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In any case; I'd like to buy a camera. I was too timid to be an initial backer and wasn't paying attention when the larger pre-order was available. All my fault.
I think its great how patient, understanding and supportive this forum is to this effort.
My apologies to the fellows. I did not mean to imply that they could not get a camera built. In reviewing my comment, it was intended as a buffer to the previous post.
I meant that we could be receiving tons of feedback (which based on the 210 pages of just this forum) thereby leaving the creators less time to get the camera's done. Me, I'd much rather have the camera's done.
I fully trust that most people support the project, as well as trust that the fellows in charge are doing their best. Based on the feedback I have seen... no contact is better than worthless contact. I say that because almost every time there is a glitch that delays the program, we get reports in a very timely manner. I'm pretty laid back on all this because the $200 I am in for was nothing more than a gamble when I laid it down. I've left more than that on the tables in Vegas or Reno in just a few hours.
I say, If you can't afford the risk... don't walk into the casino.
Also, I have a life outside of the receipt of two Travelwides. I have no problem staying busy. I've been in photography long enough to remember when we used to wait 2-3 years for the next model of a new SLR from the main manufacturers in the industry.
I think this project has flown well, and I am only interested in reports that either hinder the project, or advance the project. Nothing in between is of any value to me.
They'll ship when they have all the pieces in their possession and they have checked our addresses. I don't care if I hear anything more until they check with me on where to send the two camera's.
Take a break from the whining... there are cool streams out there and fish to catch. Plenty of other stuff to do as well.
And fella's, thanks for taking this on. Looking forward to using the new Travelwides.......or, ??????????
Who's whining?Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuzano
Although my initial participation in the individual Kickstarter programs were separate in time, it looks as if I will be getting my Travelwide, my Intrepid and my New55 film all very close to each other. Kind of neat. :)
Looks like the final helicals have been run and just have to be delivered. Shouldn't be long now.
Roger
I have been looking into flocking myself and found telescope flocking to be a choice for me for a box camera.
I plan to attend the party and pickup!
First New55 and now Wanderlust ! It's a good time to be a large format photographer :)
Randy, check out National Velour. They're extremely responsive, and they have a digital cutting process with no setup fees. Plus, "National Velour" is just a fantastic name. It sounds like a magazine for vintage kitsch enthusiasts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy Moe
Whoopee! And for ye of little faith, as Brother Dave Gardner (for those of us old enough to remember) once said " Let those who don't want any have memories of not getting none" (or words to that effect.)
Too far away to attend the party, so I'll just wait for the package to arrive. Should only be another two months or so from the information in this last update.
Thanks Ben and they are members of the 'American Flock Association'!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Syverson
I look forward to meeting you and the team, far more than obtaining the camera itself.
People are always more important than objects.
:)
Thanks Ben for the fantastic addition of the flocking!!! What a great couple of guys.
I've decided to use an SA 90/8 instead of the Angulon so this is a pretty important improvement!
Wish I could come to the party.
Got the good news from Kickstater in my mailbox~
I wish I was close enough to pick mine up and go to the party, but the mail will have to do. Cue the Pointer Sisters - I'm so excited… :D
I'm too far too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winger
But if any if either member of the Wanderlust duo (?) are ever in NY, drop me a line, the beers are on me!
Just read the update. Great news!
.+1 on people being more important than objects. I want to book a trip to Chicago but I've been traveling this past week so it's probably not going to happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy Moe
I'm trying to figure out if I should flock the inside of my Durst 138 adaptor box. Seem cheap enough to try. National Velour reminds me of that horse story, National Velvet, LOL.
Ok . . .now I am signed up for the news letter. Not sure how to contact them to try and commit to buying a camera.
PM Ben here and ask him.
Ooo I just received my mailing address confirmation email!
http://i.imgur.com/6Covp66.png
I would certainly like to thank Ben and company for sticking with it and overcoming all the trials and tribulations to bring their project to a successful conclusion and creating a thousand+ happy backers!
Just posted my new address and particulars on camera configuration back to KickStarter.
Want to say Thanks at this point. Looking forward to delivery.
Have a brand new Kodak Ready Load Professional film back and 159 ready and quickload envelopes in the freezer. Varied color and B/W. Now to buy a lens/shutter and put gas in the car. Will head to the Oregon coast, when everything is loaded. Then to the Eastern part of Oregon afterward.
This is great news. Coincidentally, I pulled my 90mm Raptar out of the drawer while straightening out the drawer contents and wondered when the letter was going out. That lens has patiently been waiting for its new mount! Now to locate a 65mm! I hope the camera is a big success and they get enough new orders for additional runs.
