I was at a flea market today and ended up buying a 4X5 system. I got a calumet rail camera, a Schneider 150 f5.6 Symmar-S and a Schneider 65 f8 super-angulon both early '70s (non-multicoated) and a bunch of film holders. Paid $100 for the setup. The rail camera is incredibly heavy, so I'll never get very far from the car with it, but it will be fun to tinker with. The lenses are both synchro-compur shutter models, which I thought was a little unusual.
You can't beat $100 with a stick! And when you get tired of lugging it around, paying for film, waiting to have it processed, etc., you can probably double your investment on eBay.
Congrats. Give me a call sometime if you want to shoot.
Rich
Posted by Mel Ladewig on June 10, 2007 at 11:42 PM
Rich, I'll take you up on that.
Rick, you mean film isn't cheap I thought that without the demand, the film makers would be giving it away. $2+ per sheet + development is going to be hard to swallow. At this point, I don't even have a flatbed scanner or a light table to view the transparencies with. Maybe by this fall I can have my act together. I'll be going to the North Rim, Buckskin Gulch, Zion and Capitol Reef for a vacation outing, and it would be nice to add the 4X5.
Ebay will be your friend! If you use holders, you can get film for less than a buck a sheet. Quickloads are maybe $1.50 - $2.00 depending, but I rarely pay more than that. I mostly use recently expired film and have never had problems. Just look for reputable sellers. Hunt's and Henry's are my two favorites.
As far as viewing, when I first started shooting transparencies, I had no lightbox and instead used my computer monitor. Just pull up a program with a white background, boost up the brightness if necessary, and wa-la. It's rudimentary and not convenient for viewing a lot of film, but it works reasonably well.
Posted by Kalin Wilson on June 11, 2007 at 11:58 AM
Welcome to the dark side, Mel!
I'll second Rick's suggestion of buying expired film on Ebay. I've been favoring quickloads for the convenience, and I can write on them. Pick up a kodak readyload holder, it works for Fuji and Kodak loads, again, off ebay.
I've got a home-made light table and a flatbed scanner (4870) if you want to get together when you have some transparencies.
Have fun!
Posted by Laurent Baig on June 12, 2007 at 2:07 PM
I thought film was light, and digital was dark? mwahahahahaha!
Check ebay for hunt's photo & video offerings, they sometimes offer provia at just over a $1 sheet for _QL_ film. I bought enough for the next couple of years. Of course, I can't afford to have any of it processed now, and there's no room for beer in the fridge ;-)
Have fun, you'll love the large viewing screen :-) No histogram though.
Discussion
7 repliesEnjoy - it's a whole different shooting experience. Be sure to let us know how it's going!
Rich
Rick, you mean film isn't cheap
As far as viewing, when I first started shooting transparencies, I had no lightbox and instead used my computer monitor. Just pull up a program with a white background, boost up the brightness if necessary, and wa-la. It's rudimentary and not convenient for viewing a lot of film, but it works reasonably well.
I'll second Rick's suggestion of buying expired film on Ebay. I've been favoring quickloads for the convenience, and I can write on them. Pick up a kodak readyload holder, it works for Fuji and Kodak loads, again, off ebay.
I've got a home-made light table and a flatbed scanner (4870) if you want to get together when you have some transparencies.
Have fun!
Check ebay for hunt's photo & video offerings, they sometimes offer provia at just over a $1 sheet for _QL_ film. I bought enough for the next couple of years. Of course, I can't afford to have any of it processed now, and there's no room for beer in the fridge ;-)
Have fun, you'll love the large viewing screen :-) No histogram though.