advice for beginner

[Joseph Deacon]

Hello everyone,
I would be most grateful if some of you could offer me advice regarding buying a large format camera. I have plenty of experience with photography but not so much with 5x4.

My requirements are:

1. Cheap i.e low end on ebay etc
2. I shoot close-ish with a short tele
(85mm on DSLR, from between .75-3m, thats from around 2 1/2 ft to around 10)
3. weight isn't so much of a problem but bulk is.
4. I would like some movements, to give me some scope for wider landscapes at a later date. Something that would take a gentle wide angle (28-35mm equivalent)

I studied the forums but I am still slightly ignorant, would a s/h MPP or crown graphic fit the job?

Thanks Kindly
JD

[Vaughn]

Those are good cameras, but limited. I suggest something more versitile and that would last several years before you might want to up-grade. Something like a used Tachihara or Horseman Woodman. A field camera rather than a rail camera, if lack of bulk is an important criteria.

But the MPP or Graphic cameras might fit you well -- possibility of hand-holding and all that. They travel well. I used my Rollei (the camera I learned with) like a LF camera without realizing it (tripod, slow film, f/22), so going to LF was very natural for me. Those cameras would have been a waste of time for me....but may work for you.

Lots of treads on lens choices for beginners. It is all a matter of personal choice...but don't determine lens choice just based on your previous use of equivilent focal lengths of smaller formats. Apples and oranges. Using a LF camera will change the way you see and photograph. Be prepared to break away from what you use to do. You may not, but there is a good chance you will.

I learned with a single lens -- 150mm (physically small, but large image circle for lots of movements). So that is where my bias is. Many others like a little shorter lens...120mm to 135mm...small, slightly wide, but with reduced movements. A 90mm is a difficult lens to learn with. An 180 or 210mm are on the long side but will also work as a starter lens.

The Caltar lenses, especially the 150mm/f5.6, are excellent value for the money.

Good luck and have fun!

Vaughn

[dienthoaitot]

Hi,

I am new member. I am glad to meet you.

Thanks

[Vaughn]

Hello and welcome!

[Stefan Lungu]

Well, I'm also new to shooting LF. For some time I wanted to and got myself a Sinar F, but I only managed to put the camera on tripod and play around with it without shooting one shot, so I sold it. After a while, I got myself a Crown Graphic and started using it with a roll film back. That was because I didn't had the chance to develop myself and 120 film is easyly developed by the lab. Then I tried to develop 120 myself and after that started developing 4x5 myself. The biggest problem I have right now is the lack of portrait orientation on the Crown together with the lack of front swing. So I am starting again to think about a Sinar...
Maybe this helps. A simple camera like the Crown is pretty portable and helps you start shooting 4x5. After that you will maybe start to see what you really need for your shooting and maybe get another camera, but I still think I made the right first choice in that it helped me start shooting 4x5.

[Mark Barendt]

1. Cheap i.e low end on ebay etc

If you are in a local camera club, check there. I get offered film cameras all the time.

2. I shoot close-ish with a short tele
(85mm on DSLR, from between .75-3m, thats from around 2 1/2 ft to around 10)

Trying to help get you an apples for apples comparison here.

If your DSLR is NOT a "Full Frame" sensor the rough equivalent focal length in a 4x5 camera would be close to 375mm for a similar angle of view. If your DSLR IS "Full Frame" the 250mm to 260mm length provides similar angle of view.

The reason this is important is that not all field cameras can extend out far enough to focus properly, some will only focus out to maybe 210mm.

You can buy special "tele" lenses but those are not the norm of what will come with the camera.

4. I would like some movements, to give me some scope for wider landscapes at a later date. Something that would take a gentle wide angle (28-35mm equivalent)

Non FF DSLR equivalency for 28mm is about 150-170 which is a "Normal" view lens, not a wide angle lens. FF DSLR equivalency for 28mm is about 110mm.

[Joseph Deacon]

Thank you all for your help,

Vaughn likewise, I shoot a medium format rangefinder,stopped down, tripod. and a Canon 5D, Everything quite formal and "2D", I tend to use the DSLR in the same way.
I feel this would suit large format.

I'm aware there's a wealth of information here but I was essentially a bit confused, a lot to take in!

So with 210mm bellows and e.g. a 180mm lens how close would i be able to focus? Is there a way to work out this?

I am taking onboard everyones advice and it's helping to steer me in the right direction. Greetings to other new members also!

Thanks again
JD

[Joanna Carter]

So with 210mm bellows and e.g. a 180mm lens how close would i be able to focus?

Well, in theory, if I remember rightly, a 180mm lens will focus at infinity when the bellows is 180mm long; Again, if I remember rightly, you should only need more bellows length when focusing closer than twice the focal length of the lens(e.g. 360mm with a 180mm lens).

Of course an LF camera with a sufficiently long bellows can be focused right down to life size reproduction (1:1) and beyond, just don't forget to allow for increased exposure as the bellows factor increases. Typically, with a 180m lens, for a 1:1 image, the bellows will be 360mm long and you would need 2 stops extra exposure.

[Bruce Barlow]

Find a cheap camera - Wista, Tachihara, Osaka - used. Get a decent used lens - I vote 210mm as a good all-around length. Use them until you can't do something you really NEED to do, and then change something. I did that 25 years ago and finally bought an 8x10 camera, but still use, and love, my Wista.

DON'T spend a lot of money on a camera or lens that you'll be the slightest bit intimidated by. We've had workshop students show up with shiny new Ebonys that they were pretty much afraid to touch. Not good. Go cheap so you won't care. You won't break it, I promise. You won't wear it out, either. And a beater camera makes you look like a real photographer, too, when other photographers see you with it.

Get a bunch of film holders - 25 isn't too few, 15 good for a start. Don't skimp on a tripod, and for now avoid a ball head (then avoid it later, too). Use a black T-shirt as a dark cloth stretched over the back of the camera.

Find one film - I vote Tri-X or Ilford HP5 because you want the speed - and one developer and then make buckets of pictures. Making lots is the only way you'll really learn. Too bad Polaroid is no longer available; it was a fabulous learning tool. Make 4x5 contact prints in your bathroom, if you must. They're like little jewels.

Most of all, have fun.

[venchka]

One more reason to start with a 150mm lens - 1:1 = 300mm bellows extension.

Seek out gear from folks who are actually using same. ebay is a great place to get non-working stuff from toy dealers.

Be patient. Learn. Read. Study. In 30 days you will be able to shop right here. The For Sale area here has everything you will need from reliable folks.

Good luck.