Hello Ben,Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Syverson
Just received my inquiry email today. Wohoo!!! I see light at the end of the helical. Now my investing buddies can no longer chide me for involving them. Can't wait until we all go out for a shoot. It will be awesome.
One thing I did notice, that was missing from the email with the camera selection process, is there is no mention of the PinWide pinhole attachment. I've waited thru two worldwide pinhole days for it and hoping it will ship the with cameras per the original agreement.
Ben, I want to thank you both for not quitting on this project. It will serve as your lighthouse for your future successes. My brother and I once undertook a similar plastic project -an insulated canteen and Cold Can Carrier. We spent over $25,000 of our money, but failed when we couldn't raise more funds for the 1st production run and obtain distribution outlets. Of course back then there was no "Kickstarter", only the Pratt book of venture capital resources, no WWW, no I phones, just Microsoft workstation 3.0 and floppy disk.
Happy, happy trails,
SteveP
I also received my email to confirm my choice and address, and have completed the survey for myself.
But my wife, who is also a backer (this is how I was able to add an additional camera without giving up my coveted first-25 status), did not receive an email. In fact, she has not received a Kickstarter email since July, 2014. I was able to log into her Kickstarter using her Facebook login and respond to the survey, but she is still getting no emails from Kickstarter, and attempting to check all that required entering a password that does not seem to work (assuming we are remembering it correctly, which is unlikely). And, no, she has not changed her email address. There is no way I can find to communicate with Kickstarter to correct the issue. So, Ben, there are two backers at my address, and neither the address nor the original choice has changed.
Rick "whose wife will no longer be following any Kickstarter projects, I guess" Denney
Three years from idea to product sounds about right to me, in retrospect, and whilst admitting a level of grumpiness periodically at the enthusiastic initial timelines... I hope you all have a splendid party and I have enormous respect for you both sticking with this to the end - it must have been a real emotional drain.
I can hardly wait!!
Marc!
"we need your address to ship your camera" How great was it to read that ? Congrats Ben and Justin ! You guys should be very proud of yourselves, I am proud of you !
Looking forward to making images with the new Baby.
Yeah, how exciting, I agree! I'm not upset about the delays, I'm ecstatic that they made it to the end. I can't wait to have two of these cameras to shoot and it is light enough to carry along with my Leica.
Thanks, Larry! The Travelwide is lighter than the Leica, so really, the question you'll have to face is whether or not you want to lug around a heavy M-mount camera along with your 4x5. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg
Now that's funny! Of course, there is that pesky issue of film holders vs 35mm canisters. Hmm, I wonder if a modern, lightweight, improved Grafmatic back could be built. It would be great to have a ten or twelve sheet magazine. ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Syverson
Nah, forget that idea, too fiddly, I'll just stash some film holders in my wife's bag. Maybe she won't notice.
My Favourite scene in "Eiger Sanction". Clint and George are training and make a hard climb up a sheer desert pinnacle. When they get to the top Clint offers George a beer. George says "Are you crazy? You carried beers all the way up here?". Clint reaches into George's pack, pulls out two beers, and says "No, you did."Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg
LOL. The odds of my getting away with it are pretty slim. Ever since I made her carry a small tripod around on one of her last trips, she has resisted carrying any camera gear. Still, if I carry three holders and she carries three holders, it will be twelve shots, a big day for me in terms of LF. I shoot 35mm much faster than LF.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Meisburger
Faster? Absolutely.Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg
Better? I don't. My percentage of what I consider successful photos goes up using 5x7 or 8x10 goes up, compared to 35mm.
I just find them to be different, and suited for different purposes. I use 35mm for dynamic situations on the street, and large format for more considered compositions that tend to be static.Quote:
Originally Posted by cdholden
I shoot more 35mm than large format so more of the shots I find successful are from my 35mm work. I'm glad I haven't given up 35mm for large format as I would had missed a lot of photographs as a result.
I don't know yet where the TravelWide fits into my shooting style but I think it is for slower, more careful shooting where I use a tripod, think more about metering, and use the zone system with necessary adjustments in development time. After all, sheet film allows us to adjust the development of every shot based on the contrast of the scene. This is just not possible with 35mm, obviously.
Still, maybe you guys will show me a bunch of cool street shots taken with the TravelWide. How long can I walk around with the dark slide pulled out? If I have to pull the dark slide before shooting, the moment is probably gone.
[QUOTE=Larry Kellogg;1257003
Still, maybe you guys will show me a bunch of cool street shots taken with the TravelWide. How long can I walk around with the dark slide pulled out? If I have to pull the dark slide before shooting, the moment is probably gone.[/QUOTE]
I'm really interested to know about the experience with the 90mm version. Focusing will still be important and zone focusing may be tough. If it's decent then I'd love to use it for 6x12 and 4x5 street photography. There's always this element to street that is about surprise and you just can't do that with a tripod and the critical work normally put into 4x5.
