Tuan--Are you only interested in manufacturers' photos? I'd be happy to set up one day and shoot some large JPEGs of my cameras for the site, and I suspect others would oblige as well. Maybe post some guidelines (filesize, pixel dimensions, suggested views, etc.) and a request for images and perhaps a checklist of cameras you already have well documented, and I'm sure there will be takers. I think it would be an excellent addition to the site.
I was just mentionning manufacturer's photos because that's what people have been talking about, but any origin
would be fine with me. As for specs of the images, maybe Kerry, you could give us a recommendation.
Yeah, you guys ought to be photographing your lovely cameras like those wankers on PN that post "Leica-porn". Half the fun of owning Leicas and Linhofs is in the fondeling of them.
What I find unbelievable is that companies will announce cameras like the Arca-Swiss Misura or the new 141mm F-line and then completely fail to provide images to their customers. And people still plunk down thousands of dollars sight unseen. So when I hear about the sorry state of the camera business, I have to question why...? I mean they are doing almost anti-marketing and guys like Canham, Ebony, and Walker can't keep up. Even Wisner - with all his warts - seems to have a backlog.
If I understood French I'd really like this site more, but they seem to have the most complete collection of camera photos:
http://www.galerie-photo.com/materiel.html
You can also do a Google search for images, which sometimes turns up a surprise or two.
The problem is that even the largest NYC dealers don't have all the viable cameras you'd like to consider in stock, on display, for you to touch and play with. Probably a LF conference is the best bet for seeing all the "exotics" and you can pick up a lot of practical insight from their owners (as well as see how they set up their entire kit.)
Oh, and here is my regularly scheduled slam at Arca-Swiss for being too lame to have a website and a second slam at Bob S. (whom I like very much) for not exploiting the potential of his excellent product line to the internet audience. I don't want to call you Bob and start a sales relationship, I want to aspire to buying a new Linhof in a couple of years - so give me a nice informative website, PLEASE.
I seems obvious that if one of the manufacturers hosted a really lively, well produced website (with lots of photos, advice, forums, etc.) that built a sense of community - well - that would be ALL the marketing they would ever need. I bet that almost 98% of the people into LF are online. And the amazing thing is you could probably get volunteers to do all the work!
Yeah, Frank, photographing cameras as on the Leica forum is kind of fetishistic, but I think it could be a valuable resource in LF, where there is a lot more variation and so little good info out there for those who have no other way of finding these things out.
In NYC, you would definitely have to visit a few shops to see everything you might want, but at least they are all within subway or walking distance. B&H has new Linhof, Arca-Swiss (Misura too), and Toyo cameras on the shelf. Photo-Gizzmo has a good variety, including Canham and Littman. Lots of the old standards to be seen at Lens and Repro. Bruce's Field Camera store (by appointment, I gather) has a range of Wisner, Linhof, and other cameras. Adorama, Photocare, and Calumet also carry LF gear, though Calumet NYC has less LF in stock than it used to. I'm not sure who is carrying new Sinar gear in stock where you could actually walk into a shop and try it, but there's plenty used floating around.
After reading this thread, I remembered the Toyo site as having a really good array of pictures. Well, I went back to refresh my memory and they do, but they are itty bitty pictures! It's a shame because they look as though they have high quality shots availible, they just don't put them up for some reason.
Isaac
"Is their a single dealer in the world that has all four of those cameras in stock today? "
It's possible, but not likely. Kind of like having a car dealer that carries Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, and Porsche - all on the same lot.
Kirk - www.keyesphoto.com
The best way I have found to see a lot of different large format cameras is to attend one of Per Volquart's free workshops. There's always a session for checking out everyone's cameras (and other equipment), and always an impressive variety.
As a relative neophyte to LF, I would have found it an enormous resource to be able to view the cameras I read everyone write about. (Come to think of it, I still would find it such). I know that while I was looking around at different cameras, internetically speaking, I was desperate for something tangible to look at, not just dimesions and specifications.
A manufacturer creating an environment where consumers could go to look (and drool) over different cameras would do wonders for their business, I think. Particularly because the people who shoot LF seem to be the people who need to feel substance, either physically or visually. Else, most of us would skip to digital...I'm probably not explaining that point well, but it's been a long day.
Alright, coffee break's over, back on your heads...
Paul
Internetically: adv. via the internet
I think I just created a new word....
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