A brief introduction

[rbiemer]

Hello, all!
My name is Rob. Chef by trade and consider my self an "unabashed amateur" photographer. I harbor no pretensions to being the next star and am not thinking to make photography my career. I want to continue to shoot mainly to enjoy something creative that is essentially for me.
My career is creative but it is literally creative on demand: my work day consists of many variations of "make me something to eat." :)

Learned 35mm starting with my granddad's Argus in the late 60s and have (sort of) progressed from that.
For the last few years, I had been thinking about moving up and slowing down and hadn't made that happen as 4x5 was big jump in expenses for what is a hobby and I couldn't quite justify it. However, early this year two things came to my attention that changed that equation in my favor:
The Intrepid 4x5 camera and the Stearmann daylight tank. These two things made it a reasonable possibility to both shoot 4x5 and to process in my small apartment. Bought one of each, a truly basic lens, and the other assorted bit and pieces and dove in. Have just about finished the first 25 sheet box of HP5+ I decided to start with.

So here I am. Absolutely new to 4x5 but not new to photography in general.
I will be reading a good bit of what's here before I ask too many questions--in fact, I've read a bunch already as I'm trying to work out a basic methodology for my self.

Thanks for having me!

Rob

[Alan9940]

Welcome, Rob. I don't own an Intrepid 4x5, but I've heard really good things about it. It should serve you well.

Have fun!

[Peter Collins]

Another word of welcome from me, Rob.

I jumped back into LF photography after a hiatus of ~25 years due to fathering children. Meantime, some things had changed. While my situation is unlike yours in those respects, I want to mention the help I have got in settling my darkroom workflow. Lots of good posts here. I have benefited from Doremus Scudder's posts, especially those that he has contributed in the last year or so. And the data sheets from Ilford (chemistry, paper) have helped a lot, too.

[rbiemer]

Alan,
I chose the Intrepid for a few reasons. In large part it was because of the relatively inexpensive price. As well, I wanted an actually new camera--the last new camera I bought was my Bessa R and while I have a few (:rolleyes:) other film cameras, none of those were new when I got them. Not a bad thing but that does come with its own issues.
Cheap, new,and, lastly, lightweight.
I don't know much about LF photography yet, but I do know a bit about woodworking and the Intrepid is pretty well done, I think. It's no Ebony or any other "top line" wood field camera but it is good enough for me.
Rob

[rbiemer]

Another word of welcome from me, Rob.

I jumped back into LF photography after a hiatus of ~25 years due to fathering children. Meantime, some things had changed. While my situation is unlike yours in those respects, I want to mention the help I have got in settling my darkroom workflow. Lots of good posts here. I have benefited from Doremus Scudder's posts, especially those that he has contributed in the last year or so. And the data sheets from Ilford (chemistry, paper) have helped a lot, too.

Thank you for this, Peter!

Rob

[David Williams]

Welcome to the group, Rob. I am also getting back into LF after a 25 year break. However, I did work as a photographer before and was pretty experienced in film processing. Life, kids, and health issues sidetracked me. I switched to digital about 10 years ago, but never really lost my love for film. I have an old Calumet C-400 view camera that has been sitting on a shelf and recently picked up a Crown Graphic that is in good shape. I don't have a darkroom any more, but I got some chemistry and a daylight tank, and some TMax 100.

After a recent heart surgery and other issues, I guess I'm taking stock of life and realizing that all the automation and convenience of digital is less than satisfying. There's something about taking my time setting up a view camera and creating a photograph that just feels better to me.

The Intrepid looks like a decent light weight camera that should serve you well. I've been reading this forum daily and have found a wealth of information and encouragement. Looking forward to seeing some of your work.

Dave Williams
Kansas City, Missouri

[Alan9940]

Cheap, new,and, lastly, lightweight.


Hi Rob,

Exactly the reasons why I'm perched on the edge of my seat waiting for my new Intrepid 8x10 to arrive! Now that I'm in my mid-60's, lugging a pack with my 8x10 Deardorff and several lenses, plus all the other paraphernalia is getting a bit much. I still do it, but I'm looking forward to paring down the weight with the Intrepid and a couple of small Fuji A series lenses. I'm really hoping it will be here in time for fall foliage.

[John Kasaian]

Welcome aboard!
Soooo---whatcha gonna take pictures of?

[rbiemer]

Hi Rob,

Exactly the reasons why I'm perched on the edge of my seat waiting for my new Intrepid 8x10 to arrive! Now that I'm in my mid-60's, lugging a pack with my 8x10 Deardorff and several lenses, plus all the other paraphernalia is getting a bit much. I still do it, but I'm looking forward to paring down the weight with the Intrepid and a couple of small Fuji A series lenses. I'm really hoping it will be here in time for fall foliage.
I've been pretty happy with the camera but, the stated lead time when I ordered my 4x5 was nothing like how long it actually took for me to get my camera. :(
I'm hoping Intrepid are getting better about this but when I ordered, the lead time was stated as 6 weeks. My camera took 10 1/2 weeks to arrive here in upstate NY.


Welcome aboard!
Soooo---whatcha gonna take pictures of?

