What Sorts of Features Differ Across The Wide Range of Price Points?

[Vaughan]

All cameras have limitations; the limitations differ between cameras, and some cameras have more limitations than others.

IMHO start with 4x5. Leave larger formats particularly 8x10 until later, if ever.

First decide your budget. A reasonable starting budget would IMHO be US$1000 for everything like camera, one normal-ish 135mm to 180mm lens, three film holders, focussing cloth, carbon tripod and head, and a hand-held light meter.

Second, decide whether you want a new camera or used. If new: Intrepid, no choice really for the budget. If used, choose between a metal field camera like the Wista 45 or Toyo 45A (the budget is not enough for a Linhof Technika but they aren't functionally better anyway) or wood like a Tachihara, Nagaoka etc.

If you are prepared to do some repairs, particularly replacing the bellows, you can pick up some bargain cameras. Regarding the lenses, an unreliable shutter is a large format photographer's bane.

[Gabe]

The general feeling that monorail cameras aren't suitable for field work is because the monorail makes them awkward to walk around with. When I got the Linhof I had a local machinist make up a short monorail, just long enough to allow the camera to be mounted on the tripod - problem 90% solved IMHO because I could carry the camera on the short rail and then attach a rail extension when I was setting up in a new location.

Worth mentioning that there are a few 4x5 monorails that are designed to be compact when stored: the Toyo VX125, the Linhof Technikardan S 45, or the Arca Swiss F-metric field C.

All are very expensive new, but do sometimes crop up second hand for substantially less money. Just food for thought.

[Doremus Scudder]

Tachihara is long out of business.

Of course - I constantly confuse Tachihara with Shen Hao (some kind of neural short circuit there I suppose).

Tachis are great and available on the used market - Shen Hao cameras are still made and quite good as well (if you're still listening, OP).

Doremus

[Drew Wiley]

Monorails can be wonderful in the field. I've been well over 10,000 miles on foot in rugged terrain with Sinar 4X5 monorails. One just needs to learn how to sensibly pack them. If you gravitate towards longer focal lengths, like I do, a monorail system can be the ideal way to go. They're certainly faster to set up and operate than folders. However, I do use folders too, for when sheer compactness is a priority, like in an airline carry-on.

[Havoc]

Wista is often overlooked but a perfectly usable camera for a reasonable budget. They are a bit like Mamiya in the medium format field. Not cult status but decent cameras the get the job done without breaking the budget. Serms like they are not liked much in the US for dome reason.

[JLeeSaxon]

Thanks folks for all the great info to get me started!

[AuditorOne]

I think a 4x5 Intrepid is probably the BEST large format for a first time user. I have a Kickstarter first generation Intrepid. I have moved past that camera for the moment to a monorail so I can work on camera movements and focusing technique. But it is still there if I decide to seriously head into the field again with a backpack. The entire camera is still in very usable condition after a number of years. It hasn't been used much lately but back when it first arrived it was packed around all over. I moved away from large format for awhile but it had nothing to do with the Intrepid being good or bad.

It is new, with a warranty, and people who are more than happy to answer lots and lots of newbie questions. What more would a first time dabbler want? And the newer 4x5 Intrepid cameras are literally generations better than that first kickstarter version.

[Jim Jones]

The first view camera for many photographers might well be one of the older ones. Mine was a Newton New Vue, bought used in the early 1960s. I learned a lot from it, including to never buy another one. The Newton camera was produced just after WWII, when civilian camera production hadn't caught up with demand. My next LF camera, and my most often used one, was a flat-bed Burke & James 5x7. It was the most compact, and weighed just 7 lbs without the bed extension. It was also fairly inexpensive second-hand in 1972, when many photographers were downsizing to 4x5. It uses the versatile 4" square lens board, still my favorite size. Adapting a 4x5 back from an ancient Speed Graphic was a simple task with a few carpentry tools. My second choice would be a Graphic View. The post war model has on-axis front tilt, but the pre-war version has a little neater styling. They include a pan and tilt head and weigh 8.25 lbs. In comparison the 4x5 Kodak Master View is bulky and weighs 9.75 lbs, mostly due to the revolving back. It does not include a tripod head. One nice feature of view cameras: they don't have to be new. A pre-war Graphic View will do almost everything a knowledgeable photographer needs.

[George Losse]

Best advice I ever got was not to spend a lot of money on the first camera. Buy something used that has the movements you need for the photography you want to do. Spend more money on the lens for that camera. If you like working with large format, the lens will work nicely for the next camera body. If you end up not liking large format work, then at least you didn't tie up a lot of money in the camera body.

I still work with my first lens I bought. On the third camera body with that lens.

Like a number of others have said, stay small with your first camera, 4x5 is a great place to start.

Don't jump right into the larger sizes until you feel you need something the 4x5 negative can't give you. As the format size increases, so does the cost and the frustrations. Learn about large format photography with the smaller format, so the mistakes don't cost as much.

[xkaes]

Noob to large format (not to photography), thinking about dabbling a little.

Here's a tip, about FORUMS --not just this one.

There are lots of people that love to spend other people's money.

But several people, like George (above), have suggested that if you want to "dabble", don't spend a lot of money. I can't agree more. You can buy a good 4x5 camera for well under $200. That's a lot less than an Intrepid. Using a "bare-bones" camera will not only inform you about whether you want to "jump into to lake", it will tell you what you want in your NEXT LF camera -- after you've sold your "test" camera for more money than you paid for it.