How long did it take you to pare down your large format kit?

GKC · Jan 8, 2022

(Offered here as a companion to the other how long did it take you thread.).

How long did it take you to free yourself from all the superfluous large format paraphernalia you accumulated when you were putting together your perfect kit? Like that tripod that threatened to dump your camera overboard too many times. The old dark cloth that smelled like a Diaper Genie. The backpack that had been dragged through Poison Oak. The cable release that wouldn't. The warped, leaky film holders. All those big heavy landscape lenses you no longer want to sugar ant up and down the mountains?

Sirius Glass · Jan 8, 2022

Easy. On www.graflex.org I contacted a retired Graflex-Graphic repairman who was selling off his collection. We exchanged emails for a while to figure out the best choices for me and I selected a 1938 4"x5" Graflex Model D and a 1953 4"x5" Pacemaker Speed Graphic which he said were the best of his personal cameras. He custom built an adapter plate for the Graflex so that both cameras could exchange film backs and Grafmatic 45s. Then I bought a few extra lenses and Grafmatic 45s, film holders on Large Format Photography Form, a camera show and AUG the next few months. FreeStyle supplied the Jobo 3010 Expert Drum.

GKC · Jan 8, 2022

Sirius Glass said:
Easy. On www.graflex.org I contacted a retired Graflex-Graphic repairman who was selling off his collection. We exchanged emails for a while to figure out the best choices for me and I selected a 1938 4"x5" Graflex Model D and a 1953 4"x5" Pacemaker Speed Graphic which he said were the best of his personal cameras. He custom built an adapter plate for the Graflex so that both cameras could exchange film backs and Grafmatic 45s. Then I bought a few extra lenses and Grafmatic 45s, film holders on Large Format Photography Form, a camera show and AUG the next few months. FreeStyle supplied the Jobo 3010 Expert Drum.

Fred Lustig?

Sirius Glass · Jan 8, 2022

GKC said:
Fred Lustig?

Burt Sanders in Bakersfield California

BradS · Jan 8, 2022

Hmmmm ... some where around here, I have a box full of perfectly good, modern, Rodenstock, Schneider and Fuji lenses in perfectly good, modern, black Copal shutters.
I've not used any of these for at least five years and some, I'm sure I only used a few times....I'm not sure why I haven't sold them.
I guess that I can claim that I've pared down but not followed through to completion.
goals.

grat · Jan 8, 2022

Personally, I'm still on the upswing, although I'm generally pleased with what I *do* have.

AnselMortensen · Jan 8, 2022

Pare down?
What manner of nonsense doth thou speak?
LOL.

otto.f · Jan 9, 2022

I don’t know of any paring down either. Perhaps a bit on the tripod side, I have three now, one of them I swapped for a shorter version so that it fits better in my backpack. But I can’t say I have one too much. I have three 210’s but they all have their own right to stay. I’m not very happy with my ArcaSwiss P1 Classic ballhead, too much of a compromise between price and smooth operation. The RRS I have is much better but I doubt whether a ballhead is the best choice for a LF camera.
How long? I restarted 4x5 in 2018 with a Chamonix F2 for landscape and a year earlier with a Linhof Kardan Color 4x5 for stills at home

GKC · Jan 9, 2022

Consider, if you will the dilemma posed when you have so many boxes of misc. LF "stuff" that you can't find what you remember having for a special project (what did I do with my Kodak No,33 is the question I've been asking myself lately)
Or having so many trays in your darkroom that they create an avalanche hazard for a nearby ski resort? LOL!

otto.f · Jan 9, 2022

GKC said:
can't find what you remember having

I’ve got the opposite: I find sometimes what I didn’t remember having

abruzzi · Jan 9, 2022

You mean I can get rid of some of this stuff?

on 4x5 I’m just reaching equilibrium. I have a few cameras and a half dozen lenses that I will probably sell in the next year or so. Anyone want a Shen Hao?

6x9 I’m still expanding, 8x10 is on hold, and thanks to the person who outbid me on a Plaubel 5x7 yesterday, I haven’t stuck my nose into 5x7 so far.

GKC · Jan 9, 2022

abruzzi said:
You mean I can get rid of some of this stuff?

on 4x5 I’m just reaching equilibrium. I have a few cameras and a half dozen lenses that I will probably sell in the next year or so. Anyone want a Shen Hao?

6x9 I’m still expanding, 8x10 is on hold, and thanks to the person who outbid me on a Plaubel 5x7 yesterday, I haven’t stuck my nose into 5x7 so far.

