Brisbane LF meetup thread.

[welly]

Lol... I love that your camera weighs what your DSLR + wide angle weighs... My Kardan with the 75 F/4.5 on it weighs about the same as my D3 + 300 F/2.8 (ie - No good for big long walks) and as it does not fit, assembled, in any bag I own, setup and tear down time kills me.

Makes me think I should have done more research before buying a 4x5... A Technika III went on here for $550 the other day... I should have waited for something like that rather than the monorail... Oh well.. you live and you spend another $1000... (and hopefully learn too)

Heh that's what I'm finding now with my Sinar F2. I'm beginning to think a field camera of some description might have been a better option. I enjoy using the camera a great deal and it's incredibly flexible but it's just a bit.. big?

[alexn]

Stef - Yeah.. I'm tossing up a few options. 4x5 field camera? 4x5 point and shoot? 617 field camera giving me movements, and roll film ease of use etc...

I find I shoot roll film 90% of the time with my 4x5, and quickloads the rest of the time.. I shoot rolls because the panoramic format appeals to me so much more than the 4:5 aspect ratio. I like 2, 3 and 4:1 aspects... I have recently re-acquired a dedicated 6x17 P&S purely because its light, easy to load/compose.. no movements is neither here nor there, I just stop down to F/22 ~ F/32 and its all good... Cheaper to shoot and process. Its a winner in that respect. If I got a 4x5 P&S too I could shoot 4x5, 6x12 and 6x17 with just 2 cameras that weigh next to nothing, require little effort to shoot and fit in one bag. Movements are, for my shooting, a little over rated. My longest lens is a 150mm, the longest I shoot is 90mm. With that much DOF stopped down to F/22 and smaller movements make little difference to final image sharpness. With the 75mm on the 4x5 I shot 2 shots of the same (similar enough) composition, one with all movements zeroed, one with slight fall and front tilt applied. Sharpness under an 8x loupe on a light table is no different at F/22.. Perspective is slightly altered.

Re: Coomera falls.
I see, I didn't realise... well that's awesome! I'm definitely keen for a good walk into somewhere the average person doesn't go.

Keen on Running Creek Falls and Lightning Falls too.. Overnight camping is fun!

[Boinzo]

Stef - Yeah.. I'm tossing up a few options. 4x5 field camera? 4x5 point and shoot? 617 field camera giving me movements, and roll film ease of use etc...

I find I shoot roll film 90% of the time with my 4x5, and quickloads the rest of the time.. I shoot rolls because the panoramic format appeals to me so much more than the 4:5 aspect ratio. I like 2, 3 and 4:1 aspects... I have recently re-acquired a dedicated 6x17 P&S purely because its light, easy to load/compose.. no movements is neither here nor there, I just stop down to F/22 ~ F/32 and its all good... Cheaper to shoot and process. Its a winner in that respect. If I got a 4x5 P&S too I could shoot 4x5, 6x12 and 6x17 with just 2 cameras that weigh next to nothing, require little effort to shoot and fit in one bag. Movements are, for my shooting, a little over rated. My longest lens is a 150mm, the longest I shoot is 90mm. With that much DOF stopped down to F/22 and smaller movements make little difference to final image sharpness. With the 75mm on the 4x5 I shot 2 shots of the same (similar enough) composition, one with all movements zeroed, one with slight fall and front tilt applied. Sharpness under an 8x loupe on a light table is no different at F/22.. Perspective is slightly altered.

Re: Coomera falls.
I see, I didn't realise... well that's awesome! I'm definitely keen for a good walk into somewhere the average person doesn't go.

Keen on Running Creek Falls and Lightning Falls too.. Overnight camping is fun!

Wow. So many options! I think the usefulness of movements like tilt and swing really depends on the scene in front of you and what you are trying to achieve. I certainly find that waterfall scenes gain a great deal from some simple movements to keep the entire plane sharp. With ultra-wides it's just harder because smaller movements make a bigger difference! There is a lot to be said for just a touch of front tilt when doing a seascape as well.

Having said that - I'd love a P+S 4x5 with fixed focal length and a view-finder for seascapes. Bit like Nana Sousa-Dias has - but like him I'd need to make my own...

So you know what you are getting into ... to get to the base of Coomera Falls requires a 4 hour wade and rock-hop up the Coomera River. In places the river will be waste deep. In places it will be over-grown and in other places you will need to climb up small ledges and so on. You will be wet all day. And every step you take you need to do again to get back out...

