A total new guy, digital convert?

[Francesco Gallarotti]

One more thing... because of your digital background you will miss "chimping" as a way to learn from your mistakes. The only alternative in LF is to use instant films. Polaroids are discontinued, but luckily Fuji makes very high quality instant films that will allow you to understand better exposures.
there are two formats of instant films:
FP-100C45 (which is - as you have guessed - 4x5)
FP-100C(which is about 3.25x4.25)
I strongly suggest to go for the smaller backs that load the smaller Fuji 100C. Each sheet cost less than a dollar while the slightly larger 4x5 ones cost almost 3 dollars each.
I went this route after making a couple of mistakes buying the wrong backs. Try to get a used Polaroid 405 on evilBay or from KEH.com (the best customer service you can get from an online store of photography gear)

[ic-racer]

Hey!

At the moment I am using a 5D, .

I have never heard of that, is that the 11x14 version of the 2D??

[Bob Phipps]

Three books you might look at as well. They were very helpful to me when I statrted 5 years ago.

"Using the View Camera" by Steve Simmons
"A User's Guide to the View Camera" by Jim Stone
"Large Format Nature Photography" by Jack Dykinga


These books helped me determine the type of camera and gave me the vision of LF photos I wanted to make.

Digital has it's place, but once you try LF.....you will be hooked.
Best
Bob Phipps

[Jiri Vasina]

Let the first camera you buy be a cheap(ish) one - with that camera, you'll learn what you need, what you want from your camera, what you like, what you dislike. Either you'll find LF is not for you (then you don't pay much for the experience), or you learn a lot and (most probably) buy a second camera exactly to your needs. The Speed/Crown Graphics are good, but since you're in the UK, you could also try the M.P.P. MicroTechnical, preferably Mk.VII or Mk.VIII - I have the Mk.VII and it's a very good camera. can be had for around 250 pounds with lens in good condition.

Lens - anything in the 135-210mm range, the MPP and Graphics cameras usually come with a 135mm lens, and it's a good start.

Film - you'll most likely find, that because of cost reasons, you'll not shoot only color (or colour?) - the cost of film and processing is significant. If you have a darkroom (or any other room you can temporarily convert to one), I'd recommend shooting BW film in the beginning, Efke, Fomapan or Wephota being the cheap alternatives for learning. When you process them at home, the cost is reasonable, even accounting for all the mistakes. I also strongly recommend using the Fuji 3x4 (3.25x4.25) instant films, either color (FP-100C), or BW (FP-100B or FP-3000B) in the Fuji PA-145 or Polaroid 405 holder. The cost of the film, especially color is relatively very affordable.

Scanner: I use Epson V700, it's a good one. Has it's limitations, but the results can be very good.

Books: all the recommended books are probably worth it (have not read them, though ), but would also consider Bruce Barlow's "Finely Focused" (www.circleofthesunproductions.com).

[reeluff]

thankyou so much everybody!

I think I have a great base to work from now, which is why my questions were so broad.

I feel excited about photography again.

Does anyone have some high res scans online of 5x4 made by the epson flatbeds so I can get an idea of the quality?

And also, curious about that instant film... Sounds like a great way to start with. A bit like digital with the instant results so I can see where I am going... Is it an instand print like a polaroid snapshot camera, or an instant developed piece of film?

[Jiri Vasina]

reeluff, it's like instant polaroid snapshot.

Check your PM for reply.

[Francesco Gallarotti]

Both polaroid and Fuji instant films have a piece of negative film inside and chemicals that develop the negative and print it onto a special kind of paper.
BAD NEWS: when you opened a Polaroid you would get BOTH a negative and a positive, while in the Fuji, the negative is rendered unusable by exposure to light, so you only get a positive on paper - this means FUJI cannot be used for transfers
GOOD NEWS: the rendition of colors is much more faithful in Fuji than in Polaroid.

The comparison with digital can also be extended to the dynamic range of the image. Polaroid and Fuji instant films have about 5 stops of dynamic range - similar to most digital cameras - which makes it harder to get a perfect exposure and makes it less forgiving as a learning tool (which is good)

[Drew Bedo]

Hello Reeluff,

Welcome to LF and this forum.
I got into LF by buying one of the Graflex press cameras at a camera show along with a few film holders. Today you’ll have to got o the ‘For Sale/Wanted’ forum on this website, the magazine mail order companies, and e-bay. This will let you learn the process and technique of LF, (dark cloth, inverted image 3-5 exposures/hr not 3-5 HUNDRED,) . You will be able to get into it without the complicating issues of camera movements. If you decide that this type of photography is too cumbersome and slow ( “We” call it contemplative creativity) for you, your initial investment will be relatively small. If you find that you only want more of LF, then you can move on to a more sophisticated shooting kit with a base of informed experience.
Jump in and shoot.

[Francesco Gallarotti]

Does anyone have some high res scans online of 5x4 made by the epson flatbeds so I can get an idea of the quality?

The only difference between a 4x5 negative (or positive) film and a smaller format is purely its size. This of course means that you can scan the 4x5 at a lower DPI which will give you better results than scanning a smaller negative at higher DPI. If you want to see an example of a medium format negative (shot with Hasselblad) take a look here. He scans everything with an Epson v700 and you can see that the results are simply outstanding.

For better results I suggest buying the betterscanning.com anti-newton-ring (ANR) glass holders. For the epson v700 keep an eye on the Epson store, sometimes they have refurbished ones for less than $400!

[g.lancia]

Hello everyone, first post here.

I am one of those sad stock photographers, just bought a monorail, although I have been using film for the last 25+ years and digital for the last two years.

I wanted to add that developing BW, or c-41, or E-6, is very very easy. Especially c-41. E-6 being a bit less rewarding.

Of course you get colour shift, although it can be corrected in post processing.

I find flatbed scanners (I use a Epson 4490 for 135 and 120 film) quite good, but one needs to understand how to scan, how to use those RGB histograms, and curves.

I manage to get 16MP digital spotless photos out of medium format film. It takes 3 hours to scan and post process in photoshop each frame, though.

Now of course I can't use my scanner for LF and will have to shoot paper negative, which would not give me the quality I need, leaving my new LF as a toy camera, even if it really isn't, but what to do? Can't by a fourth scanner, can I? :-)

To the original poster, I think he just needs a cheap Graflex. Plenty of those on evil bay.