Hello everyone,
I'm making the leap to large format photography (from medium format) and have done a fair amount of research , including poring over this forum, and asking colleagues at my local photography school their opinion. There are a fair number of large format converts at the school, but the vast majority (98% is conservative) have gone to 4x5.
Basically, the reason I'm jumping straight to 8x10 is because of my interest in alternative processes and working with large negatives, and one of my former teachers is the resident expert in that area and encouraging me to do 8x10. However, he says I should spend the money on a Canham or Phillips, because he claims that if I go with a more reasonably priced and heavier Tachihara or Wista or other brand, I'll never use it after the initial honeymoon. He did, however, approve of buying an old Deardorff if it was in good condition. My other B&W professor, on the other hand, is much less of a brand snob and thinks the more expensive cameras are overkill (though he shoots 4x5 primarily).
I envision using the camera heavily for environmental portraits, a little studio work, and some landscape work (depending on how onerous the weight really is). Weight is certainly crucial along with price, but it's also important for me to have a camera that doesn't require a lot of extra tuning and tweaking related to maintenance...I understand that large format is a different animal, and I'm ready to immerse myself in the Zen of the process, but I want to spend my time getting better pictures, not hunting around for parts and screws and varnish and glue in order to keep the camera in one piece. So rehab jobs to save a penny don't work for me...I'm just not that handy.
I think I've found a refinished Deardorff with new bellows in decent condition for a little under $2000. The Canham, by contrast, is priced at $3500, which takes the purchase into the category of real financial pain. I can't seem to find out much about Phillips other than it looks like it will take quite a while to get the camera from the time the order is placed, and they don't seem to come up used at all.
Will I regret purchasing the Deardorff? Is a $3000+ camera really worth the premium? Though I did say that I don't want a fixer upper, I'm not into carrying around a camera for status or museum display purposes either...I do have these tendencies at times when it comes to other product categories, but I don't need a BMW caliber camera, unless the friendly folks here feel that's the way to go when it comes to getting a useable camera in this category..
Sorry for the longwinded post, but I'd appreciate any quick feedback on the price-feature tradeoffs with the brands I've mentioned. Thanks in advance to anyone who can reply.
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