fed up with eBay: where to buy a complete rig cheap?

[Bill Moore]

Josh, you may be wishing for the moon, the tripod, and head you want will probably cost 150.00, the 545 probably 80-100, a modern 210mm lens, in useable condition, at least 275. You are already over 500.00, without the camera. You'll spend at least 200 for a Calumet or Orbit 4x5. So I think you have to set your budget to at least 700 dollars. On the other hand, I believe that you can easily get a nice Crown Graphic with lens for 250, plus 90 for the 545, any medium size tripod would work with this setup. This is really the best and cheapest way to get into large format. You won't lose money on this investment should you decide to sell it at a later date.

[M.]

Just today a Graphic View with 127/4.5 and 203/7.7 Ektars, 11 cut film holders, Polaroid back, and Tiltall tripod went for $466 on eBay. That's a first rate outfit for anybody's studio, and several hundred dollars cheaper than it could have been bought from a legit dealer. There were 15 bids, and the winner was made 24 hours before closing, and, I'm happy to notice, was made by someone with only one previous buy, which probably means it was bought to be used rather than to be broken up and sold piecemeal by some sniping scavenger. This was a good one. Most of them seem to be otherwise.

[Josh Wand]

Bill... I was the #2 bidder on that auction. I didn't want to find out what the real winning bid was (I pushed it up as high as I could really afford). But that's the kind of thing I'm talking about, anyways. Takes luck.

[M.]

Josh, I'm sorry you lost. I'll bet it was either $476 or $501, and that's getting well above your $400 target. If you'd like to email me direct (off camera, so to speak) I have an idea for finding out.