Let's see your gear

This is an old Polaroid camera my Papa gave me a while back. Never got around to getting it working, and probably never will.

Land-cameras are always interesting. It goes well with that couch. :-) I know of a few people that have modified them to use 4x5 large format film.

ATTA BOY

You could still find film for that bad boy online, but this city is dry... I should know I bought the last stock Camera Craft had of 667 film.

Speaking of film. Here's my stash for the summer. Most of it arrived this morning.



In 35mm:
100 rolls of Fuji Superia 100
40 rolls of Fuji Press 400 (same as Superia 400)
20 rolls of Arista EDU 100 (rebranded Fomapan 100)
20 rolls of Arista II 100 (rebranded Agfa APX 100)
20 rolls of Arista EDU 400 (rebranded Fomapan 400)
5 rolls of Kodak 400TX (aka Tri-X)

In 120:
10 rolls of Fuji Neopan 100 Acros
10 rolls of Arista EDU 100 (rebranded Fomapan 100)
10 rolls of Arista EDU 400 (rebranded Fomapan 400)

Misc:
9 packs of Polaroid 600 (which I will be selling soon due to an unfortunate incident that destroyed the Polaroid SX-70)

Still the most reliable and and highest quality storage solution for photographs and it remain so for a very, very, very long time.

You know, when you mentioned how much film you were buying it didn't seem that crazy.

Pictures tell another story

WOW

Does Camera craft have that much film?

Your're an ANIMAL Nando.

I want to order some Arista II 400 (Agfa APX400). There is a good deal on, right now. Unfortunately, I don't think I have enough room left in the freezer.

Just bought a new tripod and ballhead today - Manfrotto 190XPROB legs and Manfrotto 486CR2 head. Looking forward to trying it out in the field, as it's much better then the old timer I was using. My old one broke, and was so unstable, it wasn't even funny. I couldn't get a picture of my Nikon D80 attached, as it's the only one I have.

NICE^^

I really really need to get myself a decent tripod/head.

Congratulations on your purchase. I think that the clip-style locks of the Manfrottos is probably their most attractive feature. I have a Feisol carbon tripod and ball-head. It's really good (especially the ballhead) but I don't particularly like the twist-style locks.

Beautiful tripod. Really nice shots of it too.

I'm not sure if you're used to working with one yet, but beware of the ballhead. With long lenses, if not really tightened it may stay in place for a second, then start slipping, picking up speed quickly when it finally finishes swinging down it's pretty fast.

I'd seen a buddy of mine with a long birding lens leave the head just a little too lose. When the camera finished it's quick tilt down onto one of the legs, I believe the impact either dislodged an element, or opened the lens body at the focus hinge. For the life of me, I can't remember the aftermath. Must have repressed that memory.

Are the leg extensions fastened by the bolts or those quick release "levers"?
When I bought mine, I sat there in the store and debated that for about 20 mins.

I would have loved a carbon fibre tripod for the weight benefits, but they were just way out of my price bracket. For the price, and what I was looking for, I think this is a good combo for me. And yes, the clip-style extension locks are great on this unit.

Thanks for the heads up about the ballhead. I did some research before purchasing and came across this on a few forums. I typically only shoot with my 18-70mm (for now anyway), and don't expect too have any issues with this. But care will need to be given to make sure I tighten things up, especially after having a drink or two. The nice thing is that the head can always be changed out to something different, should I ever get that 600mm dream lense

When I bought my carbon fibre tripod, I found that the weight-savings isn't that much and probably not worth the extra expense. My tripod (without the ballhead) weighs 2.5 lbs according to the Feisol website (but it can take up to a 20lbs load). A similarly-sized aluminium tripod would have only weighed slightly more - perhaps half a pound more or so but perhaps with lower max load capabilities. I feel that the main benefit for carbon is vibration absorption properties. An example where this might be useful is if I put the tripod in the middle of a shallow stream. The carbon would absorb the vibration caused by the running water better than a metal tripod. Of course, the best option for absorption is probably a wood tripod like a Berlebach - those are really nice. I admit that the main reason I went with carbon was for lighter-weight when travelling. That said, I only used it about 3 or 4 times in the last two years. For a rangefinder guy, using a tripod is pretty much like a sin. I'm going to start using it more for my medium format stuff. I'm not too happy about the blur I saw in my MF photos that I just got back - it looks like I can't go much lower than 1/125th with the thunderous mirror-slap on my Arax. It does have a mirror-lock-up feature but then I can't see through the viewfinder. It probably would have been best for me to have gotten something like a Fuji 6x7or 6x9 rangefinder instead.

