Still dreaming of 5x4

[Julian Elliott]

Thanks Charles. very useful!

How much swing are we talking here?

Oh, btw Mr Parkin. Joe had some very nice words to describe you. I won't say "exactly" what he said otherwise your head might swell

[Julian Elliott]

I just found a nice pictoral view of a LF camera and an explanation of the movements. It's on the Toyo website. Went exploring after Charles mentioned Toyo.

http://www.toyoview.com/LargeFrmtTech/lgformat.html

[Joanna Carter]

I just found a nice pictoral view of a LF camera and an explanation of the movements. It's on the Toyo website. Went exploring after Charles mentioned Toyo.

http://www.toyoview.com/LargeFrmtTech/lgformat.html

I don't like their assertion that front tilt gives you more depth of field. It doesn't change the depth of field, rather it changes the plane of sharp focus so that it proceeds away from under the camera; you would still need to alter the aperture to achieve a "thicker" wedge of acceptable sharpness. But then tilting or swinging the front standard in any direction will also achieve the same effect, just in another plane

[Charles Twist]

Thanks Charles. very useful!
How much swing are we talking here?

A small amount for a 90m lens - a couple degrees at most, I'd guess, maybe 5 in worst case. Depends how steep the hill is... Sometimes just a smidge away from the centre can make a world of difference at large apertures or with large prints. Also worth thinking about centre detents: good for speeding up the process of setting up, but sometimes tricky to apply just that small amount of T or S. Depends on the camera and user.

I forgot to say that you will also need larger angles (T & S) if your subject is closer. And in that case, you probably need those movements on the rear, making non-folders non-contenders (you could put your camera on a sturdy ball-head, I guess).

Best regards,
Charles

[Martin Jan Köhler]

Hi Julian!

FYI: there's a guy offering a complete package including an Arca Discovery with 4 lenses, film holders, meter etc asking for 2200 EUR for the complete package...
http://www.grossformatfotografie.de/vie ... =18&t=9168
( EDIT: I noticed you need an account, here's a screenshot: http://martinjankoehler.com/inserate/arca.jpg )

I'm not connected to him, but I found it quite cheap, as I payed the same amount for an Arca F-metric and a bagpack
so I thought I let you know ... (ask me to translate stuff if you're German is a bit rusty *gg*) ...

Best regards,
Martin

[Martin Jan Köhler]

To give an analogy to something I else I do. As well as being a photographer I also play the guitar. Now, I love rock music and have both a Fender Strat and an old Jackson guitar. The Jackson has pickups that make it sound completely different to the strat.
With both guitar you can play rock. BUT if, like me, you also like heavy thrash metal then using a Fender strat just doesn't work. Both are rock guitars but when you start fine tuning things into genre then one doesn't make the grade.
Make any sense???

Totally!

But then again, throw Bareknuckle Pickups (Painkiller) into the Fender Bridge, and you're ready to rumble
Although NWOBHM and not thrash, however I think the Iron Maiden guitarist used to play a Fender with special pickups (think Seymour Duncans) ... but then again, as Fender bought Jackson in the meantime, Jackson now has made a model of this *gg*

[lostlandsuk]

To give an analogy to something I else I do. As well as being a photographer I also play the guitar. Now, I love rock music and have both a Fender Strat and an old Jackson guitar. The Jackson has pickups that make it sound completely different to the strat.
With both guitar you can play rock. BUT if, like me, you also like heavy thrash metal then using a Fender strat just doesn't work. Both are rock guitars but when you start fine tuning things into genre then one doesn't make the grade.
Make any sense???

Totally!

But then again, throw Bareknuckle Pickups (Painkiller) into the Fender Bridge, and you're ready to rumble
Although NWOBHM and not thrash, however I think the Iron Maiden guitarist used to play a Fender with special pickups (think Seymour Duncans) ... but then again, as Fender bought Jackson in the meantime, Jackson now has made a model of this *gg*

July 1980 - original Marquee in Wardour Street. Paul Di'anno on vocals - more people than should have been in there - my legs got dyed blue from my jeans as it was so hot!
As for cameras - A DX is a fantastic camera and Wista still have loads of spares for some of the things that go missing ocassionally. If you've got muscles, a Sinar F - just make sure you're tripod and head can cope with it. The Wista is very comfortable on a Series 2 Gitzo Reporter. The Sinar requires something more heavy duty.
Phil

[Oliver]

Oliver, you are right. I don't know what I want. That is why I am asking the questions. I like to make very well informed decisions before making any purchases. I'm sure that you can see that and understand?

Everyone on here was new to LF at some point. I have the benefit of being able to tap into that in order to form an opinion.

Please tell me folks if I am not allowed to do that..

I'm sorry you seem to take offence, Julian, for none was intended. And of course you're allowed to ask for advice. After all, I offered you my own advice – which, by the way, still stands.

It's in the nature of online groups, and this group is no exception, for members to have very strong and very partisan opinions about what is right. And almost always those opinions derive from their own experience. Which is how it should be. But in a field as wide as this one, in which there are umpteen ways to skin a rabbit, you will inevitably get conflicting advice, and until you have enough experience of your own to be able to discriminate between one opinion and another you run the danger of being confused. Having said that, you will certainly get an idea about things like portability and cost. So by all means harvest the fruits of everyone's experience, but then sift through them to match them to what you want from LF.

What exactly is it that attracts you to LF? Is it the image quality brought by sheet film? Is it the mystique of the kit? Is it the ability to control perspective? Do you want to shoot portraits, landscapes, buildings? To my mind, just about the greatest advantage is the way the photographer is forced to slow down and concentrate on composition, on the image on the ground glass, and on making that shot count - entirely different from digital where one can be profligate; different even from shooting rollfilm. But that's just my opinion - take it if you like and use it as you will.

Martyn

[Julian Elliott]

Hi Oliver

I didn't take offense at all!

What attracts me? The quality that the film gives. Having already seen what medium format is capable of then 5x4 should be mind blowing! Having the ability to use movements and achieve that enormous depth of field is also a plus.

BTW I'm off out for a few days now, so if there are any more responses I won't be able to read them until Thursday.