Hi from NW London
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Hi from NW London
Hi I'm Chaim from North West London. I've just finished my 2nd year of a photography degree at Middlesex university. Until now I've been using a Mamiya c330 mainly - I love the square format and using a waist-level finder, but for my final year at uni I want to get into LF photography. I've bought a used Sinar F2 and am in the process of adding the other bits of kit that I'll need. I enjoy documentary photography (not the best choice for LF I know ) and fine-art landscapes and details, both b&w and colour. I like details a lot, the things you might miss if you don't look carefully enough! Anyway, I'm pretty new to LF so looking forward to interacting with you guys here and learning from your experience and hopefully contributing something of myself too!
Newbie question - What do you do with the exposed sheets in the dark slides when you want to take them to be developed? What do you pack them in to keep them light-tight? Cheers!
Newbie question - What do you do with the exposed sheets in the dark slides when you want to take them to be developed? What do you pack them in to keep them light-tight? Cheers!
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Re: Hi from NW London
Welcome Chaim.
I'm an LF newbie myself, so won't be able to answer any processing questions (yet ). Still gathering together the "kit" as well. Dark cloth arrived today . Totally agree re: square format and the C330 is a lovely camera.
How are you enjoying Middlesex. It has a great reputation re: photography education. I noticed that 2 or 3 of its students were shortlisted for the Taylor-Wessing Portrait Prize last year. Quite and achievement, though the T-W "aesthetic" certainly isn't my cup of tea!
Why not use LF for documentary?! You should do it, even if just for the fact that few others are After all, all of Bruce Davidson's East 100th Street photos were shot on 4x5. All the best, John
I'm an LF newbie myself, so won't be able to answer any processing questions (yet ). Still gathering together the "kit" as well. Dark cloth arrived today . Totally agree re: square format and the C330 is a lovely camera.
How are you enjoying Middlesex. It has a great reputation re: photography education. I noticed that 2 or 3 of its students were shortlisted for the Taylor-Wessing Portrait Prize last year. Quite and achievement, though the T-W "aesthetic" certainly isn't my cup of tea!
Why not use LF for documentary?! You should do it, even if just for the fact that few others are After all, all of Bruce Davidson's East 100th Street photos were shot on 4x5. All the best, John
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Re: Hi from NW London
Good to have you aboard Chaim, everyone interested in LF in its various forms are welcome here and good luck with your final year.
Just a thought... might not a Speed Graphic (or something similar) have suited you better than a camera designed for the studio? Look forward to seeing your results
Paul
Just a thought... might not a Speed Graphic (or something similar) have suited you better than a camera designed for the studio? Look forward to seeing your results
Paul
When people ask what equipment I use - I tell them my eyes.
http://www.paulmitchellphotography.co.uk
http://www.arenaphotographers.com
http://www.paulmitchellphotography.co.uk
http://www.arenaphotographers.com
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Re: Hi from NW London
Thanks for being so welcoming, this is a great forum to be part of!
John - Middlesex is great. I thought I knew about photography before I started uni, how wrong I was! It's nice to know the university is getting good rep for photography. Where did you hear about its photography department? I'm hoping to enter the Taylor-Wessing this year, it's worth a shot- think of all the LF equipment I could buy with that prize! I appreciate what you say about LF documentary, my style at the moment is more like Davidson's subway series (not quite as good though ) which might be harder to do with LF.
Paul - I was thinking of buying a field camera, but a few factors persuaded me to go for the Sinar.The F2 is not much heavier than many metal field cameras and the monorail design would give me all the movements so it would be ideal to learn LF photography on. At uni they have a Toyo field camera but I found that my usage of the movements was primarily based on guesswork. The Sinar was quite cheap too, so that helped!
John - Middlesex is great. I thought I knew about photography before I started uni, how wrong I was! It's nice to know the university is getting good rep for photography. Where did you hear about its photography department? I'm hoping to enter the Taylor-Wessing this year, it's worth a shot- think of all the LF equipment I could buy with that prize! I appreciate what you say about LF documentary, my style at the moment is more like Davidson's subway series (not quite as good though ) which might be harder to do with LF.