I want to add a camera strap to this guy and take him to china town!
Yeah, I think you're right, zone focusing is going to be tough, I don't see it being better than my Leica. I think using a tripod will yield the best results. I'll be using a GorillaPod plastic tripod with a ball head.Quote:
Originally Posted by JChrome
I'm very curious to see what people will do with this camera.
I'm not really all to familiar with all the right terminology, but is zone focusing using an accessory rangefinder (cold shoe mount) to figure out how far your subject is and then dialing that in on the helical?Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg
Zone focusing is your best guess as to what the distance to your subject will be and then putting that on the lens. I suppose the rangefinder accessory will help but I wonder how effective it will be.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Puccio
Dying to have someone review it.
I have a mechanical rangefinder, but not sure there is much to review. They work; giving you a reasonable to exact distance measurement (depending on the sophistication of the device) that can be transferred to the lens helical. The question is exactly how exact do you need to be.Quote:
Originally Posted by JChrome
Schneider has a downloadable spreadsheet here.
From what I can see, if I shoot at f8 and focus at 50ft, I'm "acceptably sharp" between 20ft and infinity. Of course "acceptably sharp" is subject to individual circumstances and opinion. I believe the chart assumes the following definition of hyperfocal distance from wikipedia: "The hyperfocal distance is the closest distance at which a lens can be focused while keeping objects at infinity acceptably sharp. When the lens is focused at this distance, all objects at distances from half of the hyperfocal distance out to infinity will be acceptably sharp."
All of my Leica lenses have a focusing scale on them. For my 35mm Lux, @f/11, setting the infinity mark to f/11 will give me everything reasonably sharp from 6 feet to infinity.
Does anybody have the focusing scales for the lenses in question? They must publish them somewhere. Also, we're supposed to be receiving some brass shims to set the close distance point for the 65mm. I would want that pretty close for street work.
My post was admittedly confusing. I really meant I was dying for someone to review the Travelwide and give their impressions.Quote:
Originally Posted by HMG
Perhaps the accessory rangefinder will work great, I'm just itching to hear some opinions.
We'll be getting our cameras soon, so I'm sure there will be a lot of reviews, discussion, and image sharing!
I think we could easily produce a PDF file of the focus ranges per f stop and then print them as stickers.
I'm sure the rangefinder is ok but it's a pretty slow process to transfer the distance measurement to the lens, obviously it's not coupled like a rangefinder.
One other problem is that the the aperture rings on large format lenses tend to be very loose with no click stops. I think it will be very easy to bump the aperture ring when carrying the camera. It would be a good idea to use some masking tape to hold the chosen aperture if you're going to use scale focusing on the street.
Wanted to know who is the 1st backer to get the camera as an LFF member~
I'm fairly sure that if they've been watching this thread, we'll know about it as soon as it happens. And I think they still need to put the cameras together and pack them for shipping, so it may take a little more time.Quote:
Originally Posted by pierre506
Larry, for those of us who are bad at judging distances, knowing how much wiggle room we have would be great.
On google type in 'bob atkins dof calculator' , it should be the first item in the search. The calculator is at the bottom of that page and you can select smaller formats if you want a smaller COC value. Using the calculator it would be easy to make up a spread sheet of DOF figures.Quote:
Originally Posted by Winger
Thanks plywood, just have to work that table into a form that fits on a sticker.Quote:
Originally Posted by plywood
I ran the calculator and understand the output, except I'm a little confused by the left hand column. So, you put in a distance to the subject in the top line but he also runs calculations at different distances to the subject from infinity to 3? feet in the left column. Is that what is going on?
Mistake
Watch this https://youtu.be/WUMmdnJiUms
DOF and zone focus video.
Apologies if this has been answered before, but could anyone tell me what minimum focus distance would be with the Helical? I'll be using a Fuji 90/8 SW with mine. Also, as for focusing close, I have a blik RF, but I understand that this will probably be of limited use closer than 3ft. Anyone have any thoughts on that? For something really close I suppose I could use the GG, and just use the center point that is visible. Honestly, I bet my helical will be at infinity 90% of the time haha, but I'd still love to know what I can do close up. I can't freaking wait to get my TW90.
Yeah Larry, the bottom table is just trying to be helpful, running a few apertures and distances based on your focal length and format selections that might be useful and could save some time entering a whole range of apertures and distances.Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Kellogg
When we finally get the TW90 we'll see what distances they have marked on the focusing collar. Then with that information a person could make up a DOF chart for the 90mm Angulon or Super Angulon and then laminate it for durability.