I used to have this mentality with smaller format. I just went out with Nikon or whatever with a 35mm f/2.0. After trying to carry so many things in a case with 8x10, and all that stuff, lately I just want to carry my 8x10 and 300mm. I know Bresson's philosophy of film + 50mm lens doesn't translate with large format, but I'm sure I can master 1 lens at a time.
For years, my go-to field camera for landscape/outdoor work has been a Wista DX with an assortment of lightweight lenses. My most used focal length is 135mm, usually a compact Plasmat lens. Still, I carry and use 90mm, 203mm, 240mm and 300mm lenses in addition.
However, for city work, where I need more bellows flexibility for architectural work and "cityscapes," I very much like my newer Wista SW, which is basically a DX with interchangeable bellows. Again, 135mm or 90mm are my most-used focal lengths, but I really like my Wide Field Ektar 135mm for this application. The SW with the bag bellows allows me to fully utilize my WF Ektar and my 90mm Nikkor SW.
Here's the SW with the WF Ektar in action in Vienna:
Whole Plate Chamonix
Lens depends on what I plan on shooting. Choose from the following:
90mm Super Angulon XL with central ND filter
210mm Fujinon W
330mm IA Raptar which converts to 20" and 25.5".
Ries with Ries head
Everything fits inside a f 64 backpack, but if I'm leaving the 90mm SA XL at home (most of the time) much prefer a 36L Mindshift.
The above being said, winter has come to New England... Till spring, present camera is a Nikon Z6 with it's 24-200mm/4-5.6. VR means that I can leave the tripod at home. I make digital negatives from the files to print with. Years ago would backpack 8x10 system with a wooden tripod carried over the shoulder.... An accident a few years ago caused me to completely rethink shooting in the winter.
My outdoor kit is a Wista 45DX with a 125mm 5.6 Fujinon and a 210mm 5.6 APO Symmar. The 210mm has been my go to portrait lens for a number of years. I also have a 75mm 5.6 Super Angulon but that doesn't seem to get that much use.
I don't do portraits, but for landscapes it mostly depends on what I anticipate and how large a camera I think I can carry. If working from the car, I like using my 8x10 Deardorff with either a 240mm or 360mm lens; if I think I'll need longer focal lengths, then it's my Arca-Swiss with 300mm or 450mm lenses. If I'm hiking and I want 8x10, then it's an Intrepid 8x10 Mk2 with lightweight Fuji A series lenses; if going with 4x5, it's a Toho FC-45X with a complement of lightweight lenses from 90 - 300mm. As you can probably tell, I don't have a particular favorite; rather use the outfit that fits my needs at the time. That said, I did use the Deardorff and a Schneider 360/6.8 lens exclusively for a decade during the 1980's which probably made that a favorite at the time.
I'll soon be selling my Sinar outfit that I've enjoyed customizing and using. That will leave me with the only camera that I really need, an Arca Swiss kit that I've assembled over the years.
There's so many nice things about this camera, it easily qualifies as my go-to 4x5.
I don't know if I really have a go-to lens; it all depends on what's being photographed. But, a lens with a 180mm focal length like that shown in the photo, would come as close as any.
Moved up from 4x5 to 5x7 in the last 18 mos. When my late teacher died, his daughter and my peers decided that, as the only one of us still shooting film, I would inherit HIS late teacher's Kodak 2D, couple of Wollensaks and a 36cm Nicola Perscheid that I'm still wrapping my brain around.
I've picked up a modern Schneider 210mm and 120mm; they're lovely but my go-to is a Goerz Red Dot Artar 12" (300mm). I see and shoot abstract forms in nature, architecture and wherever else it strikes me and I prefer the flattening out of perspective from a longer lens. And sharp? Damn.
I just finished cleaning up an RDA 14" in an Ilex shutter that I look forward to using, and I as good as stole a Manfrotto 028 with a 3057 head; at 62, toting all this around is the best exercise I get.
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