...I'll say it again, whatever you do will be wrong. This is more-or-less everyone's experience with the first LF camera obtained..
Of course, if you're on a limited budget, your list will generally be shorter than that, even after decades of pursuing "the right camera."
The problem isn't camera manufacturers' quality control, it is would-be users' ignorance. People starting out in LF don't know what will satisfy their needs. Some of them theorize obsessively about their requirements, but won't know what they'll find comfortable or unbearable until they get a camera and use it. They find out what they need by trial and error. In addition, needs change over time.Yup. It does seem like alot of it is quality control, the quantity on the market, quality in general, build material, control options etc. I can understand why people would spend $1k plus on a camera, or even $600 plus on a camera.. but I unfortunately cant drop that cash. I think if I built a darkroom and had the ability to see the difference in quality that may happen years from now... but i cant buy once cry once atm.
... even after decades of pursuing "the right camera."
When it comes to Large Format, I'm convinced that there is no "Perfect Camera". It is folly to pursue "the right one" - they are all a compromise.
The best that one can hope for is to find one (or maybe two) that is "good enough"...
...and it really depends on what you want to do with it. I was as dumb and hauled that Toyo-Omega View 45 in its big studio case out into the field...up a hill, off the path....I was younger thenand didn't even realize how silly I was.
So, perhaps, there is one more part to your learning: press cameras are not a "step down" from a view camera; they offer different capabilities. That was the message before all of the butthurt. Your welcome.
I just want to go out and have fun with a camera
The very simple, 75mm focal length, 4x5 pinhole camera made by "The Lens Less Camera Company" was about the most fun I ever had with a camera - any camera of any format!
That's another one that I realize, in hindsight, that I should have kept.
The problem with LF is that there is no perfect camera.
I see where you are coming from .. I guess its just preference.
some people are control freaks, they love to control every aspect of their image making
I wonder if I should have almost started off the search with an "about me" like a classified for a dating app to help find what would work for me!
not a bad idea at all !
I'm kind of split .. you might look in my gallery or website or whatever and see all sorts of weird stuff but I've been doing rigid editorial work and documentary f16.5 4x5 contact printed for archives for decades so my photographic interests are like Jekle and Hyde or is it Heckle and Jeckle ? I gotta be a control freak but when im not Im the opposite, way opposite ...
Click on his name (jnantz) and a bunch of links will show up. Click on the one that says Media Page.Id love to see your work! Is it on here somewhere?
It is very possible, with the complexity of 4x5, to do all your research, believe that you understand everything you need to know, and purchase a 105mm f/5.6 Fujinon NW lens for your 4x5 camera-- and discover that it has roughly zero movements available due to the extremely limited image circle (162mm)-- which, FYI, is the bare minimum to cover a 4x5 sheet of film with zero movements.
You may pick up a 90mm f/5.6 lens, only to discover that A) it's too big to fit in your camera and B) due to the compression on your bellows to reach a mere 90mm, you have roughly zero movements when focused at infinity. If you can focus at infinity.
Big difference, the Angulon covered 9x12cm not 45. The Super Angulon more then covers 45. Two totally different lenses. So you don’t want to confuse people.Probably the latter -- but it's at home and I'm not, at the moment. Definitely not a Super Angulon, nor the larger and more expensive faster version. Any case, it'll easily fit the 4x4 front standard on both my Speed and my Graphic View(s), I just need to make up a board for it to replace the one it came in (proprietary for one of the other big names, don't recall which).
So you don’t want to confuse people.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?