new member from manchester

[Muzamil Choudhury]

Hi i am based in Manchester and new to Large format. I have very little experience in the darkroom and also capabilities...but have done allot of online learning. Now i need a camera... something for the road and off road,but i dont tend to go far into the sticks. i like buildings,derelicts,people,places and moving life. I fancy a sinar p2 . but hear its heavy. that doesnt bother me too much. but just need some advice and i guess a one to one on learning how to use and produce.

thanks

muz

[Paul Mitchell]

Welcome to the forum Muzamil and to the world of LF!

I'm sure others will have suggestions for a first camera but my suggestion would be to go for a Speed Graphic or MPP. Rugged, modestly priced and camera's that can easily be sold on when you feel like upgrading.

Paul

[Muzamil Choudhury]

Hi Paul

thanks for your reply i will checkout those cameras. Your work is really inspiring I checked it out on flickr

I wish you all the best

muz

[Steven]

Hello Muz

Like you, I'm a relative newcomer to LF, and sadly my budget doesn't stretch to Ebony, Linhof etc.

I'm very pleased with the results I've had with a second hand Wista which cost a few hundred pounds. It's wooden, so it's very light and easy to carry.

All the best, and please post a few images from Manchester.

Steven

[Thingy]

Hi Muzamil

My first foray into LF was with an MPP Mk V camera - one that I now know was a prototype model & never released for general sale! I bought it as part of an outfit for £500 and sold it several years later for £500!

The camera is essentially a box with bellows ideally offering some movements. The movements you need depends upon what you intend to photograph. When I decided to buy a modern LF camera I started buying the lenses before I bought the camera..... ...as I have done on so many previous occasions. I used the MPP for experimental work and basically used home made glass plates. My inspiration came from a book on spectroscopy - from the days when if you wanted a spectrometer you had to make your own. The book, dating from 1910, explainned how to obtain colour plates which involved a complex process - which I never wish to repeat! I was just interested in the fact that in 1910(primitive) colour photography was possible.... and it predated Kodak! I am totally wedded to buying sheet film now. So much easier.

I only vaguely know Manchester - one of my distant relatives was Head Gardener at Wythenshawe Park in the late 1930s....