Arca-Swiss 8x10/4x5 | Mamiya 6x7 | Leica 35mm | Blackmagic Ultra HD Video
Sound Devices audio recorder, Schoeps & DPA mikes
Mac Studio/Eizo with Capture One, Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve, Logic
To that was reply# 42
https://www.largeformatphotography.i...52#post1660152
Contact Austin at Laflex and read the advice link to the Laflex page on Technika.. which equally applies to Linhof and other cameras in general.
OPN, myopic to decide on any view camera before knowing how to use a view camera. This is much a learned thing and as needs and skills are developed, demands on gear tends to change and alter as needed. Camera "feel" as an aspect of ergonomics, without enough view camera skills properly developed and practice, practice, practice, practice , practice ... proper view camera skills never fully develop or grow. This tends to mute and distort the perception of proper view camera ergonomics and "feel"..
Oh, there was the "German" thing mentioned ala Leica-Rolleiflex being tops.. not convince of this in any way as Leica-Rolleiflex and _ are and never will be "perfect" they are like any other foto camera a fixed-given set of trade-offs with bad_good or just another image making tool and nothing more.
Bernice
I said that it's relative in one of my posts. If your budget is $200 spend $300. If your budget is $800, spend $1000. Buy up from whatever level you're at. You'll treat your camera with higher regard, take care of it better, and shoot better pictures. Because you care more.
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Flickr Home Page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/albums
Gear does not make better pictures. Knowing how to use gear does. While I appreciate fine equipment as much as the next person, I'm also a huge fan of "the right tool for the job". There are times when a $400 Kodak Chevron is a better tool than a $1500 Rolleiflex. And there are times when a $40 Holga is a better tool than a $400 Kodak Chevron. There are thousands and thousands of dentists and lawyers with babied Leicas and Hasselblads who have taken very sharp pictures of absolutely nothing anyone wants to look at to prove it.
Absolutely correct.
I've seen way too many photographs made on large format gear that have no redeeming qualities other than the fact that the user is pleased to be making large format photographs (usually on expensive equipment).
If someone wants to spend $3500 on equipment because they LIKE well engineered, beautifully crafted equipment, that's fine - its their prerogative. But that's NOT going to automatically make their photographs better.
Frankly, I think there's something wrong if a person feels they cannot care about the equipment they've acquired unless it comes with a certain price tag. Its an even more serious problem if that photographer isn't going to care about the photographs they make if the equipment they use isn't $$$$$. As Scott says, there's the right tool for every job. Sometimes that's a Holga, and sometimes that's a Chamonix. That's fine either way - just don't tell people they have to spend loads of money before they're going to care about what they're doing.
As always, your advice in this thread is impeccable, but I'm going to deviate a bit on this.
You have to start somewhere and that's normally before one has a lot of view camera experience, if any at all. I suggested in post #77 that one should try out candidates for handling before making a decision, and in post #81 that one should avoid disqualifying a whole class of view camera for artificial reasons. Beyond that, it seems to me that it's a matter of one's budget. One reason that I started with an Arca-Swiss Discovery (post #79) was that I had only a rough idea of what I was getting into, which meant that the camera's modularity, and probable resale value if I decided that I wanted a different camera or didn't want to pursue large format, were very attractive. As it worked out, that Discovery is now the basis for a camera that I can configure for both 4x5 and 8x10. If anyone has the 5x7 components, I'm interested
As for "the German thing"... If I could keep only one of the cameras that I own, it would be the 66 year old Leica M3 double stroke. No contest. I love how it handles, I love rangefinder focusing and I love the lenses. I even prefer the double stroke over the later and more desirable (in the marketplace) single stroke because the first stroke is sort of a physical "get ready" that helps me focus on what I'm doing. I also have an M6 and a digital M (Typ 240), but from a handling perspective I prefer the M3 to both.
A long time ago, a photo store salesman told me to pick a camera that feels right in my hands and in physical operation. It was very good advice.
Arca-Swiss 8x10/4x5 | Mamiya 6x7 | Leica 35mm | Blackmagic Ultra HD Video
Sound Devices audio recorder, Schoeps & DPA mikes
Mac Studio/Eizo with Capture One, Final Cut, DaVinci Resolve, Logic
https://www.largeformatphotography.i...ic-bullet.html
There is more of long reading on LF home page.
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