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View Full Version : hello i m new! advice for first large format!



danzyc
11-Jul-2007, 23:27
hello friend i m new for the large format photography...i d like buy to start a folding camera in particular goerz :http://cgi.ebay.it/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=017&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=270141740348&rd=1&rd=1#ebayphotohosting

please could you tell me the limitation for this camera? the quality of the lens? (dagor berlin 130 6,8)

could i load a polaroid?????

next year i d like to buy a deardoff 8x10 with a gold dagor 12" ...the quality is not the same i think!

thanks

Bill_1856
12-Jul-2007, 00:10
This is NOT a good place to start large format photography.
Properly restored (light-tight bellows, cleaned and adjusted shutter, cleaned lens) this camera would make excellent pictures if you can find film for it. It MAY only take glass plates, not film. No Polaroid for this old baby!
I'd like to have an 8x10 Deardorf with 12" Dagor, also, but I'm not a millionaire.

danzyc
12-Jul-2007, 02:01
thanks...a good 8x10 camera to start?

thanks

Armin Seeholzer
12-Jul-2007, 02:17
Yes I have a Burke & James 8x10 the grey one which is a good tool even better then the most deardorffs and almost 1/3 from the price of a dorf, or shoult a write doof because they pay to much for there old dorffs!
Happy shooting, Armin

Ernest Purdum
12-Jul-2007, 07:16
This is a curious auction entry. I am surprised that a person living in France who apparently does not write in Italian would offer it on Italian eBay. Are Italian prices better even though both countries now have the same currency?

Going by the focal length, this is presumably a 9 x 12cm camera. Although you can make adapters to take various films on any camera with a removable back, you need a 4" x 5" to adapt for Polaroid.

8" x 10" Deardorffs are expensive partly because they are one of the best larger cameras for field, as opposed to studio, use. They fold into a nice compact package.

Personally, I think it sensible to gain eperience with a 4" x 5" before moving into a larger format. A nice thing about buying on eBay is that you can acquire a learning tool, use it for a couple of years, then sell it, very likely at a price close to that at which it was acquired.

Nick_3536
12-Jul-2007, 08:36
This is a curious auction entry. I am surprised that a person living in France who apparently does not write in Italian would offer it on Italian eBay. Are Italian prices better even though both countries now have the same currency?





http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270141740348&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.com%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D270141740348%26category0%3D%26fvi%3D1

I think ebays listing are worldwide.

steve simmons
12-Jul-2007, 10:13
Before buying a camera may I suggest reading

Getting Started in Large Formt. This is in the Free Articles section of the view camera web site

www.viewcamera.com

and one of th following books

User's Guide to the View Camera by Jim Stone
Using the View Camera that I wrote
Large Format Nature Photography by Jack Dykinga

check your local library or Amzon.com


steve simmons

Ernest Purdum
12-Jul-2007, 10:23
Nick, you are right that eBay's listings are worldwide, but you only get your own country's listings unless you specify any country/region when doing a search.

Language is also a factor. In searching for a shutter, for example, you need to enter verschluss, obturateur, otturatore and obturador to get most of them, and will still miss those which might be listed under some other name.

Nick_3536
12-Jul-2007, 10:28
I remember the few times I've checked ebay.it the listings have included at least Germany also.

Ebay.ca includes all the US listings.

danzyc
12-Jul-2007, 23:17
many thanks friends...... the film for 8x10 (provia,porta) is difficult to find?

C. D. Keth
13-Jul-2007, 11:25
Why don't you try 4x5 to get used to all of the stuff you ahev to do to expose a sheet of film. it will all be simpler with a smaller package and brighter glass. If you like that, then you can mvoe up to 8x10.

Ole Tjugen
13-Jul-2007, 12:21
many thanks friends...... the film for 8x10 (provia,porta) is difficult to find?

Yes, and ridiculously expensive when/if you do find it.

I'll second the recommendation to start with 4x5" - or possibly 5x7", but nothing larger than that. And stick to "modern" cameras which take "modern" holders!

C. D. Keth
13-Jul-2007, 12:26
Yes, and ridiculously expensive when/if you do find it.

I'll second the recommendation to start with 4x5" - or possibly 5x7", but nothing larger than that. And stick to "modern" cameras which take "modern" holders!

Modern equipment is very underrated. Try modern stuff and if you find you like it, then you can undertake the expense and PITA of using old, non-standard stuff.

Ole Tjugen
13-Jul-2007, 13:14
"Modern", in LF terms, tends to mean "made some time in the last 60 years".

oh and - there were some definitely "non-modern" equipment made in the Soviet Union as late as in the 1970's.

Nick_3536
13-Jul-2007, 13:17
I thought modern meant post WWI -) Weren't they mostly taking modern film holders by then?

Ole Tjugen
13-Jul-2007, 13:23
I thought modern meant post WWI -) Weren't they mostly taking modern film holders by then?

Not in Europe. Besides, the "standard shutter sizes" became standard around 1934.