I'm at a happy place

I've a really nice outfit. And I've spent very little, usually buying an outfit, selling most, and keeping many items nearly for free.
Wista 4x5: 135 Xenar and 210 Caltar HR (Topcor).
(Ok, I have to admit drooling over a Nikkor-W 105mm yesterday. But that's all. Just drooling. Honest.)
Eastman 2D 8x10: 240 Caltar HR, 450 Nikkor M, B&L Protar VII 13/18/23
A nice Fuji 4x loupe for focusing. Very sharp and relatively inexpensive.
Good meters -- Spotmeter V, 308BII, & Studio Master.
And I recently re-arranged the darkroom for easier work.

Probably the only thing I wish I had was a flash sync on the Protar's Volute shutter.
Perhaps a box extension for the front so as not to pull the bellows so far with either
the Nikkor or Protar 23" cell.

If there were something special, even if just an inexpensive convenience, what would you add to an outfit?
What for you makes shooting even more of a pleasure -- or just takes some of the work out of it?

A big, thick darkcloth.

Perhaps a lens board adaptor of some sort for the 2D which would let you mount some of the lenses on boards to fit the Wista, so as to use them on both cameras.
+1 on the darkcloth, doesn't have to be thick IMHO, or expensive. Go down to your local JoAnn's and buy a yard or two of dark fabric. If you want to get really fancy get some white muslin or similar and sew them together. (very helpful in hot weather).
Even cheaper is a dark XXL tee-shirt. Put the neck part over your head and stretch the body around the back of the camera. Get one with whatever number of x's are needed to fit the camera.

It might be a good idea to buy some film.

just to fill up a freezer?

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Towards the end of every long photographic trip, esp. those involving mountains or a great deal of urban stomping, my mind (deliriously) turns to thoughts of carbon fibre tripods, and filling my 5x4" backpack with helium... So I'm thinking 'an assistant' would put me in a happy place...

Marc!

Film, definitely. You didn't say anything about holders - you'll need film holders. I just picked up a grafmatic and will see how I like that. If it works out it's a lot more compact way to carry six sheets than three conventional holders so that will help.

If you plan to shoot B&W you'll want colored filters, either ones to fit the largest size lens you plan to use and the correct adapter rings for all your smaller lenses, or else square filters and a proper holder. If you plan to shoot color you'll need different filters, but they're often less essential, especially for color neg. Maybe a polarizer. For color transparency probably a warming filter for open shade and maybe the correct filter for tungsten light if you plan to shoot in that.

I personally don't like the "big heavy dark cloth." I have one, or had one*, a Zone VI "horse blanket." I replaced it with a BTZS Focusing Hood which I like about ten times better, maybe more. I tried a black tee shirt and found it ok in a pinch but far inferior to the BTZS.

*It was dirty so I washed it - who knew the thing would practically disintegrate in the wash shedding black fabric dust all over my other clothes? Thankfully they were fine with another washing. Drying the thing coated the dryer too, which was fine after vacuuming. I think the cloth can be patched where it came apart a bit and still used, sort of. I might eventually get another somewhat like it for studio use if I set up a studio, but for outdoors, the BTZS is far superior, for me. YMMV

Oh, I'd want a wider lens. I use my 90mm Angulon a lot. But that depends very much on your subject matter and style.

I didn't talk about holders. In 4x5 I have more than enough.
But just 7 for 8x10, and they're old wood ones.
They are still good, but they are also heavier than the newer plastic ones.
I have a modest sized film changing tent for 4x5 but it's really not big enough for 8x10 with ease.
I missed the jumbo fs post last night. Bummer.
So lately I've been using the darkroom for loading the holders.
While I prefer the bag/tent, when it's warm out my hands will sweat some,
so the darkroom with extra holders seems the best/safest way to load them.

I have an adequate dark cloth. A separate one for 8x10 might be a nice idea.
I could use my Wisconsin Badgers red sweatshirt, but I wouldn't want to *damage* it.
In that light, this might be a better application for an Ohio State sweatshirt.

The filter situation is good. Interestingly I find myself leaning toward a light orange or yellow-orange in most
cases, and occasionally red. Sometimes a light yellow. But seldom the standard medium Y2 yellow.

Recently got the adapter board, but not to share lenses. More to save space/weight in the 8x10 case.
So the only lens on a board of its own is the Protar. Nikkor and Caltar are on wista-type boards.
Unfortuantely the Wista does not have enough bellows draw for eve 240mm.
It's a reach, except *maybe* @ infinity. 210 looks like the practical limit.
(Maybe I could build an extension box for 4x5 cameras so that they might use the 450? Just a thought.)

Film, always. I miss APX100. And Plus-X. sniff.

Thanks, all.

Oh, and it's nice to see that I'm not the only one who wears a hat.

CollinB said:

Oh, and it's nice to see that I'm not the only one who wears a hat.

Click to expand...

The hat in the image was a gift from my fiance, who loves hats. She was also responsible for re-kindling my interest in photography (along with the demise of Kodachrome - I was in the midst of shooting up a bunch of Kodachrome in 2010 when we got together) because she's such a huge fan of art in general, so I thought using an image of myself wearing it as my profile shot here was appropriate.