After the most recent update (#11) I have kind of reconciled myself to waiting until January 2014 before any of these start coming in the mail.
Printable View
After the most recent update (#11) I have kind of reconciled myself to waiting until January 2014 before any of these start coming in the mail.
For those eagerly awaiting their Wanderlust, I have a potential new viewfinder to be on the lookout for if you still need one.
I just received in the mail a 21mm finder made by Minolta. I have no idea what camera it would've been used on. It is nice and bright, and the kicker is that the finder actually has less distortion than my Voigtlander or Nikon 21mm finders!
What is neat is it cost me all of $10. Can't beat that. Just mask off the sides and it's good to go.
I also recently purchased a 43mm Mamiya finder (6x7) for pretty cheap to use as a finder for my 75mm lens. My guess is that the 50mm Mamiya finder would be a good fit to the 90mm lens?
PM sent
Hey folks - must've been unclear. I'm not selling it, just giving a heads-up on another brand to be on the lookout for!!
OOPS! misread... wishful thinking, Thanks anyway!
Hi guys! We're plugging along... We're certainly learning a lot. :) Everyone seems to operate at a much slower timeframe than we'd like. Unfortunately, because we're not ordering 100,000 units we don't have much leverage. But things are beginning to come together.
Here are a couple shots of the assembly, shown a little larger than we could put in the KS update.
http://bensyverson.com/images/2013/1...rters-1024.jpg
http://bensyverson.com/images/2013/1...angle-1024.jpg
I'm also working on a preorder site, because we get emails every single day asking where to order the camera. We didn't want to offer preorders until the project was nearly complete, but we're pretty much there. It's just a few final agonizing details!
This month I also re-launched my iPhone camera app, which isn't LF related, but some of you might find it kind of cool. Check it out here: Mattebox
Lookin' mighty good. I'm getting excited now. Thanks for the update.
Stop posting pictures, you are making me drool all over the keyboard.
Seriously, great news. This has got to be the most ambitious camera project on kickstarter. Admire your determination Ben. You and Justin are a major force in helping keep film alive.
Are the distance numbers on the body raised or indented? If indented I think I could fill them in with a white china marker to make them more visible against the dark plastic.
I think the letters are raised, but you could still paint them.
I was wishing I had this camera last week for the elections in Nepal. I took my oldest Crown, and everyone loved it, but it is really heavy for times when the camera is an accessory rather than the main purpose of a trip.
Nice app Ben, but I am still looking for something that will show the effect of color filters in black and white. Don't think I would use it in the field, but it would be useful to play around with so I could develop a sense of the effect of various filters. That would help me when visualising in the field
Tim, Mattebox does show the effect of color filters—you can even see the effect live in the viewfinder! Check out this page for some discussion about that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Meisburger
Of course, the iPhone has a different spectral sensitivity (and much different exposure latitude) than panchromatic film, but it's still a useful option. :)
PS—The numbers are indeed raised, and they're somewhat subtle. We wanted them to be a bit more prominent, but the corners were rounded down in the molding process. We're going to have them apply a gloss so they pop out a bit more.
Thanks Ben. Lachlan also recommended an app called "Hueless". Unfortunately I have an Android phone, but maybe I'll buy an I-Pad for Christmas.
For the numbers, for those interested I think a bit of white paint, a fine brush, a photographer's loupe duct taped to the eye, and a sober evening the night before might be just the trick! Also, I'm looking forward to filling those "Wanderlust" letters with red enamel...
The 645pro app for the iphone does this, and its a very capable camera app too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Meisburger
gasp its a beauty!!!
The camera looks great! It must be world's lightest 4x5 outfit. Almost time to buy a gorilla pod.
I was also thinking of filling in those letters, and painting the dial. Perhaps my wife can do it, she probably has a steadier hand.
I've shot with the Travelwide on a Gorillapod many times—the Micro 800 will do the trick. The "SLR Zoom" model is even heftier, and can support 3000g, but frankly, it's overkill for the Travelwide!
Hey! Where did all the cheap 4X5 B&W film go!!??
Just checked Freestyle and they are out of stock on all of their Arista EUD Ultra film in 4X5.
Gone. Zip. Nada. None coming in till Dec/2013 or Jan/2014
The low priced Foma brand is out of stock too.
Coincidence? (spoken slow and conspiratorially)
I only wish! I would love to include promotional boxes of film with the Travelwide.Quote:
Originally Posted by zuiko90
Was casting no aspersions your way Ben. Just that with the latest update backers are getting ready for over 1000 4X5 cameras to arrive. A lot of those folks (including me) are ordering a lot of film. Looks like Freestyle wasen't prepaired for the stampede to get ready for their arrival. I can forsee a increase in the sale of Paterson 2 reel tanks, hair elastics, and searches on the 'taco method' of developing sheet film.
