Excited and Stoked, 4x5 Black Edition Intrepid

[grat]

I consider myself to be methodical, careful, and deliberate. I took a dozen or more shots of absolutely nothing, without film, in my living room, to make sure I understood the process of using a view camera, and had a repeatable sequence.

So far, out of 14 shots (I have got to get out more-- stupid pandemic and crappy Florida summer weather), 3 of them are near-total disasters and about half of the remainder are shots intended to evaluate lenses and technique, rather than actually being photographs I'd actually show someone.

I won't say I've *wasted* 14 sheets of 4x5, but it's 14 sheets with only a few that I'd be willing to show anyone else, and one of those was over exposed by *cough*... nearly 10 stops.

At $5-8 per sheet, I'd be terribly annoyed. At $1.25 a sheet (Arista EDU Ultra 400), I feel like it's been a good return on investment.

[Kiwi7475]

If I get lucky I will certainly post a keeper or two hopefully.

I've considered B&W, perhaps I need to reconsider and yes I cut my teeth in grade school developing Brownie 120 film in the downstairs bathroom progressing to the yearbook and newspaper high school staff with their own darkroom. So I've had a little experience, lol, just not recently. Heck, I used to color process using the C-41 chemistry and with print drums on a motorized agitator, those were the days. All in 120 and mostly 35mm B&W bulk film rolls. I've always dreamed of owning and using a view camera and now I have a chance. I'll probably stumble and make huge errors, but hey, life is short.

Life is short indeed. It’s also a matter of wallet. The mistakes you may make that I’m talking about are not related to composition or execution. You may simply load the film incorrectly. Double expose a sheet. Expose it to light when unloading. Forget to remove the dark slide before taking the shot. Fail to accurately focus. Experience some light leak that needs to be fixed. Or a million other things.

LF is not hard, but it’s crucial to follow all the steps until they become second nature. Mistakes happen at the beginning. Also shooting slides is more challenging because of the reduced dynamic range, so your metering needs to be accurate. And may force you to use grad filters depending on what/when you shoot.

But if you don’t care to throw away slides at their current cost, then go for it. After all if you want to learn to shoot slides the sooner the better, if you don’t mind the cost implications. But most start with b&w until they’ve suffered and learn these usual mistakes, then try color. Or you can start with both — just load some b&w and some slides on the holders.

Good luck!

[shutterbug guy]

Life is short indeed. It’s also a matter of wallet. The mistakes you may make that I’m talking about are not related to composition or execution. You may simply load the film incorrectly. Double expose a sheet. Expose it to light when unloading. Forget to remove the dark slide before taking the shot. Fail to accurately focus. Experience some light leak that needs to be fixed. Or a million other things.

LF is not hard, but it’s crucial to follow all the steps until they become second nature. Mistakes happen at the beginning. Also shooting slides is more challenging because of the reduced dynamic range, so your metering needs to be accurate. And may force you to use grad filters depending on what/when you shoot.

But if you don’t care to throw away slides at their current cost, then go for it. After all if you want to learn to shoot slides the sooner the better, if you don’t mind the cost implications. But most start with b&w until they’ve suffered and learn these usual mistakes, then try color. Or you can start with both — just load some b&w and some slides on the holders.

Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions, well taken and noted. I definitely will make several "dry" runs and try hone down the procedure or process. I sometimes worry too much and find that that worry can actually hinder me sometimes. I'll just try a few shots at first send them off for processing and then step back and evaluate the results or lack of. Eventually, or right away depending on initial failures or not I'll definitely get some B&W, especially for scenes that look better with it.

[shutterbug guy]

I consider myself to be methodical, careful, and deliberate. I took a dozen or more shots of absolutely nothing, without film, in my living room, to make sure I understood the process of using a view camera, and had a repeatable sequence.

