I don't really see any problem with paying a grand for a matched pair of legends. We would pay more than this for a mediocre DSLR with kit lenses. With a Speed and Aero Ektar combo you're gonna be shooting class images as well as using a class act. Don't be so miserable...
GR.
But you can get a Lomo-Holga for $50 and it's pretty much the same thing!
<<<>>>
But you cannot change the lense on a lomo !
A speed graphic is a nice stuff anyway.
If you get an aero ektar at a decent price, it could be fun.
Then you can use other great lenses for plenty of other pictures.
In the Summer you can use the Aero to fry ants scurrying across the sidewalk, very fast compared to a conventional Symmar, with the Aero you can cook them in their tracks.
Frank... What is your problem with aero ektar and/or speedgraphics ?
A problem when you were a child ?
Nightmares with giants speedgraphics ?
No ! don't tell me that you've been abused by a speedgraphic. It's horrible. I really can understand.
I've just owned them myself so I recognize the disease! First you get the Aero, then a Verito, then more brass lenses, or maybe a converted Polaroid or a restored Deardorff.... in the end all you've got are a bunch of mushy pictures that could have been done just as well with a Holga or Lensbaby... except your wallet is thousands of dollars lighter.
Outside of David Burnett's work, is there anyone doing anything all that great with this stuff? No offense, I haven't seen very many good shots that really hinged on them being done with exotic equipment. It's more a gear-headed obsession, acquisitive culture of camera nerds that has little to do with making good photos.
Hey Frank,
I'll jump on this band wagon with you. I don't care for mushy lenses either... with the exception of really good SF lenses like the Portrait Ektar, Imagon, Cooke Portrait, SF Fujinon, etc. and then only if used with the aperture closed down a bit for more subtlety. In fact, these types might be the best overall compromise for most any pictorial or portrait photography when used at smaller apertures to minimize chromatic aberration. Swirliness? Not my cup of coffee unless the swirls are the cream dispersing in the mix. Extremely limited DOF... well, I guess there are few options.
I agree with you frank.
But the speedgraphic is nice to be able to use both lens shutter and focal plane on a 4x5" negative.
Enlarging a 4x5" is just "wow" compared to any 6x6.
Ok, if the picture itself havent got any interests, printing it in 1.2x1.5m will not transform it to something unbelievable.
But you still can use great recent lenses on the speedgraphic, for landscape or protraits or what ever you want. And It will be much much much cheaper to any lens for a recent DSLR camera for ways more informations catched on a sensitive area.
Not same use, of course.
Having an aeroektar at a decent price to make a few dozen of pictures then sell it back at the same decent price could be fun.
Well It's not a goal by itself or a graal quest, it's just one of my projects actually.
Thanks for your tips on mushy pictures !
I admit to liking the idea of having a focal plane shutter so you could experiment with odd vintage lenses, perhaps not inflated Aeros but there are millions of alternatives costing peanuts... A lensboard with an iris clamp that will adjust to hold any size lens barrel allows you to quickly change things up and mount odd lenses without hunting for flanges, etc.
But... a Sinar with a large lensboard and their version of a focal plane shutter make more sense because a lot of the lenses you'd like to use are often larger than a Speed Graphic can handle (indeed the Aero sometimes requires a little material removal to get it in there....) (Or a Packard shutter on an old woodie will do the same thing.)
Just for people's future reference, this is a nice iris clamp set-up: http://collodion-art.blogspot.com/20...ris-clamp.html and I stole his photo here:
Hope I am not feeding anyone's addiction or contributing to the hipster trendiness....
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