Ansel Adams with his Sinar Norma--Getty Exhibit

[Darin Boville]

We, not really at the Getty--but on the Getty web page as part of their exhibit of Ansel prints. There's a string of Ansel videos playing at the bottom of the page:

https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_ansel_adams/

Not sure if I've seen these before or not--they all sort of blur together. But that sure looks like a Norma to my untrained eye...I also like the part where's he's shooting the surf scene for the movie camera and he clearly does NOT look at the scene to time the exposure.

Sugimoto has a retrospective exhibit there, too, right now and much more. How did I not notice this until today???

--Darin

[William Whitaker]

Well, that was a fun romp. Man, that guy sure had it made! All I know is that my life won't be complete until I get a Kodak Commercial View Camera. ;)

And yes, it is a Norma in the first clip. It's a 5x7 Norma with a 4x5 reducing back.

[dsphotog]

Thanks for sharing,
Maybe I should dig out my Majestic Tripod......

[jbenedict]

Well, I already have a few of the things St. Ansel was very productive using. Of all the equipment he used, the things I would like most to use is the big horizontal enlarger and the platform on the car. It's made out of an 11x14 studio camera- one o the big heavy muthas which were used to make pages in the Sears and Roebuck catalogs and stuff. It would be *great* to be able to make 16x20s out of my 8x10 negatives any time I wanted to. He made as big as 30x40 with it, too. The platform on the car would be an easy one to achieve. Probably better with a pickup truck w/canopy for storage and bunkhouse for those early morning light shoots. A standard ladder rack with crosspieces and thick plywood for the platform would round it up.

[ic-racer]

Of all the equipment he used, the things I would like most to use is the big horizontal enlarger.

Realize you can probably do much better than Adam's contraption. For example the flagship Durst L1840 was designed, put into production and then became obsolete all in the time since Adams death.

[Bob Salomon]

Yes, it is a Sinar. There are also pictures of Adams around with a Horseman and a Deardorff. He used lots of cameras.

BTW, Sugimoto just bought a Linhof Techno outfit with one of the Linhof Universal Sliding Backs for a job in France that starts today.

[jbenedict]

Realize you can probably do much better than Adam's contraption. For example the flagship Durst L1840 was designed, put into production and then became obsolete all in the time since Adams death.

Dunno.... The old boy seemed to churn out a few good prints with that 'contraption' Someone just gave me an Aristo 8x10 cold light head and I'm gonna figure out how to make that work for me...

[jbenedict]

Yes, it is a Sinar. There are also pictures of Adams around with a Horseman and a Deardorff. He used lots of cameras.

As he got older, the Hasselblad became one of his favorite cameras of choice. In his autobiography, he mentions in passing the different cameras he used at different times. Zeiss Juwels were mentioned frequently although I have never seen one or a picture of one.

[William Whitaker]

... The platform on the car would be an easy one to achieve. Probably better with a pickup truck w/canopy for storage and bunkhouse for those early morning light shoots. A standard ladder rack with crosspieces and thick plywood for the platform would round it up.

There are load limits for car-top hauling, so you'd be better off with a pickup truck. Much simpler IMHO. My Honda Element at first blush would have been an awesome LF field companion. But with a 150 lb roof limit, yours truly was eliminated right off from participating. I have a 1/2-ton 4WD pickup now with a crew cab about the size of a dance hall. There's room to stretch out and still carry valuables in the backseat area. A step ladder to help my aging joints and muscles onto the tailgate would be a good addition. But that should be part of a field kit, anyway. Right?

[Drew Wiley]

I presume his Zeiss Juwel was his 2-1/4x3-1/4 sheet film backpacking camera. It was a cute little wooden folder with design features ancestral to things like the
Linhof Tecknika. His horizontal enlarger was basically a stat camera with a light bank attached to the back, later replaced by a cold light grid, and something off an odd dinosaur all along.

[Darin Boville]

Yes, it is a Sinar. There are also pictures of Adams around with a Horseman and a Deardorff. He used lots of cameras.

BTW, Sugimoto just bought a Linhof Techno outfit with one of the Linhof Universal Sliding Backs for a job in France that starts today.

What's the new project? I'm a big fan. Also, new show of his work opens at the Fraekel in May...

--Darin

[Bob Salomon]

What's the new project? I'm a big fan. Also, new show of his work opens at the Fraekel in May...

--Darin

That would be their's to announce.

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

I think that as Ansel's fame grew various manufacturers of equipment made sure to make their stuff available to Ansel, either for a very reduced price, or for free. In later years I doubt if Ansel ever had to pay for anything that said Kodak or Polaroid on it.