I've found 5x7 to be a very a nice place to stick my nose!
YMMV of course.

abruzzi · Jan 9, 2022

Yeah, 8x10 has frustrated me. I got into it specifically to do alt contact prints, but shooting it has been frustrating. I was thinking 5x7 might be good for contact prints and maybe not as challenging as 8x10. Maybe I’ll break down and get one eventually.

Sirius Glass · Jan 9, 2022

otto.f said:
I don’t know of any paring down either. Perhaps a bit on the tripod side, I have three now, one of them I swapped for a shorter version so that it fits better in my backpack. But I can’t say I have one too much. I have three 210’s but they all have their own right to stay. I’m not very happy with my ArcaSwiss P1 Classic ballhead, too much of a compromise between price and smooth operation. The RRS I have is much better but I doubt whether a ballhead is the best choice for a LF camera.
How long? I restarted 4x5 in 2018 with a Chamonix F2 for landscape and a year earlier with a Linhof Kardan Color 4x5 for stills at home

I learned the hard way that tripod mass increases as the cube of the distance carried. Once discovered I switched to carbon fiber tripods.

lecarp · Jan 9, 2022

I like having twins or triplets of any important equipment, just in case. This is particularly important when you use rare hard to replace or repair lenses, shutters etc. Plus it provides that comforting Feng Shui sense of abundance.

GKC · Jan 9, 2022

lecarp said:
I like having twins or triplets of any important equipment, just in case. This is particularly important when you use rare hard to replace or repair lenses, shutters etc. Plus it provides that comforting Feng Shui sense of abundance.

I agree---old shutters can go wonky---it's good to have a spare lens just in case, but four lenses in the same focal length is a bit overkill.

GKC · Jan 9, 2022

FWIW, when my muse

takes a holiday, I find that radically paring down my kit to 1 camera, 1 lens, 2 filters and 3 film holders (basically the same kit I started out with) helps me see the possibilities when I'm forced to really investigate the subject instead of making decisions about which lens or rely on multiple exposures.

AnselMortensen · Jan 9, 2022

GKC said:
Consider, if you will the dilemma posed when you have so many boxes of misc. LF "stuff" that you can't find what you remember having for a special project (what did I do with my Kodak No,33 is the question I've been asking myself lately)
Or having so many trays in your darkroom that they create an avalanche hazard for a nearby ski resort? LOL!

Can't find it?
Well...the obvious solution is...
buy another one!

AnselMortensen · Jan 9, 2022

GKC said:
I've found 5x7 to be a very a nice place to stick my nose!
YMMV of course.

Me, too!
And don't forget about 13x18cm!

gordrob · Jan 9, 2022

GKC said:
I've found 5x7 to be a very a nice place to stick my nose!
YMMV of course.

I have found 5x7 to be my favorite kit and now that I have built up a nice Plaubel Peco Profia kit I have to rid myself of the 4x5 Plaubel Profia kit that I have dragged around for a lot of years and that has been a hard thing to do. Not a lot of interest in the Plaubel cameras in this area.

lecarp · Jan 9, 2022

GKC said:
I agree---old shutters can go wonky---it's good to have a spare lens just in case, but four lenses in the same focal length is a bit overkill.

Not necessarily, different lenses of the same focal length can have very different rendering, sharpness, contrast, color reproduction, coverage, etc., etc.

lecarp · Jan 9, 2022

AnselMortensen said:
Can't find it?
Well...the obvious solution is...
buy another one!
[/QUOTE

It's more a situation where the lens looks lonely in its case, it has separation anxiety when Im not using it. So... I buy it an identical twin to keep it company.

lecarp · Jan 9, 2022

In Large Format, bigger is better and more is best!

juan · Jan 9, 2022

So far, I’ve pared down to a Sinar with 4x5 and 8x10 set ups, another 8x10, two 4x5 view cameras, and 5 4x5 Speed and Crown Graphics. Maybe I have a ways to go?

Sirius Glass · Jan 9, 2022

juan said:
So far, I’ve pared down to a Sinar with 4x5 and 8x10 set ups, another 8x10, two 4x5 view cameras, and 5 4x5 Speed and Crown Graphics. Maybe I have a ways to go?

Go to KEH.com and www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/ and search for what equipment is available. A few minutes at either or both will help you recover your True North and you will be back to accumulating more cameras and lenses. I am glad to volunteer to join the intervention to help your return to normal.

How long did it take you to pare down your large format kit?

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