Hi from NW London

[Chaim Frankel]

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!

[John Hamlen]

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

[Paul Mitchell]

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

[Chaim Frankel]

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!

[Joanna Carter]

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.

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

At uni they have a Toyo field camera but I found that my usage of the movements was primarily based on guesswork.

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?

[John Hamlen]

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.

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 different

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"!

[Chaim Frankel]

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

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!

I hope you are not thinking that movements need to be calculated?

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?

I'm definitely getting bored with the anemic-youths-with-blank-expressions aesthetic!

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.
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!

[Joanna Carter]

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!

Donate? Don't you know I've got Yorkshire parentage?

No, but I do like the option of seeing exactly what I am dialling in

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.

and the Sinar has a DOF calculator which may or may not be useful. Have you ever used it?

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 there

Can I ask you; do you understand how movements work yet?

[Patrick Dixon]

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!

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!

If you ask the developer they'll return it with your processed film, and you can probably beg an empty from them too.

[Andrew Plume]

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

[Andrew Plume]

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

[Andrew Plume]

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

[Andrew Plume]

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

[Joanna Carter]

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...

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.

...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

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.

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.

[Andrew Plume]

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