Paul - I was thinking of buying a field camera, but a few factors persuaded me to go for the Sinar.The F2 is not much heavier than many metal field cameras and the monorail design would give me all the movements so it would be ideal to learn LF photography on. At uni they have a Toyo field camera but I found that my usage of the movements was primarily based on guesswork. The Sinar was quite cheap too, so that helped!
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Re: Hi from NW London
As you learn more, you will find there are field cameras that have all the movements that you will ever need; the Ebony SV45Te for exampleChaim Frankel wrote: I was thinking of buying a field camera, but a few factors persuaded me to go for the Sinar.The F2 is not much heavier than many metal field cameras and the monorail design would give me all the movements so it would be ideal to learn LF photography on.
I hope you are not thinking that movements need to be calculated? Maybe as an academic exercise, but I have never yet met a photographer who does so. Everybody I know has learned to use what they see on the ground glass screen. Or do I misunderstand what you are saying here?Chaim Frankel wrote:At uni they have a Toyo field camera but I found that my usage of the movements was primarily based on guesswork.
Reassure yourself - stroke an Ebony
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Re: Hi from NW London
I'll take Davidson's subway series any day of the week over most of the T-W fodder. There were some great images in the prize last year but I'm definitely getting bored with the anemic-youths-with-blank-expressions aesthetic! Hopefully you can breath some life into the competition with something differentChaim Frankel wrote:I'm hoping to enter the Taylor-Wessing this year, it's worth a shot- think of all the LF equipment I could buy with that prize! I appreciate what you say about LF documentary, my style at the moment is more like Davidson's subway series (not quite as good though ) which might be harder to do with LF.
Talking of Davidson, did you go to the Sony World Photography Festival at the end of April? It was the coolest thing in the world when he points to one of his Circus Dwarf photos from 1958, tells you it was taken with a Leica, then points at the battered camera around his neck and says: "This one in fact"!
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Re: Hi from NW London
If you are looking to donate an Ebony SV45Te, I know of a very willing beneficiary . In the meantime, it has to be a monorail!Joanna Carter wrote:As you learn more, you will find there are field cameras that have all the movements that you will ever need; the Ebony SV45Te for example
No, but I do like the option of seeing exactly what I am dialling in, and the Sinar has a DOF calculator which may or may not be useful. Have you ever used it?Joanna Carter wrote:I hope you are not thinking that movements need to be calculated?
Agree with you there about how samey it is all getting. I’m starting to feel that way about the Dusseldorf-impersonators' landscapes. Everything seems to have to be about despair and decay.John Hamlen wrote:I'm definitely getting bored with the anemic-youths-with-blank-expressions aesthetic!
Unfortunately I didn’t go to the Sony festival. My loss! Anyway, I’ve registered for the T+W competition, and now I’ve got to get to work on the editing and printing.. the bits I like least about photography!
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Re: Hi from NW London
Donate? Don't you know I've got Yorkshire parentage?Chaim Frankel wrote:If you are looking to donate an Ebony SV45Te, I know of a very willing beneficiary . In the meantime, it has to be a monorail!
Don't go there. I've never had any idea at all of the angles I use; it all relies on what I see on the screen. The only times I ever had problems with focussing a scene was when I let logic take over from what appears on the GG screen.Chaim Frankel wrote:No, but I do like the option of seeing exactly what I am dialling in
The only time a DOF calculator might be useful is if you don't use movements; but, even then, just look at the screen and you will get what you see thereChaim Frankel wrote:and the Sinar has a DOF calculator which may or may not be useful. Have you ever used it?
Can I ask you; do you understand how movements work yet?
Reassure yourself - stroke an Ebony
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Re: Hi from NW London
Not sure if anyone answered this for you, but unload them and store them in an empty film box. Of course when you start out you don't have any of those, so beg one off someone on here - send me a pm with your address if you want one of mine!Chaim Frankel wrote: Newbie question - What do you do with the exposed sheets in the dark slides when you want to take them to be developed? What do you pack them in to keep them light-tight? Cheers!
If you ask the developer they'll return it with your processed film, and you can probably beg an empty from them too.