When you start that pre-order website for the regular production camera there well could be hundreds more sold. Once you start shipping more 4X5 cameras will hit the market in 6 months than were sold in the last 10 or 20 years. (Except for the Titan 4X5, but that is pinhole only and I'll bet a lot of folks are sticking to paper negatives.)
Contact printing holders will get a small boost too, 4 negs on a 8X10 sheet. And you can read them without a 5X loupe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zuiko90
I hate to break it to you but the this one camera did NOT cause freestyle to run out of Arista EDU 4x5 film. Freestyle is out of almost all formats and all speeds of Arista EDU film. This camera would NOT cause them to run out of 35mm and 120 format films. It's obviously a supply issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by zuiko90
Hey! Your right. The plot thickens Zak. Think I'll give them a jingle tommorow and just ask, point blank, "what's with all this 'out of stock' notices, are you going keep the prices steady?"Quote:
Originally Posted by Light Guru
Wonder what's going on. Perhaps their vendor for this product are raising their prices and they are looking for alternatives. Would not be surprised if, when the new stuff comes in the prices are higher. Best bargain right now seems to be B&H. They have Ilford's HP5, 100 sheets for $114.95 with free shipping. That is still $1.15 in raw film for each shot. The Arista whould have been about $.75 each shot. Of course that's OK for the US, don't know how prices are for the rest of the world.
Now....I don't want people to think I'm cheap, but......well I guess I am cheap.
They've been running the EDU Ultra at 7% off for a while. That might have helped it sell. Anyway my fridge is well stocked with both TMY-2 and Arista EDU/Foma in 4x5 as well as some Ektachrome 100SW, some Portra 160 and some older stuff frozen.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Roger;
I bought their ortho film for 4X5 hoping I could tame the contrast with some soft developer. So far not going well, soot and chalk negs. And the ISO is about 8, that would be f8 at 1/30 in bright sunlight at best. but it is cheap, $21 for 100 sheets.
Hello Ben,
The Micro 800 can't be wrapped around poles, can it? I was thinking that maybe the Hybrid would be the best one to get, it has a ball head, which the Original does not. What do you think? All of the models are here: http://joby.com/gorillapod
To help sell the rest of your cameras, I think you need to set up a site where people can post pictures taken with the TravelWide. I'm looking forward to seeing what other people shoot with this camera.
I can't wait to hear what people in New York say when they see this camera, I already get a lot of comments from just walking around with a Contax G2. I'm sure I would help sell some cameras at the International Center of Photography.
How UNStreetlike. I am planning on putting a strip of black Duct Tape over my letters. This will put off the name recognition camera thieves, and make the camera less obvious for "Stealth Street Shooting".Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Meisburger
I already have about 300 sheets of film in the freezer, 150 of which are Quickloads. Have been practicing "dry shooting" with my Readyload Pro back.... I do all the setup, but don't pull the dark slides when shooting.:cool:
I don't see how this camera is going to be a stealthy street machine. People are incredibly curious, they're going to take notice when you hold up this big piece of plastic to your face. I'm expecting a lot of "What the hell is that?" questions. Send me some business cards, Ben, and I'll hand them out to people when they ask.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuzano
So, guys, what has been your experience shooting the camera on the street. Do you get much attention? I'm thinking about taking a road trip in March, hope I get the camera by then. No pressure. ;-)
Ha, funny. Pulling the dark slide is going to be a whole new experience for bystanders, LOL. Nobody does that anymore, and I bet that most people don't even know what a dark slide is, or why it is needed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuzano
So... what's going on guys ?
It's been a while and we're still awaiting for some real news concerning the availability of the Travelwide 90 !
I know the Chinese can be difficult to work with (had some trouble at work !) but can we expect sometime soon to be able to place some order (for the non early adopters) ?
Thanks by advance...
My take from following this is that it's being made in the US and it's just taken time to work out the kinks of injection molding for this completely new design.
Most? Hell, almost NO ONE will now what the darkslide is.Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg
What does the Travelwide have to do with Chinese people?Quote:
Originally Posted by MOZ
I had some issues with an American once, now I avoid all of them and bad mouth them on the internet.
Must be my mistake, i though they were making them in a china factory... and that the delay was due to troubles there...Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Puccio
Sorry for the misunderstand...
Here is a link for the company, Xcentric, that is doing the injection mold work:
http://www.xcentricmold.com
They're in Michigan, I believe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MOZ
The Nov. 25 update on Kickstarter indicated that they were dealing with a minor defect that resulted from manufacturing. Which means that the production run was delayed and that once the run is complete, they still need to do whatever hand assembly is required and ship them. I would guess we're looking at late January for delivery. All in all, not too bad given that this is a "from the drawing board" product.
I can wait. Winter is crap for going out and using a camera like this anyway, not that there aren't days for it, but generally so gray and blah and ick around here, if not actually all that cold, that I do little photography anyway, at least at the camera. It's often a season for working on darkroom backlog but even that isn't happening this year for me. :(
Ya, winter is crap here, too. Nothing but rain, rain, and more rain... snow is in the forecast tonight and tomorrow. YAY!
