Hello from Rochester NY!

[adamthomas]

Hello all,
My name is Adam, I am a 3rd year fine art photography major at RIT in Rochester, NY. I recently have had a revitalized interest in working with large format and a friend of mine suggested I join the forum here! I mainly work with a Mamiya 7 and Pentax 6x7 using a Brand Camera with a Rodenstock 210 for my 4x5 work. I have recently been having issues with lightleaks in my 4x5 and I am currently looking for a new body but it can be quite a struggle to find anything decent with student money.
I am also interested in eventually venturing into 8x10 but that seems a ways down the road. I am excited to be part of this community and look forward to becoming more involved!

[bgh]

Welcome from just down the Thruway in Syracuse! Glad to see others in upstate NY with an interest in large format and film. Have fun with it, and feel free to ask lots of questions. This forum is an amazing resource.

Bruce

[Ulophot]

Welcome! If you post descriptions and/or images of the light leak effects, you may find some folks who can help you with repairs to save your student budget, which is similar to many of ours! Lots of very well experienced practitioners here. you're in good company, indeed!

[Mark Sampson]

Welcome! I was born & raised in Rochester and lived there for my first 55 years... including 20+ years as an industrial photographer at that big company downtown. Glad to see that RIT is still teaching film... of course I was influenced by the place even if I never studied there.
People here are very willing to help, so feel free to ask (and share pictures when you have any).

[Willie]

As mentioned you can get help with the light leaks from many here.

On "anything decent with Student money" - Sinar body and more complete outfits for under $500 are easy to find. If you look a bit you can probably get one for a few hundred less. A friend just got a 4x5 P2 for $600 and it looks like it is new. They are good and with so many in the marketplace you can get a precision instrument for studio and location work that will last decades.

Best of luck moving forward.

[C. D. Keth]

When I was at RIT, not too terribly long ago, the cage had an 8x10 deardorff. If they still have it I'd use that while you save up your money.

[Dugan]

If money is super-tight, a Calumet CC-400 / Burke & James Orbit monorail could probably be found for cheap...like $150 cheap. They take a 4" square lensboard, too...as does the Brand, IIRC.
I had a Brand...briefly. It was not very user-friendly.