Budget $1500.00, KEH

[DrTang]

wow - their new site update sucks

[goamules]

Looking for a LF, and a lens. What do you buy?

I'd get something medium sized. And not too wide a lens.

There, IF you come back and explain a little what YOU are wanting to do, I'll give you more. Otherwise, you should just do some research yourself.

I can't believe people would actually spend time writing long replies to such a random question....ooops...I'm about to.....Out.

[Joseph Dickerson]

wow - their new site update sucks

I emailed them with that very same thought. Found out that at the very bottom of the home page you can choose "Classic KEH". Just like old times!

JD

[Alan Gales]

Looking for a LF, and a lens. What do you buy?

Start here: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/

Welcome to the forum!

[analoguey]

wow - their new site update sucks

Much easier to navigate, actually - there arent a million billion options/categories to confuse and be miscategorised under, I do miss a few of the older categories though.

[Drew Bedo]

Why doesn't IKEA, the DIY furniture seller, make a Field Camera kit? Could be a Kickstarter project!

[Liquid Artist]

I couldn't buy from KEH, or my girlfriend would find the package and discover that they buy old camera gear. That would not be a good thing for me.

So I try watching for gear here or locally, and have the seller say it was a gift.

[Compact Diss]

Thanks so much for the informative answers and insight. So I am looking to work with a LF camera, producing prints and eventually tintypes. Probably concentrate on portraits, but would also like to shoot outdoor city shots. Buildings, architecture, and just document the world I live in. I am active photographer right now who does street photography in. Boston, not a great street shooter, but it's more about documenting life for me. If you want the link you can PM me, don't want to make is thread an advertisement for my site. Right now I am not making money, I have in interest in working with LF to turn it into a tintype business. I am interested in the process, developing prints at home, really making it about art, rather than the digital world I am stuck in right now.

[Liquid Artist]

I honestly just jumped right into it knowing that I'd love it without really doing any research.
However I knew who I was buying the camera from locally, and he would have left me exchange it for anything else he had.

Since then I've learned what I can use, bought 2 more cameras, 6 lenses, 20 film holders and 3 flash setups. 1/2 of it through the same person. I use them all, and don't regret anything other than not doing it sooner.

As a result, I don't think anything you buy will go to waste as long as you really are ready for the jump.

I honestly wouldn't spend your entire budget all at once though. Get a camera that'll last you a lifetime, and a lens plus 5+ film holders and some Ilford Hp5 film which will give you lots of push pull leeway.
Then have fun burning off the box.

[ImSoNegative]

Don't buy a camera or a lens. Buy a book and read it so you'll understand what you're getting into and what your options are. People here often recommend Steve Simmons' Using the View Camera, Leslie Strobel's View Camera Technique, and Ansel Adams' Camera and Lens. All can be found at reasonable prices through, in alphabetical order, abebooks.com, alibris.com, amazon.com, ...

+1, Steve simmons book is one of the best out there