New LF user from London

[nicolaslaborie]

Hello to lf-photo and their members,

I just got myself a Pacemaker Crown Graphic and im a complete novice when it comes to Large format photography but excited about this new project. My first thought is to get some Polaroid (for my 550 back which i got with the camera) but first i wanted to ask if anyone could recommend a good book for introduction to LF or any tips.

Thank you and look forward to browse thru the site to see teh work.

Nicolas

[Nigels]

Hello Nicolas and welcome to the Forum.

There are two books that I have and that I find useful;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Using-View-Came ... 302&sr=1-1

Jack Dykinga's book has lots of good information and some really inspirational photography

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Large-Format-Na ... 164&sr=8-1

[Paul Mitchell]

Welcome aboard Nicolas, my first LF book was Steve Simmons View Camera but quite honestly I learnt more just taking the camera out and playing with the various movements. If you're in to developing your own film I would also recommend buying some cheap B&W film on ebay http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GBP-SHANGHAI-4x5- ... 422wt_1304 to put the theory into practice.

Paul

[nicolaslaborie]

Thank you very much Nigel and Paul...will try to order the book from the states. I bought some Polaroid and will soon start to play.

N

[nicolaslaborie]

I have another question - i saw that you can get 6x7 roll film back for 4x5 too...do many large format photographers use them (might be a silly question as 6x7 is a medium format !) and which ones would fit the Pacemaker Crown Graphic?

Ps: Just got a Steve Simmons`s book from the US and its a great read ! thank you again !

N

[Thingy]

I have another question - i saw that you can get 6x7 roll film back for 4x5 too...do many large format photographers use them (might be a silly question as 6x7 is a medium format !) and which ones would fit the Pacemaker Crown Graphic?

Ps: Just got a Steve Simmons`s book from the US and its a great read ! thank you again !

N

Welcome aboard shipmate!

I use 6x9 and 6x12 roll film backs with my camera. They are particularly useful for film that is not available in 5x4 and the 6x12 is useful for taking photographs of rocks and small islands in watery places where sheet film would result in superfluous sky or water which you don't want. I also frequently use my 6x9 back for photomicrography. As for 6x7, I'm not sure if it's worth going for when you could use a Mamiya 6x7 MF camera to take these shots.

Steve

[nicolaslaborie]

Fair point Steve about the 6x7 route and the RZ is a great camera. which brand would you recommend for 6x9 or 6x12 backs which are compatible with a Graflex type back fro my camera?

N

[acs]

Wista or Horseman (seen them rebranded as Arca) seem good.

Not sure about Wista, but Horseman have two variants -- you need a 451 (not model 1 -- i.e. need the 45 prefix) for 6x9, 452 (not model 2) for 6x7, or 612 for 6x12.

Models 45/3 and 45/4 are for 220 film, 6x9 and 6x7 resp.

[nicolaslaborie]

Thank you...seems to be very difficult to find 6x6 or 6x9 roll holder backs....most of them are 6x7...is it worth shooting 6x7? i wonder...
N

[acs]

Think you just have to keep an eye out. I suspect it's just that the 6x7 backs are now the least popular and tend to hang around more.

It was only couple of weeks before you asked that a few 6x9 and 6x12 backs came up on the dealer lists and ebay -- maybe I was super lucky in that it happened to be the week I was looking for one.

[nicolaslaborie]

True Andrew...Patience: the nature of Large format photography i guess... N

[dave_whatever]

I use/have used a 6x7 back/s on my camera. Using them is fine, especially good for middle to longer lens work. Not too great for wide lenses cos you end up having to use a very short lens which makes it difficult to control the minute amounts of tilt you need to apply without geared movements. If you get one I would recommend making a mask for the ground glass, it makes composition a lot easier. Infact you can even just tape out a 6x7 area with insulating tape on the glass.

6x9 backs are pretty common, if not more common than 6x7. For me a 6x9 back makes no sense though since I prefer the 6:7/4:5 aspect ratio compared to 2:3.

[Oliver]

Thank you very much Nigel and Paul...will try to order the book from the states. I bought some Polaroid and will soon start to play.

N

Sorry to come in so late. One book which hasn't been mentioned but which seems to cover the nuts and bolts of LF photography is Stroebel's "View Camera Technique". But whatever book you choose, nothing can beat learning by doing.

You wrote you'd bought some polaroid. Can we see the results?

[Paul Salmon]

I would suggest looking at the set of three books by Ansel Adams, The Camera, The Negative and The Print.
All 3 are brilliant, and steer you through the whole process.

[Andrew Plume]

Hello Nicolas and welcome to the Forum.

There are two books that I have and that I find useful;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Using-View-Came ... 302&sr=1-1

Jack Dykinga's book has lots of good information and some really inspirational photography

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Large-Format-Na ... 164&sr=8-1

Sadly, Jack Dykinga has entered the dark side.............................that's the digital planet

andrew