And I only recently got into Medium Format...

[Hammer]

Where does one begin?

So, I dropped a ton of money into MF. I love the 500cm and the experience of using that waist level VF... and then a friend showed me their Mamiya 7. Now I also love the way that the Mamiya 7 gives me such a portable and easy way to capture amazing images on the go. Once I got my first negatives back from using a MF camera, and compared them to my 35mm negs, I was in awe...Oh the IQ!

This was, of course, until I let YouTube pull me past the Event Horizon of Large Format, and more specifically 4x5 - and I knew I could not escape its' gravity.

So, I bought a Chamonix 45 H-1 and two lenses at the direction/advice of a friend:

Rodenstock 210 mm f/5,6 Sironar-S
Rodentstock 90 mm f/4,5 Grandagon-N

I want the 135 mm f/5,6 Sironar-S once I can find a good one for sale.

That's my story in a nutshell. I am certifiably insane.

Thanks for letting my join the ward.

[Tin Can]

We all are insane

even more than before the Plague

It is a fascinating hobby, with 100's of years to explore and emulate

Gear heads like me love the bits

others follow the pioneers

art is what...

[Alan9940]

Welcome to the club! I can already see bubbles of 8x10's dancing above your head!

[fotopfw]

In the old days I shot LF in a studio, or at least indoors, for money. Now that I'm retired I shoot only outside, landscapes. I schlepp the heavy Sinar P2 (8x10") even through heavy terrain. Love the challenge of using a LF studio camera outside. I must be crazy too. Feel at home in this ward. Now I'm contemplating ULF...

[Two23]

For me it's the way the view cameras handle and their versatility. I shoot film, dry plates, and wet plates in mine.


Kent in SD

[John Kasaian]

Welcome to the rabbit hole!

[Alan9940]

For me it's the way the view cameras handle and their versatility. I shoot film, dry plates, and wet plates in mine.


Kent in SD

Same here, except I don't shoot wet plates. To crawl further down the proverbial rabbit hole, I just recently picked up a BetterLight scanning system for my 4x5. Total weight isn't bad at about 5.5 lbs, but I need to lug a battery to power it and a computer, too. Ah, more weight added to the 'ole backpack! At nearly 70, I'm wondering how much longer I'm going to be able to carry all this stuff.

[Drew Wiley]

Don't buy too much stuff at once. Have fun with it first. It takes awhile to become spontaneous with your chosen equipment, and to find your own path, esthetically. I'm approaching 72, and our long season of horrible forest fire smoke last Fall did far more to pin me down and get me overweight and out of shape than covid did. But I'm working out with the backpack again, and will need to get comfortable with at least 65 lbs loads like before, if I want to carry view camera gear as well as two weeks of food and camping equipment on my planned summer backpack in the mountains. Last year was the first time in over 40 years I missed the opportunity. Couldn't get away from unhealthy smoke anywhere, not even out of state. I find that as one gets older, it's more important than ever to keep in routine shape with a pack - for me, once a week, preferably up some kind of steep hill, of which there are plenty in this area. I'm a format schizophrenic, so might work out with my heavier Sinar Norma 4x5 kit, or my P67 system (which can weigh just as much - I enjoy long teles), or my 8X10.

But due to my current age, a lightweight Ebony 4X5 wooden folder or else 6X9 Fuji rangefinder now serves for long-haul backpacking purposes. It's always been about one foot at a time, ahead of the other foot. Nothing has changed in principle; it's just the pace, and the cumulative distance per day, that has changed. I kinda enjoy not having to burn up all the adrenalin and impatience like in younger years, and taking more time just to enjoy the surroundings. But I don't enjoy the longer time it takes for the muscle and joint aches to heal afterwards.

[Hammer]

Thank you for the encouraging words and support. I know it is going to be a long and entertaining journey. Plus, I always seem to have a bit of G.A.S. when it comes to my hobbies. I have a good bit of Leica M glass...