Another new member

[Frank_E]

Well this is my first post, and there is a question at the end of this post...

But first an intro. I recently acquired an older Nagaoka Seisakusho 4x5 LF camera which appears to be in reasonably good condition. The camera looks like a Tachihara. It came with the following lens: Graphex 4.7f, 135mm. The vendor also sold me a round developing tank and sheet holders. So I should be nearly set to start my new road of discovery with LF photography.

I am not totally new to film. Have several 35mm cameras and a Bronica ETRS. Have developed the film at home and done abit of enlarging at the darkroom at our camera club.

Not having done LF before, I have some pretty basic questions which it would be nice to discuss with another LF shooter in the Toronto area. Stuff like, where can you purchase film here, who does colour 4x5 developing etc. Are there any Toronto area LF shooters, on this discussion forum, that I can spend time on the phone with who could give me their contact information?

Thx

[Vick Vickery]

Welcome to group therepy, Frank! We have quite a few folks here from that cold land to the north (I'm from about as far south in the central U.S. as you can get without getting your feet wet) and I'm sure you will hear from some of them soon. Getting advice and guidance from experienced LF shooters will speed your learning curve and make your early attempts alot less painfull!

The lens that came with your camera is a good general purpose lens, but limited in coverage; it was very popular at one time with press photographers as it is slightly wide for the 4x5 format ("normal" being 150mm to 160mm). As you start to experiment with camera movements you will find that it starts to loose coverage fairly quickly...that will make for some interesting sights on the ground glass or, if you don't notice it there, on the negatives, but the darkening effect in the corners can be used as a nice effect at times. As you progress, you will want to add a lens or two with greater coverage, but what you already have will serve you well to start.

Have fun!

[cowanw]

Welcome from Hamilton

[Michael Wynd]

Hi frank, welcome to the forum.
My first LF camera was a Nagaoka 4x5. It was a perfect beginners camera, light and easy to use. I used to think it was heavy until I got a Shen Hao 4x5....and then I went up to 8x10. OMG.
Mike

[William McEwen]

Robert Adams used a Nagaoka 4x5 to shoot his "From the Missouri West" and a lot of other stuff.

[Diane Maher]

Hi Frank, welcome to the forum!

[Frank_E]

thank you for the warm welcomes
much appreciated
look forward to this new challenge