11x14 or 8x10 Field Camera

[Nicolasllasera]

I have a pretty big dilema with what camera to buy next.

I have been shooting 4x5 for a few years and love it. I mainly like arquitecture and some nature pictures. As I like having the most solutions possible I have a Sinar P2 and a Ebony RW45 in 4x5 format. As for 8x10 I have been using a Cambo Legend for a few years and now after I bought the Sinar I got a 8x10 conversion with the idea of selling the Cambo. As I would like to have a field camera in a bigger format Im looking at Chamonix and Canham 8X10. But I cant enlarge these negatives unless I send them to a lab. My idea was to contact print or cabon transfer these negatives. Should I buy a 11x14 field for this and leave my Sinar for shooting close to the car? Is 11x14 a good idea as for film holders and so on. I already have 3 lenses that will cover this format and a Jobo which can develope it. I know that I can shoot xray and Ilford ULF. My main concern is the price of film holders and their availability. I know I could get a 11x14 to 8x10 reducing back but I would like to keep each camera simple.

Thank you in advance.

[John Kasaian]

For about one quarter of the cost of one 11x14 holder you can buy an old school 8x10 Elwood enlarger, and there's a good chance you'll find an Elwood for sale before any reasonably priced 11x14 holders show up on the market.

[jb7]

For about one quarter of the cost of one 11x14 holder you can buy an old school 8x10 Elwood enlarger, and there's a good chance you'll find an Elwood for sale before any reasonably priced 11x14 holders show up on the market.

What price might be reasonable for an 11x14 holder?

I'm about to start shooting that format, and one of the reasons is to contact print-
The real estate that is required to accommodate an 8x10 enlarger might also be quantifiable as a significant cost, for some-

[Nicolasllasera]

I could imagine John. But I live in Spain and that limits the market terribly.

[Scott Davis]

Get a Canham 11x14. Order film holders from Alan Brubaker (http://www.filmholders.com/) or S&S (http://ssfilmholders.com/). I'd suggest Lotus as you live in the EU, but even within the EU their prices are astronomical for everything.

[Peter Gomena]

For less than the price of a camera couple of 11x14 film holders you could buy an Epson 750 and a good inkjet printer and make your 8x10 images as big as you want with the digital negative process. I know it's not the same, but it's darned close. There come a point where technology offers a tool that can help you do things you otherwise could not do. I once dreamed of owning an 11x14 view camera, but it's gone beyond my means, and the price of film has driven it even further away. I want to do some of the traditional darkroom processes and make larger prints than in-camera negatives will allow. I'm going to take a different route is all.

[Nicolasllasera]

I already have a Epson V750 Pro. But I like doing things the traditional way. I guess it probably is harder and more expensive but to me it adds a lot of value to my work. But I am giving it a lot of thought.

[Rob Vinnedge]

I am a convert to Chamonix after having purchased a 4x5 and 8x10 from them. They are well-engineered and finely assembled, very rigid, lightweight, and quite beautiful to the eye and the hand. They offer all of the ULF sizes in cameras and film holders, and Hugo Zhang, their US rep, is very attentive and responsive. The products are also shipped quickly and safely to their destinations. I am planning to buy their 16x20 camera with a 14x17 reducing back as soon as I have the funds. The cameras are quite light for their sizes, so you could probably order an 11x14 camera with an 8x10 reducing back and have two-for-one, thereby allowing you to sell your other 8x10.

[Kodachrome25]

I am planning to buy their 16x20 camera with a 14x17 reducing back as soon as I have the funds.

If I were to ever go larger than 4x5 and it is highly doubtful that I would considering where I like to take a camera, I too would get their 16x20 and contact print. I did the math one day and figured about 10K-12K would get me started with the camera, a lens or two, a few holders and some ULF film to start with and a slick contact printer. Surprisingly, the cost to go full bore to 20x24 is not that much more at least in terms of the camera and holders.....man, those would be incredible contact prints! I have 12 of their 4x5 holders and they are truly light and very nicely made.

Maybe one day.

[BILL3075]

I agree with 'Chrome: 16x20. And his math is about right.

A mounted B&W print 14x17 and larger can be something to behold!

Bill