I had the same dream like you, wanted to go ULF after a few 5x7 shots with a wobbly now gone russian FKD camera. I´ve directly converted my car for 200€ into an ULF camera instead of investing in an ULF camera the price of my car and put affordable WW2 aerial lenses, 20"f6.3 & 36"f6.3Telephoto, Dallmeyer Design made by Wray for 9"x18" roll film in Fairchild cameras*, covering far more, in it. Shot a few unusual formats (mostly car glass) in 11x14, but I quickly decided to hone my skills on smaller cheaper 5x7 & 8x10s and DIYed (more butchered to carry the several kg of glass) a 11x14 camera, mostly reduced to 8x10 now.
Start smaller with 4x5 & 5x7 on an 8x10 camera. This camera will later be a handy "light meter" to test out exposure under natural light and check your chemicals before you shoot on 11x14 and bigger. To master the special problems with ULF plates, you´d better have yourself dialed in completely and have ironed out the "normal" issues occurig with wet plate, in your routine. Wet plate needs time and exercise to cross the barrier from visible pictures to flaweless photographs. Once the magic fixing moment and the ether high wears off, you´ll start to see, where you´ve technically messed up an otherwise beautiful shot (mostly done at the very last stages of the process). Apply the 10.000hr rule to achieve mastership and calculate for yourself, if you want to spend the exponentially rising extra costs on 11x14s, which will end up in the bin at a ration ranging from 1:10 to 1:5 during your 1st year anyways (depending on the varying conditions of weather and chems, not on you).
As for lenses, you are very blessed to live in Paris, if you are looking for 19th century glass. There is
https://www.antiq-photo.com/en/paris-shop/ with a huge selection and you propably know of the analog flee market in Bievre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs6OiIJ0wTw The author of that YT Bievre-stroll-clip runs a little shop for wet plate lenses in Duesseldorf, Germany with always some offerings for ULF on the shelf. He recently sourced a ultra rare Rodenstock APO 1800mm, suitable for UULF 2m x 2m formats. It was priced at 10€ per mm focal length and was sold in an instant. Welp.
https://www.wetplatedreams.com/
I´ve considered Schable´s meniscus lenses, too. Pictures on the web are promising, but costs of shipping to Europe put them out of my budget and the competition at that time. There is affordable glass in the old world to be found. You may be interested in soviet built large format glasses, described in the publications of Arne Croell.
https://www.arnecroell.com/eastern-block-new.pdf Most are pre-WW2 German patents/designs like Tessars, produced in different qualities for different markets. Kiev was (and still is) the power house for special purpose eastern optics and also produced higher export qualities, than i.e. St. Petersburg. Still has a vibrant scene of used glass dealers on ebay. Professionally refurbished Industar/Lomo large format or projection lenses come at a fraction of a similar Zeiss Tessar or Rodenstock APO. My 750mm/f9 O-2 lens came at the price of a liter of collodion.
Regarding coating: Pre- to late WW2 is the era to look for, but every coating (or else slowing down factor like lens speed or bellows draw) can be overcome by the force of strobe power. Theres is just 80% of the energy wasted in light, not relevant for the collodion process. Everything strong enough for short exposures with collodion is painfull for the sitter, whether its constant light or strobes. Only a few brave people will show no fear on their 2nd portrait after the 1st shot under that flash bombardement left them blind for a good while.
Go ahead and show us some plates.
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