finally taking up the challenge

[Crombie]

Hi one and all,

I've retired from a 40 year freelancer career primarily as a photojournalist-sports-fashion shooter which meant shooting 35mm most of the time, occasionally 6x6 and very rarely 4x5. In fact I was incompetent with LF and embarrassed myself several times much to the distress of the clients.

I was around LF a lot with a friendship beginning as a kid with Karsh and even spent some time in his darkroom. I even assisted his brother Malak and spent wondrous hours with my dad making his portrait prints with a Kodak Precision enlarger, I got to rock the trays learning to accept the odor of stale hypo.

It's occurred to me the bar was set too high for my reach so my love of photography led me to an alternate path, and no regrets here, been there and done that sort of thing.

LF needs patience which is not my strength and a wee voice is yelling at me to slow down and embrace what I've learned and apply it to 4x5. My hope this path will be open a new door to seeing.

A rangefinder recalibrated and cleaned Crown Graphic could be my start. It comes with a 135 non premium lense and wondering if the rangefinder can be adjusted for a 210? Any suggestions would be appreciated. The rangefinder function is a low priority so it's no big deal as the ground glass is the way to go.

Thanks!

Crombie

[xkaes]

Welcome aboard. There are lots of knowledgeable shutterbugs on this Forum -- some more knowledgeable about old gear and some about newer stuff. Always keep in mind that LF, like any format, is as easy or as complicated as you want it to be or make it. And take any suggestions with a grain of salt. Any approach may be perfect for one person, but not his neighbor. My advise is try it out first, without spending too much time or money.

[Leigh]

Hi Crombie, and Welcome Aboard.

Yes, LF is a much slower more deliberative technique.
Of course, my intro to LF was shooting basketball games available light.
I guess you can call that deliberative (compared to what, I don't know).

Enjoy the (a)vocation.

- Leigh

[cowanw]

Welcome from Hamilton. Feel free to post any remembrances from Malak or his lesser known brother Joe.:)

[mdarnton]

Nope. The RF can't. It tops out somewhere I can't remember, around 175mm or so. 210 is a nice FL on 4x5, but given that you won't be able to use the RF, is there some other reason for a Crown Graphic (like that you already own it, for instance. :-) For one thing, depending on what 210 you get, you may not be able to close the camera with it in place, which is an inconvenience.

[Alan Gales]

I once had a Calter 210mm f/6.8 lens that was small enough that it would "just" fold up into a Crown Graphic. The Caltar was actually a rebadged Rodenstock Geronar. I've seen these lenses in both the Caltar and Rodenstock versions sell on Ebay for under $100. They make great portrait lenses on a Crown or Speed Graphic.

Welcome to the forum!

[John Kasaian]

Welcome aboard!