First off, welcome to the LFP forum. It tends to be a somewhat rowdy group with individuals having varying degrees of experience from novice to expert, but they all seem to have strong opinions. As has already been demonstrated in this thread.
Most of us start this way. What you'll find out fairly quickly is that your prior experience with photography is of limited help. This is because LF typically means separating the lens plane from the film plane. That's what the bellows part of an LF camera is for. It's really a pretty simple concept, but it creates some interestingly profound challenges.
The way you learn camera movements (moving the lens plane separately from the film plane) is by making photographs. You try things, evaluate your results, and try again. I spent many a happy hour doing exactly that early on, as have most of the participants here. Just don't let that discourage you; indeed, it should be encouraging since you'll know you aren't alone in climbing those learning curves.
The reason you get so much pushback on this request is that 10x8 isn't the "normal" starting point. That would be 5x4. Compared to 5x4, 10x8 is bigger, heavier, the film is more expensive, processing is harder, etc. But just because most people start with 5x4 doesn't mean you have to. People are just worried that the size, expense, and work behind 10x8 will discourage you, and you'll quit before you get good at it. Feel free to prove them wrong!
That said, it is easier to learn on 5x4. The biggie as far as I'm concerned is the film and processing costs. Because the way to get good at LF is to make a lot of photographs. And you're less likely to shoot enough film, and process enough film, to get good at it if it overruns your budget.
To answer the question you actually asked... the Shenhao line is a more or less traditional starting point. They are reasonable cameras, not too expensive, not too limited, not too heavy, not too light. They should be good cameras to learn on, and then maybe keep or maybe trade for something that fits your workflow better (but you have to learn what your preferred workflow is before you can make that decision). I would say that's a reasonably good choice starting out.
Regardless of the camera and format you decide to buy, you'll need a lens. Most people coming from 35mm and medium format avoid the so-called "normal" lens, because they seldom used them on the smaller formats. But... I advise you to make a "normal" lens (by that I mean a 150mm lens for 5x4, or 300mm lens for 10x8) your first choice when starting out.
Why? Because in order to learn camera movements, you need to see the effects of the movements on the ground glass. And that's easiest with a normal lens. Also, most of us find that we actually us a normal lens a fair amount in LF where we didn't use it at all on smaller formats. Different way of working means different tools, what can I say?
Again, welcome to LF. Don't be afraid to try things. Don't be afraid to come here to search the archives (you're likely never going to be the first to encounter your problem), or ask questions. And don't be afraid to have fun, because LF done right is seriously fun.
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