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Re: Hi from NW London
Chaim Frankel wrote:Hi I'm Chaim from North West London. I've just finished my 2nd year of a photography degree at Middlesex university. Until now I've been using a Mamiya c330 mainly - I love the square format and using a waist-level finder, but for my final year at uni I want to get into LF photography. I've bought a used Sinar F2 and am in the process of adding the other bits of kit that I'll need. I enjoy documentary photography (not the best choice for LF I know ) and fine-art landscapes and details, both b&w and colour. I like details a lot, the things you might miss if you don't look carefully enough! Anyway, I'm pretty new to LF so looking forward to interacting with you guys here and learning from your experience and hopefully contributing something of myself too!
Newbie question - What do you do with the exposed sheets in the dark slides when you want to take them to be developed? What do you pack them in to keep them light-tight? Cheers!
Hi Chaim
welcome to this forum
before you have spent hard earned cash, there are fwiw options to modern shuttered lens by the usual manufacturers, there are uncoated brass lenses, which are generally far cheaper than their modern shuttered cousins, so if you are interested in older cheaper lenses, send me a pm
regards
andrew
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Re: Hi from NW London
hey JoannaJoanna Carter wrote: As you learn more, you will find there are field cameras that have all the movements that you will ever need; the Ebony SV45Te for example
now, I know that you and other members on here are really fond of the Ebony line of cameras but price wise they're way way too expensive for your average student.............a decent entry level 4x5 is a Shen Hao and that's saving plenty of bucks......................
andrew
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Re: Hi from NW London
Joanna Carter wrote: Can I ask you; do you understand how movements work yet?
Hi Chaim
yes movements are really interesting - ignore all of the written hype imho - here's what I suggest - put a lens on the Sinar, do some closue up work, put your head under the glass and move both of the standards around, they do not need to be in the same direction, just see how an image can change and what possibilities that there are, particularly on the abstract side of things etc etc - just enjoy all of the benefits that you'll now have available with a LF camera
regards
andrew
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Re: Hi from NW London
Andrew Plume wrote:Joanna Carter wrote: As you learn more, you will find there are field cameras that have all the movements that you will ever need; the Ebony SV45Te for example
hey Joanna
now, I know that you and other members on here are really fond of the Ebony line of cameras but price wise they're way way too expensive for your average student.............a decent entry level 4x5 is a Shen Hao and that's saving plenty of bucks......................
andrew
Joanna - a brief look at RW's page for the price of the 'all singing and dancing' Ebony SV45Te, shows this fella coming in at.....ummm.....£3,055 (exc VAT), with no doubt more movements than you can shake the proverbial at......whereas a Shen-Hao starts at £620 (again exc VAT), the difference in movements not compared by me but that's a heck of a difference on the 'wonga front' - ok we all know that the Shen Hao screens aren't up to much but even so - and that price difference is before the add on's, lens boards for example
just my two shillings worth
andrew
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Re: Hi from NW London
Take a look at importing one from Badger Graphic; even with all the import duty and taxes, etc., you can still get the price down to just under £3000.Andrew Plume wrote:Joanna - a brief look at RW's page for the price of the 'all singing and dancing' Ebony SV45Te, shows this fella coming in at.....ummm.....£3,055 (exc VAT), with no doubt more movements than you can shake the proverbial at...
I was fortunate and picked up mine at a silly price, secondhand and not in tip-top condition for around £1300 but, all I can say is you get what you pay for and if you don't have the budget for an Ebony, there are plenty of other cameras out there, which are very competent, for most people's pockets.Andrew Plume wrote:...whereas a Shen-Hao starts at £620 (again exc VAT), the difference in movements not compared by me but that's a heck of a difference on the 'wonga front' - ok we all know that the Shen Hao screens aren't up to much but even so - and that price difference is before the add on's, lens boards for example
It's generally a question of how many features you want vs. how much money you have to spend; my point about the Ebony was in reply to Chaim's comment about going for a studio camera rather than a field camera to get the movements he felt he needed.
Reassure yourself - stroke an Ebony
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Re: Hi from NW London
thanks Joanna, decent input from you
and if anyone is wondering about badger in WI, jeff there who runs the outfit has a really good reputation in LF circles
regards
andrew
and if anyone is wondering about badger in WI, jeff there who runs the outfit has a really good reputation in LF circles
regards
andrew