cheap first LF camera

[Storyteller]

Im trying to get into LF. I want to do really big prints, like couch prints, 2x5 feet, or 1x3 meters/yards, etc

I understand I will need 4x5 to print these, though some 120 might be ok or a few.

I have a very limited budget, like under $100 as ebay credit. I wont get much more for some time. I was thinking of getting an MF folder, like an Ikonta for 6x9, but its such a gamble, $20 + 10 shipping at the low end and it might not work, fixed lens, slow shutter.

I have seen Press cameras, such as a Busch Pressman go for $65 or so, many 4x5 Speeds for under 100$$. I think a press camera will be ok to start, I want to use some movements, but dont know if I need everything right away. Eventually, I want areally nice camera, but for now, a 4x5 I can shoot sheets and get a rollback for for MF stuff is the goal.

I read the article here on Press cameras as Field cameras, and i think that is the direction Im going. Yes, i want a $5-600 kit of syuff, but i wont be getting it in the next year or so, I want something to tide me over.
I have a couple of 35mm, but want to get into the better cameras.

So, try for a Press camera on ebay, like a Busch D, or get a MF folder, or look for something else?

[Terry Christian]

You indeed might get lucky and find a press camera for that price, but I think the cheapest LF cameras around and the only ones you can routinely find for around $100 are monorails. The advantage of a monorail is nearly infinite movements; the disadvantage is easy portability and setup, though I keep mine in a hiker's rigid backpack.

Good luck!

[John Kasaian]

A Calumet 400 or Graphic View I or II should fill the bill.

[vinny]

this question comes up at least once a week.
https://www.google.com/search?q=firs...ient=firefox-a
lately everyone who's getting into LF seems to do so because they want to make GIANT prints. How much will it cost you to make/mount a print that size?

[jp]

You can get functional $100 cameras. After you get a camera, you need to get some film holders, a lens, a box of film (which isn't cheap), enlarger or scanner, etc.. $100 budget quickly becomes several times that. But the $100 press camera with freebie lens because the shutter doesn't work smoothly and a film holder thrown in can be a good learning experience shooting paper negs, not going for high end fine art quality.

[Jim Jones]

A 4x5 press or monorail camera seems more practical than a roll film camera for large prints. The larger film is a great asset. The cameras are more versatile. Buying a camera with lens is often more economical than buying them seperately. Busch and especially Burke & James press cameras should be less expensive than later Speed Graphics. B&J also made a variety of monorail and flatbed cameras that are not elegant, but functional. Condition and price may be more important than brand.

[Pawlowski6132]

If you only have a $100 budget to get you form zero to a large print on a wall, forget it.

[Brian C. Miller]

$100 for a camera and lens? Yes, that can be done. That's a start, you can get results good enough for a wall-sized print, and it will quickly suck you down into the depths of, "this is fun, I need more!"

Since you just want something to "tide you over" until 2014, anything that is light-tight (no light leaks in the bellows) will work just fine, and provide a great start. I am guessing that you currently develop your own film. If not, then you need to start. I develop my film in my bathroom, and other members also happily use temporary darkrooms.

Another thing to do to get your start is to use a pinhole camera. These have been built from any scrap, even Lego blocks, and there are a few cheap commercially made cameras available. Just go to one of the pinhole sites, and look up how to make the pinhole itself. Then go and have some fun!

[rdenney]

If you only have a $100 budget to get you form zero to a large print on a wall, forget it.

Agreed. You can find decent old monorail view cameras for a hundred bucks, but then you'll need a lens--another hundred bucks for something old and marginal. Then, you'll spend another C-note for an old well-used tripod capable of holding the camera still enough for that much enlargement.

You'll need a cheapie loupe, a black towel as a focusing cloth, film holders, and a large amount of practice and experience.

Then, there are the expendables, like film, processing, printing. If you do that yourself, you're in for a pretty capable darkroom, or a high-end scanner and printer. That can be hired out to make really big prints, but more expensively than that hundred bucks...per photo.

Making big prints is hard and expensive, no matter what the technology. You might consider starting smaller and working up, which might be cheaper in the long run.

Rick "the only consolation is that doing it with digital cameras is a order of magnitude more expensive" Denney

[Brian C. Miller]

Making big prints is hard and expensive, no matter what the technology.

Actually, no. We just had a thread here about a new company offering huge prints for cheap. Storyteller needs to tell us a bit more about what he/she/it/they want(s). So far, what's requested is something cheap to play with for a year. That's entirely feasible. The OP has experience with a couple of 35mm cameras, and has stated that big prints are a final goal, probably at least two years out.

So: starter system for $100, with lens, yes, shop carefully. Pinhole for the cost of "gaffer's" tape (not duct tape) and spare cardboard, yes. A person doesn't need a loupe or a darkcloth or lots of crazy accessories to start. The OP will need at least a couple of filmholders, and chemicals. Paint trays have been used by lots of people for developing LF film, and those are very cheap. The OP can make some contact prints in a bathroom, no problem.

-- Brian "yes, you can start LF cheaply" Miller, who is still using his first LF camera.