[alexn]

I'm fairly fit, the walk should be a challenge but not insurmountable by any means... Looking forward to it! I take it you're moving down stream on the walk out of the bush.. Thats got to be a plus.

Maybe I just haven't mastered the art of the movements to really see their usefulness yet... As you say, I always find that any movement I make goes FAR to far with the 75mm.. My camera click stops at 0° movement (on tilts). The slightest movement I can really achieve without it clicking back to 0° is maybe 6 or 7°. Which makes things look weird on the glass...

Swing I have used on an "artsy" shot of a barb wire fence running along the edge of a paddock. The fence is in sharp focus, everything else is not...

I will be making or buying a super simple 4x5 P&S for seascapes, much like Nana's, purely because on my first outing to the rocks I realised what you said... Its FREAKY watching waves come at you from above while trying to organise your image on the GG.. In that situation a view finder and fixed 58 or 47mm at F/22~32 is the go... get in, get the shot and get out of harms way quick snap.

I cant wait to see your field camera and see the difference in size and weight to my kardan... That will probably be the push I need to make the change! haha.

Tell me, with your 58mm, do you get the camera bed in the field of view or are you able to avoid that? Thats my biggest concern is getting a field cam then getting a 47mm and not being able to shoot it without catching the camera at the bottom of the image...

[Boinzo]

So have you communicated with Nana? That's where I was going to start .... let me know what you're up to on the DIY 4x5 front. I'm very keen to make one for myself. Although I'm not much of a carpenter!

6 or 7° is waaaay too much. I often just nudge the standard gently with my thumb. I have it partially screwed down at this point so it slightly resists moving but is not tight. It's moving maybe 1 or 2° at most.... then I lock it down.

With the 58mm - no I don't have any issues with physical vignetting from the camera body at all. Unless I go mad with fall or something. I can't use my Lee hood and polarizer setup though. You only have around 16mm of movement any way before the image circle is a problem. But when you are that wide that's plenty of movement I find. I dunno that I'd go to a 47mm. The 58mm is stupid wide anyway. Like you can frame up the entire height of Twin Falls with it. No problem. I dunno if the 47mm would vignette - but it would make any movement almost impossible without a bag bellows. I much prefer the 75mm. It's a lot more useful in almost every location I have been to. I wouldn't leave home with it.

[alexn]

I have not spoken with Nana directly, however I think making a wide angle point and shoot 4x5 would be the height of simplicity..

Basically a box.. I would put a graflok back on it. Its the easiest way to attach a film holder and to confirm focus (until you lock the focuser at the HFD for F/22)

You could either use a helical focus mount to achieve this, or just inspect the GG with a loupe and try various lens plate depths until you reach the required distance...


Yeah the movements being click stopped like that is a pain and it makes using movements with my wide angles difficult.

I very much look forward to seeing your field camera... Sounds awesome. I would probably get bag bellows purely because I only shoot wides...

Oh, I organised a pentax digital spot for $270 delivered! No more carying the DSLR and LF around together!

[miss_emma_jade]

oh interesting. not sure about hiking, but def interested in DIY cameras, especially bigger formats. most of the glass ive bought recently should cover 8x10. its either that or a panorama camera for me next. you guys seem to shoot a lot of rural/ nature landscape, movements come into their own with architectire or studio work, to my mind. just an observation.
interesting thread tho.. following with intrest, hanging for sunday.

[zachary12]

Wow this thread has grown!

Not much of a landscape man myself, but I'm not impartial to a hike.

@Emma did you see the Ilford Titan 8x10 pinhole announcement early today? Looks the goods, would be an easy way for me to get into 8x10 (woo contact prints for the darkroomly challenged.)

My brother and I have dabbled with home-made 4x5 wooden field camera, salvaged bits and pieces, have yet to test it, however. Is missing the bells and whistles of my Toyo though (GG probably needs a fresnel too, f8 ain't so bright.)

I'm going to try and make Sunday but I have family visiting from up north, should be able to sneak out fort a few hours for a pint or two. I'll more than likely bring a rangefinder or the blad, save carting the 4x5.

[miss_emma_jade]

ill bring the toyo i guess if i can be bothered dragging the tripod around. probably a leica too, Ive ordered a set of coloured filters too, im imaptient to start messing with the trichrome process. maybe theyll be here by then!!

[alexn]

I will have my 4x5 there and maybe even holga panoramic camera just for fun haha..