Equipment or photographer?

[Peter B]

If you were ever in any doubt as to which is the more important of the two, Joe Cornish's Ebony is currently for sale on the auction site. It doesn't mention any inherited ability from the great man, though.
I just missed out on Colin Prior's 150mm from Robert White a few years ago and I'm sure it would have made me a better photographer

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ebony-SW45-Large- ... 1c11cbad10

[scovell001]

Hopefully someone can shed some light on the comment I'm about to make. But, I've heard on a couple occasions that Joe sells his Ebony's every so often as the bodies develop a certain amount of play. Amateur photographers perhaps wouldn't notice this. I'm sure I remember him offering one of his Ebony's for sale at a Robert White 'talking images' event in 2004.

Am I full of C***p, or does my brain serve me well.

The thought of buying a pro photographers knackered 2nd hand kit, apart from for sentimental value whats the point?

[Trevor Crone]

Hopefully someone can shed some light on the comment I'm about to make. But, I've heard on a couple occasions that Joe sells his Ebony's every so often as the bodies develop a certain amount of play. Amateur photographers perhaps wouldn't notice this. I'm sure I remember him offering one of his Ebony's for sale at a Robert White 'talking images' event in 2004.

Am I full of C***p, or does my brain serve me well.

The thought of buying a pro photographers knackered 2nd hand kit, apart from for sentimental value whats the point?

Hi, I've had my Ebony SW23 since 1999 and my SW45 since 2000, although probably not used as much as Joe's kit, but if ever there is any 'play' I just tighten the screws. That for me is one of the pluses of Ebony, it is such a dense wood that unless handled really roughly the screws never seem to come loose. Like most woods ebony does swell slightly in humid conditions and I have under these conditions had to loosen the odd screw to allow smooth focusing.

[PAUL O]

I'd personally never touch anything electronic that has been used by a Pro
However, buying used large format equipment is probably a better bet than most when purchasing from a professional - there is very little that can go wrong with LF gear.
I would have thought that even a wooden camera would have needed to have been well-abused to develop "play" to the extent that it becam an issue - I agree with Trevor, the beauty of the Ebony design means that most issues with play as a result of temp/humididty fluctuations can be resolved with a Phillips screwdriver.