Nando,

With your Arax, what lens did you have? a standard 80-90?

I have heard people say that the shutter speed "rule of thumb" needs a little tweaking with MF and their HUGE mirrors. That said, I've never really had a problem as long as your shutter speed is at least close to the focal length.

The arax is the Hassy knock off?

Arax is the Hasselbladski - I have the standard Arax (Volna) 80mm f2.8 plus three Carl Zeiss Jena lenses - 50mm f/4 Flektogon, 80mm f/2.8 Biometar, and 180 f/2.8 Sonnar. I used the 80mm Biometar the most. Most of the shots that I wasn't happy with were taken at the midway carnival during the evening and into the night. I used the 80mm Biometar at f/2.8, at 1/60th or at 1/30th with mirror-lock-up. I had 100 ISO Fuji Reala in the camera. I admit, this was a bit optimistic but it was really my first good outing with this camera and wanted to see how long I could go hand held - it looks like 1/125th reliably with the mirror - perhaps 1/60th with mirror-lock-up. I had better luck with the 180mm Sonnar - it is a really big and heavy lens and that may have helped. I took some indoor shots at Bar1 that I thought would turn out pretty bad - I took them wide-open at f/2.8 and at 1/30th with mirror-lock-up and 1/60th without and they actually turned out to be good. Unfortunately, I didn't use the 50mm f/4 very much. The best thing was that I found light-leaks on only 2 of 48 photos and I know that it was because I didn't insert the dark-slide in all the way when removing the backs from the camera. The biggest problem with the Hasselbladski's is light-leaks in the film backs but, luckily, it looks like I have good backs.

An older photo of the kid. Here, the Zeiss 80mm Biometar is missing. It was taken before I got that lens.

Ohhhh, doggy. That makes me even more anxious to get my new kit... *shakes fist*.

What's your new kit?

Ohhhh it's so exciting! But I want to unveil it properly when I actually have it. Give me until Sunday and I'll post it up

I know the secret! At least I think I do. Should be a good kit for you, glad you went for it.

Here's a few of my Cambo 4x5. I've had it for about 5 years now, and used to use it at least 3-4 times a week. I've got to get back into that thing.

The lens is a Schneider-Kreuznach Super-Angulon 120mm f/8 . (they don't make very fast lenses for these cameras. There may be a few faster, but $$$$$$$$$.








And here's one to show the inverted image thru the ground glass. I also put a 35mm slide in the corner to get and idea of the size difference. Please excuse the horrible shot of my backyard. I just wanted and example and the dog wouldn't cooperate.

Yah that thing is the hotness

I looked through a few large format cameras but they were all pretty old ones. I'm quite surprised by how bright the ground glass is.

It's an odd experience the first few times trying to frame a shot upside down and backwards thru a somewhat foggy edged ground glass. That image was taken at a very slow shutter with no light illuminated on the camera. Normally there's no way to see the the image thru the ground glass without a dark hood.
That said, this lens does do alright. Probably because of the shorter focal length than a "normal"lens of 210mm.
The f5.6 lenses that I have tried are an absolute joy. I'm still trying to get back that 240mm 5.6 I had been using quite regularly. For a lens that acts like a 60mm(ish) for a 35 but has the DOF of a 240mm, and almost unlimited minimum focus. What a sweet lens.

Colin,

I wouldn't mind shooting upside down but its not possible with my cameras. If one tries to use geometry for composition and enhancement of the subject, the abstraction helps. You should see how dark the ground glass on my Flexaret is. It's pretty much impossible to use unless your outside during the daytime.

Andrew Anthony,

Saturday has come and gone. Where's your 'new kit'?

It's the white elephant in the room but... why do you keep calling Anthony "Andrew?"