> /snip/
>
>> LF can be expensive but can also be done on a budget (except for the
>> film). Despite the raves about modern lenses many of the older ones,
even
>> ancient ones, are very good and new ones that cost a fortune are not
>> necessary.
>
> I'll share my experience with 4x5 film. First of all, I don't shoot 4x5
> color - just bw. I ran across some years ago a store closing out 8x10
bw
> film in boxes of 25 sheets. I think it was Forte, iso 200. I bought a
box
> (all of ten dollars), cut the film down to 4x5 in the darkroom (cotton
> gloves, duct tape, and paper cutter), maintained emulsion orientation to
> snip off a bit of the upper right corner, and tried it out. Worked
> perfectly. So I went back and bought the eight or so remaining boxes.
> Granted, a bit of a bother to have to trim the 8x10 film down to 4x5,
but
> what a bargain! I think I still have a box or two in the freezer.
>
> And a number of those older lenses are much lighter than the more modern
> ones - I prize my 210mm Tessar. Very, very nice images, much lighter
than a
> more current lens, and small enough that I don't have to detach it from
the
> camera.
>
>
For me, film costs are the least of it, if you don't mind ortho response,
(which I don't),
Ultrafineonline.com (photo warehouse) has Continuous Tone dupe flim in
8x10 and 14x17, in
25 packs 8x10 is just under a dollar a sheet, by the hundred, it's about
85 cents. in the
16x20/20x24 I shoot lith film exclusively, I got a boatload of 16x20 lith
film for free
from a printer I know that went direct to place, I probably have around
800 sheets left
still. Dektol 1:6 tames the contrast wonderfully, and an EI of about 6
makes the Packard
or lens cap approach quite doable.
I can put my 8x10 field camera, a handful of holders, a mounted 210
angulon and
lightmeter/filters, etc. in a small shoulder cooler and carry my tiltall
over my shoulder,
a rather enjoyable hiking outfit.
By contrast, my entire 20x24 camera weighs nearly 50#, including the lens
came in at just
under $150(bellows scrounged from a process camera, drawer slides for
focusing stage,
scrap plywood scrounged from the local cabinet shop, the only high dollar
item was a 17"
lead screw for the focusing), it folds up too. It doesn't travel far from
the van
whatsoever. (the Weston approach to LF photography, if you will)
For 99% of my personal use, I shoot either the 8x10 field, my C1 if I'm
feeling
adventurous, or a Toyo 45F. The big guns stay indoors, unless a client is
footing the bill.
erie
|