Meanwhile, it's summer here (40 degrees Celsius yesterday), and I'm shortly leaving work for a camping holiday up the coast... I'll have to take the Wista instead!!
Marc!
Same yuk here in Olympia also Andrew. I'm heading up to Hornby island in March. Lots of not much to do and that's why I go in the off season. Might catch the herring run though.
Going to love dealing with all the people dealing with driving in the snow 'for the first time' in the morning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zuiko90
Willrea,
Whew, Capitol way is bare and wet outside my window at 7 AM so it looks like, at least in town, going to be a regular friday.
Back to topic, I have a feeling we are not going to see cameras delivered till Feburary or March anyway. This is a very ambitious project even for Justin and Ben. They seem to have the design and engineering chops but are also feeling their way with actual production using a contracted source and that is the unknown (and perhaps unknowable) factor. The lessons learned with this camera will, I'm sure, be applied to future projects. Ben says they have more really cool ideas in the pipeline. Besides just the backers I hope they can sell a boatload of these cameras and make a few bucks. They deserve it.
One more thing to consider. The Harman Titan 4X5 pinhole camera sold over 1000 units in just 3 months and it retails for more than twice as much (although it includes about $25 worth of paper and film). It dosen't have provision for a lens and does not have a helical, pinhole only as shipped. With the Travelwide you get a pinhole and depending on how much you want to search, a wide angle lensed camera. My slightly rough looking but working Angulon was $100 and so, for the cost of a Titan I'll have both a pinhole and wideangle 4X5, not a bad deal all around.
Well, in New York, I have people come up to me all the time who have shot 4x5 and know something about large format cameras. Still, most people don't know anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Cole
Speaking of the darkslide, how long can we walk around with the darkslide pulled out before taking a shot? I guess this would be a good test of light tightness. It would be easier on the street to be ready to take the shot, instead of having to pull the darkslide one second before taking the shot.
Last spring I built a plywood box 4X5 for a 130mm f7.7 Kodak Anastigmat salvaged off of a 1930ish Kodak folder. The lens has front cell focusing to 6 feet so I only had to build a square box and make sure the lens was shimmed to infinity. When I took it out on the street I got all kinds of inquires and comments from both old timers and young folks. Even the young folks seemed to recognize the purpose of the dark slide or at least had seen cameras that use filmholders.Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg
In a couple of hours I got more comments about that camera, probably 10~12 people asked questions, than any time I have walked around with old film cameras. Most times no one says anything about either the camera or taking pictures.
I pull the darkslide right before I release the shutter, then flip it to the 'exposed' side and replace it immediately.
Cold in Bangkok. 65 degrees this morning as we prepare to go out on a train ride to Lopburi to view (and shoot) the sunflowers. Wish I had that travel wide...
Yeah, it would be nice to have one, maybe sometime next summer they might have some available, I'll get a 90 for sure (I already have a 65).
Any further information?
In years of shooting 4x5 off and on I have never ONCE been approached by anyone who knew what a view camera or dark slide or sheet film were but I've been asked many times why I had to put a cloth over my head. Of course it's possible those who know just smile to themselves and go on their way and those who don't stop to ask. I've never shot in New York either or even inside Atlanta itself for that matter generally preferring natural sorts of subject matter so this camera will be a departure for me in that way.
I think New York is a special case, as there are a lot of photographers in the city, and we still have a thriving film scene, in terms of labs and schools.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Cole
On one outing with my 5x7, I was interrogated by someone who taught photography, and while we were talking, someone else came by and said that they used to shoot 4x5 all the time.
Another time, when I was in Central Park, a woman and her daughter came up and said they were reading a book that had a scene in it with an old wooden camera, so they were interested in how the thing worked. People get excited when they see the scene on the ground glass.
What a brilliant idea for some photographer's PR! Let passers-by have a peep under the dark cloth! Wonderful, I bet they get a real buzz when they see the image (like we do of course...).Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg
RR
Oh I've shown people the view on the gg plants of times, and had lots if polite interest, I just never encountered anyone who knew the first thing about LF when they walked up.
Well, I bought a lens and a view finder/range finder and 10 more film holders, but alas Santa did not bring me a Wanderlust camera for Christmas. I've looked at the various components many times, even looked at other pinhole cameras to compare and quite my excitement. It's almost the New Year; please Mr. UPS man ring my doorbell with my new toy! Come on guys - how about an update???Quote:
Originally Posted by pierre506
P.S. FreeStyle is still out of stock for Arista EDU 400 ISO.
Happy New Year to all,
Steve P.
Well, they're preparing to open preorders for people who missed out on the campaign. So maybe that's a good sign for those waiting for the pledge rewards?
Did anyone seriously expect a camera by now? I don't in any way doubt their good intentions nor that I will get my camera. I just know that with a project this involved unforeseen delays are almost certain.
Already had the lens, holders etc. Bought a viewfinder. I'll get a camera when I get it and enjoy it then.