View camera (Page 2): Good reply !ty sir...

eskimoky

Good reply !ty sir

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

rpavich wrote:

Here is my division of digi and film.

100% film

0% digital

I don't shoot digital, I'm not interested. One day that may change if my ability or finances won't allow a darkroom or the cost of developing and printing with a print house but for now...all is well.

What makes you think digital is less expensive or challenging??

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

I loved shooting with a view camera - you really are forced to learn photography using a view camera. And no matter how good digital cameras are, some of my best images were with the view camera. I no longer have the time - nor a darkroom - to get back into that. We also used to have a good local camera store that had sheet film and supplies, etc. No longer.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

eskimoky wrote:

Hi I just got a smoking deal on a beseler universal 45 and a cambo view camer with a 150 Mm lens with a copal shutter at a thrift store ,both look immaculate! I love my digital pentax's but the idea of manually setting up each pic and using composition big time is very appealing to me,I will now dust off my medium format cameras as well as my 35mm film cameras,now the question is,how do you Hogg's divide your time between digital and film?

It all depends on what you enjoy doing most.

ELNikkor

I have a 1902 Kodak Graflex with a pristine 7 inch brass lens. I bought some Kodak Tri-X for it awhile back, still thinking about taking some portraits with it...

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Mine is probably 50/50. I use 4x5, 2-1/4x2-1/4, 2-1/4x2-3/4, and 35mm.
--Bob

eskimoky wrote:

Hi I just got a smoking deal on a beseler universal 45 and a cambo view camer with a 150 Mm lens with a copal shutter at a thrift store ,both look immaculate! I love my digital pentax's but the idea of manually setting up each pic and using composition big time is very appealing to me,I will now dust off my medium format cameras as well as my 35mm film cameras,now the question is,how do you Hogg's divide your time between digital and film?

Cheapshot Loc: California.

100% digital, 0% film. Forty years of film and chemicals was enough!

wildconc2001 Loc: Chicagoland

Even if you are a serious experienced photographer, you are getting started in a very rewarding kind of image taking, but the study and expense of using the equipment is extensive. Learning to meter and expose properly requires excellent equipment, light meter, filters etc. and a lot of experience. The darkroom work is essential because most prefer to develop each sweet of film independently from the others. I used mine for 30 years and made some wonderful images and loved using it, but
one must be ready for a learning curve that's a bit more than might be expected.

Al Beatty Loc: Boise, Idaho

Hi,
You might consider a specialized back for your view camera to mount a digital camera like the one I found on eBay. It's for a Nikon DSLR but the backs are available for other camera brands as well. The backs are fun to use (a friend has one) but impossible to use for anything but still-life-type shots. Here is the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-DF-D4-D7000-DSLR-SLR-Digital-Back-Adapter-For-4x5-Large-Format-Camera/183710930906?hash=item2ac60657da:g:QggAAOSwux5YM6bG. Basically the "back" allows the photographer to use the view camera lens/bellows on a DSLR. Take care & ...

Bob Werre

I attended Brooks institute in 69' where the 4 x 5 view camera was a requirement for the first couple of classes. A lot of guys who thought they were hot-shot Nikon guys, & Harry Hassablad guys bit the dust during that time. Then after getting my first job in a catalog studio much work was shot using a 11 x 14 Deardorff camera. Generally it did have a 8 x 10 back on it. There were wooden 'slides' in the back so you could shoot 4 4 x5's on one sheet, or two 5 x 8's or even two 4 x 10's. Try and keep all that straight was about half the work! My 8 x 10 Cambo was the last large film camera I sold. I still have a 8 x 10 Polaroid processor--I imagine that's next to useless though.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

eskimoky wrote:

Good reply !ty sir

Here's my rig …

I have the Beseler 4x5MX in my darkroom … great machine. I also have a 23C with Color Head.

Calumet 4x5 on Bogen 3050 Tripod

Bob Werre

I started out with a Burke and James view camera which was very close to the Calumet (which was actually a Kodak camera originally). The B&J had red bellows and red knobs. After a year or so, when guys dropped out, lot's of those cameras could be had fairly cheaply. There are probably 1/4 million of them in basements and garages today!

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Bob Werre wrote:

I started out with a Burke and James view camera which was very close to the Calumet (which was actually a Kodak camera originally). The B&J had red bellows and red knobs. After a year or so, when guys dropped out, lot's of those cameras could be had fairly cheaply. There are probably 1/4 million of them in basements and garages today!

Here's my B&J 5x7 with red bellows, but - not red knobs … oh, well! … can't have everything, Bob ….

Bob Werre

Yes B&J made some fine looking cameras of wood. Right now I have a Ansco 5 x 7 in my lobby area that I'm about ready to sell for a widow lady. My B&J was called the Orbit. Later on they produced a slightly larger version called the Saturn which was all gray body+bellows. I don't know what the marketing guys were smoking but the names were sort of out there! Their high end view camera series was called the Grover, I think--Grover Cleveland??
BTW, I also had a Beseler MCRX enlarger that I later added a color head to. I dragged that enlarger to several places around the country. Later I bought a second unit. I sold one via ebay--I sort of built a phone booth for it then sent it by freight truck.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Bob Werre wrote:

Yes B&J made some fine looking cameras of wood... (show quote)

Yes, they sure did, Bob … I do treasure mine!!! … Don't know if this one has a name - I'll check. … Just reads B&J View Camera on the front plate. Probably, if it were a Grover or Orbit - it'd say, on it - right?

The Beseler MCRX was a motorized 8x10 - wasn't it? … I'll bet you had a pretty high ceiling to use that!