Hello!
I'm Martin, and I've been out of almost all but snapshot photography for a long time. But I did hang onto my Burke and James Saturn 4x5 (Rodenstock 150mm) from college, some 37 years ago.
My wife is the professional photographer in the home, and does amazing work - in Photoshop. She finds incredible photos in scenes that I never see in the raw shot, until after I've compared the finished product. It is art.
The photgraphic end of her work is basically automated, courtesy of Canon. I guess that's a good thing (old eyes will never replace new eyes for focusing). She started to rework some old B&W shots from her college days and we started a discussion about "the old days" - Pan-x, D-76, contrast ratios and more. Eventually I mentioned that I still had my B&J (and more importantly, its tripod), and we've decided to both do large format.
I'm looking for either a Speed Graphic or other portable unit for her to start with, so that we can use a 120 back and start cheap. (After all, that reusable 8 gigabyte memory card costs about the same as ten sheets of film.) And besides, we enjoy travelling. I always did scenics, and I'd love to have a Crown Graphic, Wista or Linhof and a 65mm for our travels.
I don't know if I will ever get back to chemistry, but the thought of signing up for a course at a community college has crossed my mind. Otherwise, there's an Epson 700 scanner.
So I know I'll be asking all sorts of questions here, and I thank you in advance for your indulgence. I promise to do searches for answers first, rather than simply blurt them out. But if anyone knows a quick way to identify a Graflock back on the images I see on ebay, I'd love to hear it!
My thanks to all,
Martin
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