8x10 or 11x14

[Corran]

eh..they'd be out there at the garage sales anyway.. and btw - that's where I got my 11x14 and lens.. and three holders - from a garage sale (old cameras)

Lucky you! I go to a lot of antique shops, flea markets, etc., and the most I've seen is a really beat up 5x7 listed for $900. Looking over my cameras I don't think I've ever found a legitimate deal on one at a flea market or garage sale. The name-brand stuff gets searched on eBay and then they think they can sell it at the top market price they find. Perhaps old nameless ULF cameras actually have an advantage in that regard. Searching eBay for generic "old camera" listings may be better. All the good deals I've found is through eBay and finding poorly-listed estate sale stuff...the honeypot of cameras that sometimes gets found by a random dude and put on eBay for 99c.

Location may be a major factor. In south GA / north FL where I used to go looking a lot the better-off people back in the film era were lucky to have a Pentax K1000. That was "rich" for them. There's the usual smattering of old Brownies and such. Even plain ol' prosumer SLRs are rare at the second-hand shops. The aforementioned 5x7 was located in the mountains of north GA strangely enough. I didn't buy it but a couple of years later I went back to that antique shop and it was gone.

[Drew Wiley]

Some really nice 4x5 and even 8x10 gear has been turning up in the used section of our local camera shop, and it seems to sell quickly. Somebody dropped off a
relatively worn but fully usable 8x10 Dorff there just before my vacation, along with an ancient battered Ries, and it all sold for 5K by the time I had returned. The month prior, there was an extremely clean but otherwise not highly desirable 8x10 Sinar C which sold for 2K, though I preempted the virtually mint Pentax spotmeter that came with it for $200. What is more interesting are the old conversation pieces up on the shelves not for sale, which includes a battered 5x7 Devin tricolor camera. I don't have the time to haunt flea markets, but at a nearby garage sale I did stumble into a brand new (wholly unused) 70's backpack identical to the one I carry my 8x10 system in, which originally sold for over $200, but which I traded for a half-empty quart of varnish.

[Tin Can]

I'd love to have an early Pentax again. There are plenty of them out there cheap enough; but I imagine all the dust seals have gone gummy and need replacement. I like the look of the older lenses and have even kept my own old Pentax lens all these years, long after the camera shutter speeds wore out. Right now I'm fooling around with a 6x9 Fuji rangefinder - 1/10th the cost of a Leica but just as portable and with 10X better image quality. Medium format was invented in order to keep
marriages intact, especially on vacation together, or when your film receipt gets found. But I usually get caught anyway, because the wife has to dig past my pile
of 8x10 film in the freezer to hide a frozen turkey in there when I'm not around to protect my shop turf! Every format has its pros and cons, but it's all fun.

Must be climate related. The H1 never failed, nor slowed shutter. Seals fine. It was dropped off a bridge and gained a big dent in the prism cover. Still worked great until I gave it to a niece who lost it.

I replaced it with Pentax MX which is smaller, lighter, has good seals and works great. I laugh at Leica, give me a Pentax anyday.

Remember when Pentax 50 mm f1.4 lenses were up to $400 as video guys wanted them...

[Drew Wiley]

Of course they failed if you just plain wore em out. I even autopsied mine, and the timing gear at 1/30th, hit wahr plumb done wore off, sure nuff. That little camera went all over the mountains, even got dunked with me under icewater. I figure it survived over 10,000 miles of backpacking. I wonder if these new DLSR's
would survive even a summer of that kind of insanity. But when my nephew started doing extreme weather climbing expeditions in the arctic, Himalayas, and in
Patagonia, I simply gave him a little MX, and it held up fine with no winterization. Nice little climbing camera, with one major flaw - it wasn't a 4x5 Sinar. But he needed his hands free, at least if it was one of my trips, so he could help pull my big pack up the rope. Pity I hadn't discovered 8x10 yet.

[bob carnie]

Bob, are those metric inches?

I have a newsprint poster made 30 years ago, 24x36 inches from a Leica.

Looks great. That's 24x enlargement.

I did not convert like the rest of Canada to metric at least when describing print size. I am amazed with this little camera , wonder what stitching would be like.