So far, out of 14 shots (I have got to get out more-- stupid pandemic and crappy Florida summer weather), 3 of them are near-total disasters and about half of the remainder are shots intended to evaluate lenses and technique, rather than actually being photographs I'd actually show someone.

I won't say I've *wasted* 14 sheets of 4x5, but it's 14 sheets with only a few that I'd be willing to show anyone else, and one of those was over exposed by *cough*... nearly 10 stops.

At $5-8 per sheet, I'd be terribly annoyed. At $1.25 a sheet (Arista EDU Ultra 400), I feel like it's been a good return on investment.

I'll definitely make several dry runs at first to try to get used to the process then probably try a shot or two, process and reevaluate. If I fail initially I will definitely go for some B&W which I intend to use again eventually anyway. Thanks for the suggestions and reflections on your experiences, super helpful.

As far as exposure goes, it is quite a bit concerning. I'll be metering with my iPhone and Lumu meter, I also have a used Honeywell Pentax spot meter that seems to work well. I am also going to record all of the settings in a logbook so I can keep track of what I did do right or wrong.

[Alan Klein]

I just started on 4x5 and there is a learning curve. I shot Tmax 100 (10) and 400 (10) to learn a little, now shooting Velvia 50. Still making mistakes. Aside from that, my biggest issue is I need a third arm to hold the loupe while using both hands for focusing my Chamonix and for movements. It gets frustrating. But I got a few nice shots. Good luck.

[shutterbug guy]

I just started on 4x5 and there is a learning curve. I shot Tmax 100 (10) and 400 (10) to learn a little, now shooting Velvia 50. Still making mistakes. Aside from that, my biggest issue is I need a third arm to hold the loupe while using both hands for focusing my Chamonix and for movements. It gets frustrating. But I got a few nice shots. Good luck.

Adjusting the new camera will definitely be a challenge for sure. As far as the film process it will be steps backwards to previous experiences away from the digital fog I see now so hopefully I'll have light bulb moments that help me progress.

[shutterbug guy]

This post isn't meant to brag only to rant about being excited about my first view camera, I'm excited. After just over 5 and a half weeks I got a notification today from DHL that I should receive my package stateside in about a week. So far I have already the Fujinon 75mm with recessed lensboard, the 150mm Rodenstock APO-Sironar Digital (red ring) and a 300mm Schneider-Krieuznach Symmar-S which might be too large for the little Intrepid, I'll wait and see. Also have 5 used film holders, cable release, 10 sheets of Velvia 100, and 10 sheets of Ektar 100 with a changing bag of course.

In the order I have bought the following:

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
QTY
PRICE
Black Edition Intrepid 4x5
1 £291.67
Intrepid 4x5 Lens Board
1 £12.50
Intrepid 4x5 Lens Board
1 £12.50
Intrepid 4x5 Lens Board
1 £12.50
TOYO 4x5 Film Holder
2 £175.00
4x5 / 5x7 Dark Cloth
1 £48.33

Hopefully I'm set to learn 4x5 photography. I noticed that Alex Burke is drum scanning 4x5's for $60 each with a file size of 1.7tbs just in case I get lucky with a keeper. https://www.alexburkephoto.com/drum-scanning
Can't wait!

6 days later and I’ve received the package less dark cloth, it’s out of stock and delayed. What a beauty, such a joy to hold and adjust. Not sure what to do first, probably load the film and use a hooded sweatshirt for a dark cloth. First maybe make a product shot of my new camera.

I’m estastic.

[Exploring Large Format]

6 days later and I’ve received the package less dark cloth, it’s out of stock and delayed. What a beauty, such a joy to hold and adjust. Not sure what to do first, probably load the film and use a hooded sweatshirt for a dark cloth. First maybe make a product shot of my new camera.

I’m estastic.

Enjoy!!!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Tin Can]

Good to hear!

I 'dark color' T shirt can be a dark cloth

Try it a few ways as a hood

[shutterbug guy]

Enjoy!!!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Thanks for the encouragement.