What Kind of Camera? (Finding Camera Manufacturers)

[laurentvenet]

Hello Craig.

I'm suprised by the low price you paid for the Shen Hao 4x5. Did you purchase it in the shangai shop of Shen Hao. Here, in France, it's sold for 750 euro without VAT...

Did you buy the HZX45 ?

It looks like I should try to contact them directly.

Thank's anyway and good shooting,

Laurent

[Ron Marshall]

Craig, you might want to try color negative, especially if you will be dealing with a wide variation in light levels. Fuji's 160S is a wonderful film.

Perhaps your publisher prefers chromes though?

Those two lenses are a good start. All you need is a 135 in the middle.

Good luck with the project.

Hi Ron:

My two lenses, which I bought on eBay, are a Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar-S 210mm f5.6 and a Fujinon-SW 90mm f8. I think I paid a little two much for the 90mm but got a pretty good deal on the 210mm.

The reason I got involved in all of this is that I'm in discussion with a publisher concerning a book deal. While outlining the ideas for the book - a study of a neighborhood in Hong Kong much of which will be shot at night - it occurred to me that one visually interesting approach would be to use 35mm for grainy B/W shots, with which I am familiar and somewhat experienced, and 4x5 for finely detailed color transparencies, with which I am a complete novice, to contrast subjects to be covered in the book. I am still in discussion with the publisher but have already outlined two more book projects with which I should be able to use the Shen-Hao.

Upon reflection, this foray into LFP has turned into a much larger and much more interesting project that I anticipated!

Best wishes,

Craig

[cblurton]

Hi Laurent:

I bought the HZX45-IIA camera May 30, 2006, from:

Joyce <joyce@camerachina.com>
Shanghai Seagull Trading Inc.
2F,No.1038,Yang Shu Pu Road,
Shanghai 200082,China
T: +86-21-65085815*6606
F: +86-21-65085823

I had tried to buy it from the factory, but Mr. Zhang wanted me to deal with a retailer in Shenzhen instead. Unfortunately, the Shenzhen retailer did not speak English or have email so I located Joyce. She was terrific.

Hope this helps,

Craig

[laurentvenet]

Hello Craig

Thank you very much !!!

Kind regards,

Laurent

[false_Aesthetic]

I'm seconding Ron's suggestion. 160s rated at 100 and then doubled for reciprocity failure works perfectly. It's a hella awesome film.

A few years ago I tried transparency film for night shooting. It just didn't hold up well for the contract and color.


T

[Amund BLix Aaeng]

Hello Craig.

I'm suprised by the low price you paid for the Shen Hao 4x5. Did you purchase it in the shangai shop of Shen Hao. Here, in France, it's sold for 750 euro without VAT...

Did you buy the HZX45 ?

It looks like I should try to contact them directly.

Thank's anyway and good shooting,

Laurent

I paid $485 last year when I bought my 4x5 directly from Shen-Hao, and they haven`t raised the price yet. $125 for FedEx shipping(only alternative)

[Ole Tjugen]

Another (new) LF maker: Argentum Cameras, in Hungary: http://www.argentumcamera.com/

The cameras look interesting, as does the pricing!

[Jimi]

Re: Argentum cameras,

I have now rattled off an email to get some more information. From the looks of it, it seems to be a one-man operation. For residents in EU, you need to be aware of the prices, they are excluding VAT and the back (two different types) comes as an extra. As you may know, things sold within the EU should be priced including VAT. Unless you own a company...

[Ole Tjugen]

According to the information on the website, it's a two-man operation: Istv&#225;n Solt&#233;sz and Janos Beregszaszi.

[Jimi]

Damn it, Ole - nothing of note escapes your hawkeyes, eh?

Well, I got a "I got your mail" reply back today from István. I'll report back in a few days time when get more information from him.