[Drew Wiley]

24 X 36 sounds like a Leica contact print to me. Otherwise, a stitched together Leica would be sold as Frankenleica.

[jnantz]

hi corran

i never have seen camera stuff at junk stores, garage sales or flea markets ..
i from time to time go to junk stores, i just bought 5 sweet tintypes for $5,
i don't ever scour craigs list, swap meets, and i don't really pay too much attention
to website classifieds .. ( thankfully i don't have much money, and im happy with what i have )

i just happened to be at the right place many years ago when a friend had a camera
he was selling we met up somewhere and we traded a few things ..
i stuck the camera and stand in the back of the car and drove off
and last year someone sold me a camera 2backs and film holders ...
for less than the price of what someone here wanted to sell me a broken film holder...
the camera /film holders and 2 backs were for sale here and apug for a long while before
i saw it ... and inquired .. seemed like an ok person, was nice, so i bought it.
i also got an 8x10 camera for my kids last year. works perfectly well, has an extension rail
and the bellows were easy enough to tape .. cost $75 shipped ... its lens i bought from a friend
selling lenses a few years ago, cost maybe $30-40? I'm not in too deep ... i figure
if the kids decide they don't want to use it for whatever reason, i can give it to someone
or put a LED in it and turn it into a lamp. none of this stuff is pristine, or museum piece shape.
its all used and being used again ... without issue. like i said, im not in deep with any of the things i have ..
and i am sure a lot of it is worthless.
im not one for spending $300 on a film holder or 200$ on a dark cloth or thousands on a lens, personally, i don't rally see the point ...
... i figure if the OP has an idea what he wants, and keeps his eyes open, he might find something that won't be a museum piece either,
and it might work out for him ... i agree with what you said about difficulties scanning &c. i am self taught scanning and dred stitching -- its a pain...

[Michael Kadillak]

Years ago I could not decide on an entry format and chose 8x10 and never looked back. I have four 8x10 cameras three of which I use in the field weekly. Tan Toyo 810M, wooden 8x10 Canham traditional and black Calumet C1.My fourth 8x10 is a Linhof Color Karden studio triplex. Each one has its unique niche and I arranged the lens boards to fit all of them universally. The Toyo is the quick shot alternative. Quick release plate I can put it on a tripod and be ready to shoot an image in less than a minute. The Canham is the hiker camera and the Calumet is the long lens stable in a wind platform. I actually find 8x10 easier to use in the field than 4x5 because you can see what you are doing so clearly. I also shoot a Deardorff V11 and do modest hiking with it even at 35# because of the image size. Forget about 11x14 for now. Yes, it is amazing but it is wrought with things that need to be deal with such as heavier tripods, properly registered holders, covering the camera back at all times as a safety precaution and be advised that normal is in the 24" lens range so get used to using longer heavier lenses.

At the end of the day looking at your objective, I would get the best priced 8x10 camera you can afford and some holders and scan and print through a lab. The ability to secure holders that do not leak, lenses that cover when camera movements are in play (G Claron 355 G and Nikkor 450m for example) will get the job done. Everything you need is available and affordable along with sheet film and the results are simply amazing. Trust your instincts and go for it!

[Duolab123]

I've got an 11 X14 folding Folmer and Schwing. This is a fairly light 11 X14 I need help to go anywhere with it, the film holders weigh about 3 pounds a piece. It's just gotten to be too much to take outside.
I have a Deardorff 8x10 seems like a feather weight compared to the 11 x 14

The large format I shoot the most and love is a really nice Crown Graphic with the top rangefinder. You can shoot hand held, use the ground glass it's a blast. Tmax 100 you can print 20 x 24s all day. Color is feasible with 4x5

Having said all this having a 14 inch standard focal length lens on the 11 x 14 is pretty cool,contact prints are amazing.
Best Regards Mike

[Tin Can]

Which 14" lens?

Tonight I was trying 14" Imagon and 14" Sironar N at almost 1 to 1 for head shot on 11x14 Thursday.

On GG at f8 they both seemed to be good enough out to The who cares corners.

Debating with myself if I should go down to 8x10.

I would shoot both but this lady just had a bad event and I want to be quick and easy.

I've got an 11 X14 folding Folmer and Schwing. This is a fairly light 11 X14 I need help to go anywhere with it, the film holders weigh about 3 pounds a piece. It's just gotten to be too much to take outside.
I have a Deardorff 8x10 seems like a feather weight compared to the 11 x 14

The large format I shoot the most and love is a really nice Crown Graphic with the top rangefinder. You can shoot hand held, use the ground glass it's a blast. Tmax 100 you can print 20 x 24s all day. Color is feasible with 4x5

Having said all this having a 14 inch standard focal length lens on the 11 x 14 is pretty cool,contact prints are amazing.
Best Regards Mike