Where to from here.....

[Ben]

Hi guys

I am after some advice on my future direction in purchasing photography gear. I have a D70 and kit lens as well as a 70-300ED. I take primarily landscape photos an am considering trying my hand at film. I may have the opportunity to pick up a Linhof 4x5 fairly cheaply but was also considering medium format. The other option is to invest money in another digital body/lenses. I don't really envisage trying to make a living out of taking photos, more a hobby but the technical side of film interests me, a bit of a challange I guess. I'm sure their are heaps of you out there with medium/large format experience. Can you advice of the pros/cons of going back to film, is it a whole lot of trouble nd expense? Is large format the go or is medium format more flexible? Also can anyone give me a rough idea of costs involved in setting up a basic landscape kit in each format.

Your thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ben

[radar]

Ben,

if you want to try your hand at film, get yourself a second-hand Nikon film body and start shooting some Velvia 50. That will give you a taste for film without much hardware investment. Get yourself the 17-35 f2.8 and you have a great lens for landscape on film and to use on your next/current digital body. If you want something cheaper, get the Nikkor 20mm f2.8, great lens, very light and great on film and digital. Let your feet do the zoom

I've just borrowed a Nikon film camera from a friend and that's what I'll be doing for now. I got a second-hand 20mm and I was lucky enough to also borrow a 17-35. I'll be interested in seeing responses you get.

Let us know what you end up doing.

André

[gstark]

Ben,

Quite a few here come from a film background, while a few others have "progressed" on to film.

A couple of points for your consideration:

Cost. Film is not going to get any cheaper, and it's going to get harder to find. I suspect the MF and LF will become relatively easier to locate than 35mm over time (and I have no idea of what that might entail)

And what facilities do you have for loading LF film into a DDS? A darkbag will suffice, but you need to know this before moving into this medium.

Processing: see cost.

Do you know how to do your own processing? It can be quite fun, and can help reduce the cost of the medium.

Hardware: MF can be found quite inexpensively if you look around. The same is probably not true for LF.

LF is a very deliberate medium within which to shoot. You know you're making photos when you focus directly onto the groundglass, upside down, and you then have to deal with getting good composition with an upside down image.

[radar]

Ben,

I was on the Luminous landscape forums and if you look at their for sale section, that will give you an idea of prices for some of the gear you are talking about. Their MF section also seems pretty active.

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?act=idx

HTH

André

[Reschsmooth]

To add my 2p, I would recommend a 645 format camera for an intro (Bronnie, Mamiya, etc) for the sole advantage is that size sits somewhere between 35mm SLR and 6x7 MF (ok, closer to the latter, but much smaller). This will give you a good taste of what MF can offer and is quite inexpensive.

You can get away with a body, 120 back, non-metered viewfinder and 75mm lens (similar in perspective to a 50 mm on 35mm) for under $500. You can then get a 50 or 40 mm WA lens for about $200 or so. You can then go for a metered prism finder for a tinkle over $300 and you have a full system with 2 lenses (for landscape and portrait), metered for about $1,000. Spare another $100 for another 120 back and you can go out with B&W and colour ready to go.

120 film is not a lot more expensive than 35mm film, although processing is more if you outsource.

All of that said, if you had more cash to throw around, you can look at the medium format rangefinder options (Mamiya 6x7 or Bronica 645) - not as cheap as MF SLR (although Mamiya is still brand new) but very portable.

The other option which I have very little idea about is the Hasselblad X-Pan - I think it is based on 35mm film format and isn't cheap (over $1,000 for body + lens).

[Ben]

Thanks for the advice everyone. My cousin has a linhof technika which I can have if I replace the bellows. He also shoots with one and has his own darkroom and 20+ years of experience in processing film. My dilema was whether to get involved in this format now or concentrate what little dollars I have into getting some good glass for my D70 with a view to upgrade it down the track. The technical challange of film is starting to really appeal to me and I figure if I can get a foot in the door cheaply with some free guidance I'd be a mug not to give the 5x4 format a go.

Does this sound resonable?

Ben

[radar]

Ben,

I certainly don't know very much about large format photography but I have found the two articles below an interesting read. They may help you in your decision.

http://www.llvj.com/essays/4x5.shtml

http://www.llvj.com/essays/LF-Con.htm

It is a labour of love so if it suits your style, you'll love it. I suspect that you will still be using a dslr for those times that you need to travel light. Going one way doesn't discount the other.

Let us know of your decision,

cheers,

André