling the dark slide. My 4x5 camera suddenly became a "half frame" camera!Not too much of a loss, really, that photo wasn't going to be great any way. And that particular lesson will stick with me.(I must be making progress in general, I must have half a dozen or so 35mm negatives where I took the lens cap off my Elmar but forgot to extend the lens...
)
and, C) I need a different tripod head. The tripod and ball head I'm using is the bigest one I own and have been happy with it and the biggest MF camera/lens combo I've got. For my 4x5 set up it is plenty big but I really dislike using the ball head: it will lock down well enough but getting it adjusted is a major pain. Going to be looking at a good three way head soon.
Rob
Rob, welcome to our world.
I don't think you mentioned what lens you are using on your Intrepid, but I have only one suggestion as you have just started with large format - try ... for now ... to just get used to the one lens you have. Use it for a year, use it for two years. Try not to do what most of the rest of us have done and continue to do - we seem to be always on the look-out for that magic lens that will give us the magic negatives, so we sell a couple of our older lenses, (that we thought were magic when we purchased them) so we can buy another magic lens. I have 6-7 lenses for my 8X10 and 5-6 for my 4X5's and trust me, not a one of them is magic. Spend your $ on film, chems, and paper.
I'm mostly done chasing that magical lens...partly because I've tried it with no success in 35mm and partly because my job sutuation has changed a bit since I first got my current "kit". I don't have quite so much "play money " now.
As well, I honestly like the one lens I have now. A Wollensak 135mm Raptar with the Rapax shutter. The lens doesn't have room for a lot of movement but, for now, it's enough.
The shutter could use some attention but so far the negs I'm getting look good so I'm not too stressed about it.
Rob
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