Stuff like this, mostly:169645


The negative looks much better than this scan, I am very much a beginner at scanning!
Of the 10 or 12 photos I've made so far, this is the best. There is some more detail in the highlights on the tree trunk, I just need to sort out my scanning. I am concurrently attempting two different ways with what gear I have now--Vuescan with my crappy flatbed or "scanning" with my digital camera. Neither is perfect but my end goal is to wet print so the scanning is mainly for the few photos I'll want to put on line.

Rob

[Alan9940]

I've been pretty happy with the camera but, the stated lead time when I ordered my 4x5 was nothing like how long it actually took for me to get my camera. :(
I'm hoping Intrepid are getting better about this but when I ordered, the lead time was stated as 6 weeks. My camera took 10 1/2 weeks to arrive here in upstate NY.


I'm glad to hear you've been pleased with the camera because I'm hoping I'll be as happy with the 8x10...we'll see. Lead time was months for me, anyway, as I was part of the Kickstarter campaign. Last I heard, they should start shipping our cameras next month. :)

[Jim Galli]

Welcome Rob. Reading your introduction I thought to myself, you won't have any trouble at all. Chef's have to think on their feet and multi-task at creative problem solving and I can't think of a better description of what we do in this hobby. Enjoy!

[rbiemer]

I'm glad to hear you've been pleased with the camera because I'm hoping I'll be as happy with the 8x10...we'll see. Lead time was months for me, anyway, as I was part of the Kickstarter campaign. Last I heard, they should start shipping our cameras next month. :)

I think I didn't see or notice the kickstarter for the 4x5, but I am happy that it was a success for Intrepid! And, frankly, just as glad that they took the feed back from the people who got those first cameras and made some changes in the design. The "new" version I have has an, apparently, better front standard.

I think that the lessons they learned from the evolution of the 4x5 will certainly carry over to the 8x10 so your 8x10 ought to be pretty good!
And I read--either on their website or their facebook page--that they were hiring/training some more staff to deal with the demand for the cameras.
And, while I wasn't exactly happy about how long it took me to get my camera, I was happy that they took the time they needed to make the cameras rather than lowering they quality to make production faster. My only real complaint was the lack of communication during the process.

Rob

[rbiemer]

Welcome Rob. Reading your introduction I thought to myself, you won't have any trouble at all. Chef's have to think on their feet and multi-task at creative problem solving and I can't think of a better description of what we do in this hobby. Enjoy!

Hahahaha!

Thanks for the laugh, Jim! I have learned some important things so far:
A) Prep is just as vital for this as it is in any kitchen I've worked in. So, I do keep good notes and write lists for both.
B) I definitely need a fairly specific routine for using my camera--my first outing I had two film holders loaded--the daylight tank I am using will do four sheets at a time. The third photo I wanted to make was ruined by me by not closing the shutter after composing but before pulling the dark slide. My 4x5 camera suddenly became a "half frame" camera! :rolleyes: Not too much of a loss, really, that photo wasn't going to be great any way. And that particular lesson will stick with me.(I must be making progress in general, I must have half a dozen or so 35mm negatives where I took the lens cap off my Elmar but forgot to extend the lens...:) )
and, C) I need a different tripod head. The tripod and ball head I'm using is the bigest one I own and have been happy with it and the biggest MF camera/lens combo I've got. For my 4x5 set up it is plenty big but I really dislike using the ball head: it will lock down well enough but getting it adjusted is a major pain. Going to be looking at a good three way head soon.

Rob

[Randy]

Rob, welcome to our world.

I don't think you mentioned what lens you are using on your Intrepid, but I have only one suggestion as you have just started with large format - try ... for now ... to just get used to the one lens you have. Use it for a year, use it for two years. Try not to do what most of the rest of us have done and continue to do - we seem to be always on the look-out for that magic lens that will give us the magic negatives, so we sell a couple of our older lenses, (that we thought were magic when we purchased them) so we can buy another magic lens. I have 6-7 lenses for my 8X10 and 5-6 for my 4X5's and trust me, not a one of them is magic. Spend your $ on film, chems, and paper.

[rbiemer]

Rob, welcome to our world.

I don't think you mentioned what lens you are using on your Intrepid, but I have only one suggestion as you have just started with large format - try ... for now ... to just get used to the one lens you have. Use it for a year, use it for two years. Try not to do what most of the rest of us have done and continue to do - we seem to be always on the look-out for that magic lens that will give us the magic negatives, so we sell a couple of our older lenses, (that we thought were magic when we purchased them) so we can buy another magic lens. I have 6-7 lenses for my 8X10 and 5-6 for my 4X5's and trust me, not a one of them is magic. Spend your $ on film, chems, and paper.

I'm mostly done chasing that magical lens...partly because I've tried it with no success in 35mm and partly because my job sutuation has changed a bit since I first got my current "kit". I don't have quite so much "play money " now. :)
As well, I honestly like the one lens I have now. A Wollensak 135mm Raptar with the Rapax shutter. The lens doesn't have room for a lot of movement but, for now, it's enough.
The shutter could use some attention but so far the negs I'm getting look good so I'm not too stressed about it.

Rob