Hello from Hamburg

[feldhaim]

Hello everyone !

I've been watching these forums for some time now and finally decided to register.
I'm not yet in real large format, but very near to:

My largest current format is 6*9 cm with a Mamiya Universal. On the long run (money question) I want to change to a tech camera, though I'm not yet sure if I'd go for 4x5" or stay with 6*9 cm on 120 film. I recently had a chance to have a look at an Arca F-line Camera and found it quite compact, so the bulk argument no longer really counts, especially compared to my Mamiyosaurus. What I like on my Mamiya is the convenience of roll film and the possibility to use my Nikon LS 9000 scanner, since I'm very fond of a hybrid film/digital workflow.
I am very sceptical towards pure digital for various reasons:
1. Archival Stability of digital files
2. Too much speed producing to much junk I have to sort out later
3. Definition or lack thereof in the unsharp areas in small format images and especially digital.

4*5" would force me to use another scanner (expensive) and slow me down even more (maybe not so bad). So maybe I'll not become a true large format guy but a tech camera user, so I believe I'm not completely wrong here.

My focus is on viewing and experimenting and I'm generally quite equipment agnostic. I even dare to shoot with a small digital P/S camera. Who cares? There is a tool for every purpose. But since I even use a tripod with the P/S camera the step to larger formats is not that far.

I'm an amateur in the best meaning of the word and returned to photography about one year ago after a 20 year hiatus due to various reasons. My work can be seen at my website at http://www.feldhaim.com. The website is new and does only contain a part of my work, since I'm always running behind publishing my images due to lack of time and the hybrid workflow.

Cheers
Christoph C. Feldhaim

[Ash]

If you're in Hamburg make sure to go to the Smoove + Turrell gig that's on. They're amazing

[feldhaim]

If you're in Hamburg make sure to go to the Smoove + Turrell gig that's on. They're amazing

Unfortunately I'll not be in Hamburg this weekend but have a weekend near the baltic sea and try out my newly repaired Mamiya Lenses and some High resolution film if the weather is halfway okay. I just got everything back from Mamiya Munich with rangefinders, lenses and shutter times adjusted after I had done as much maintenance as I could do myself.

[Ash]

Ahh that's fair enough. They occasionally play shows in Germany. Well worth the entry fee for funk/soul. Have fun in the baltic.

[Charles Hohenstein]

Welcome, Christoph.

[Sascha Welter]

I have an old Arca 6x9 and am enjoying it very much. It gives me all the play toys that large format can give. Sure, 6x9 doesn't have much "street cred" in the large format world, but so what. On the other hand, 120 film is really a looot easier to handle (and I've handled a lot of 4x5" film in a previous, commercial photography life). You already have a very good scanner for 6x9 (I'm dreaming of getting one like that one day) and hey, you can upgrade that f-line to 4x5 at any time when you "grow out of 6x9".

[halberstadt]

Just checked out your site: I LOVED this photo "Out of the Window" took me a moment to figure out what I was looking at.


To me 4x5 might make sense for you. I don't think the German market prices are too different than here. You might be able to get a starter outfit for the $100-200 range with a lens, a couple holders etc. There are lots of resources in Germany for film and chemistry too unlike many parts of the world. And keep in mind you can also get a roll film holder for most 4x5s too.

[Vick Vickery]

Welcome to group therepy! Don't forget that you can use 120 film in roll film holders on 4x5 cameras...formats 6x6, 6x7, 6x9, and 6x12 are the most common. Thus a Linhoff or other 4x5 technical camera can serve for several formats and both film types.

[feldhaim]

Thank you everyone for your welcome and thanks for your time considering the problem I described and even looking at my little web playground.

Actually my dream would be an Arca F metric 4*5" and 3 lenses. I believe my next step, once the money is there will be the camera and an adaption of my existing lenses (using a front bayonet from a Mamiya Universal) and backs. The great thing about the Mamiya rollfilm backs is the very good flatness of the film if you just advance right before the exposure. But maybe I'll once just sell all my Mamiya stuff and get directly to the LF camera, but with a 6x9cm back. Especially for b/w there is some very cool high resolution film out (SPUR DSX 120, ISO 25) which really boosts the smaller formats. A 4x5" would also give me the chance to use sheet film later. Unfortunately I don't have a darkroom anymore and I develop my film using a changing bag for putting it in the development drum.

Cheers
~Chris

[Peter De Smidt]

Welcome! I spent a year living in Hamburg (on Kalkreuthweg) in the early 1990's.

Regarding large format, it's just something you're going to have to try. For example, while lot's of people love 8x10, I gave it a try and didn't like it. I much prefer 4x5. So many things come down to preference. The Arca is a great camera system.