Took the plunge.....Ansco 8X10

[jmooney]

Well I've been going back and forth on getting into LF for a while now and I have scrapped the idea due to arthritis in my hands but I kept hearing the siren call so for better or worse here's the new woman in my life:



I threw in a low bid and I was the only bidder at $250. Anyone else shoot with one of these fine ladies and have any advice to offer?

Now off to collect the sundry accessories and grow an Ansel Adams style beard....

Jim

[Gene McCluney]

Sure, I've got a couple, they are fine cameras, if a bit clunky. Did you get the sliding tripod block, so you can center the camera over the tripod? The Ansco has more bellows extension than obvious in your photos, because the bottom rails telescope.

[Glenn Thoreson]

Good for you! On my Conley and Kodak cameras, though I have the sliding blocks, I never found a need to use them. I guess if you were using really long extension it may be a necessity but using a 240mm lens for general subjects, it's just too much added weight bulk for what I do. I hope you enjoy your new camera!

[ic-racer]

Great! You will have a lot of fun with that. Do you have a lens for it yet?

[John Kasaian]

Beautiful camera! Have fun! I've got the 5x7 version and they are very well made with lots of movements available.

[jmooney]

Thanks for all the kind words. I'm really excited about it. No lens for it yet. I'm still poking around and finding out what's out there. I'm probably going to look into a commercial Ektar to start.

[John Kasaian]

A 14" Commercial Ektar is a great first lens!

[Diane Maher]

I have one of these cameras and use a long lens extension with it. It attaches to the tripod leg and I use it to stabilize the rear bed of the camera.

[Tony Lakin]

Congratulations I hope it serves you as well as mine has, when I purchased mine I found that it required new bellows which cost me twice what you paid for your camera, I have the Cooke series VX triple convertible to go with it, and the beard, what I don't have unfortunately is AA's talent.
Here's a pic of my agfa/ansco



Good luck

[Brian Ellis]

I owned the 5x7 version and it was a very good camera. In its day the Agfa Ansco was considered second only to Deardorff in quality of design and construction. The only thing I didn't like was the folding tail board, which made the camera much deeper than a clam shell type and awkward to get in and out of my backpack.