LF Novice

[Joe O'Brien]

Thanks for all of your input guys! This information is really opening my eyes to all the decisions I need to make before I buy.

[stevebrot]

I kept my 8x10 expenses down by limiting myself to 1 lens, 3 holders, a heavy used tripod, a cable release, $5 Agfa loupe, an old Adam's light meter from a swap meet junk box and a home made dark cloth. When I finally added a couple of filters I thought dang, I'm gettin' to be like a real Pro!

Over the years other lenses, light meters, a bunch of film holders and other stuff have joined the kit, but the point I want to make is that you really don't need a lot of gear to get started.

I agree with this approach and it was my initial intent! I posted my comment to show how the expenses kept piling up. This happened despite my good collection of existing gear and my general tendency to being VERY cheap.

I am using the $5 Agfa loupe, but it is 8x and a bit too strong for use with the ground glass. I use a windbreaker jacket as a dark cloth, but that is real cumbersome and too warm now that it is summer. Making a dark cloth is an option...know anyone who has a sewing machine I can borrow? I bought everything used that I could source through that route. The film holders were particularly cheap. They are in excellent condition and I got them for $2 per. I already own a Gossen Luna Lux, so a meter is not on the list. Also on the list of stuff that I already had were various darkroom gear needed for B&W negative processing and my tripod.

The tripod head issue was a real surprise. It did not occur to me that it is not easy to true-up and position a bulky field camera when using a ball head. The replacement head for the tripod (an ancient Bogen 3028 3-D) was picked up used for $15. I was lucky, it is ideal for the task and could have cost a lot more if I had to get an equivalent new. I tried to go used with the lens boards, but after a few false starts with some really rough used stuff, I cut my losses and just bought new.

I splurged in two areas, the camera itself and the roll film option. If I had shopped carefully, I might have been able to get into a used camera at about a third of what I paid for the Chamonix. I could have trimmed the expense by about $500 if I had put off the roll film option and also stuck with a single 150mm lens. Several hundred more dollars might have been saved by deferring the print/scan option and used a service for processing.

So to break it down, here are the minimum essentials:

To Record an Image:

• Camera
• Normal lens with board and cable release
• Something to use as a dark cloth
• Film holders
• Sturdy tripod (nope the $45 Slik video pod does not cut it)
• A true 3-way tripod head
• A reliable light meter or equivalent

If you are over age 40 add:

• Higher power reading glasses than you might already require

Very helpful:

• A fine focus aid such as a loupe
• A daylight changing bag so that you can reload your film holders when needed when access to a darkroom is not possible
• A case or backpack to carry the kit in. I went out the first couple of times with everything in a cardboard box...not recommended.

May eventually be desirable:

• 120 roll-film holder(s)
• Additional lenses
• Polaroid film holder
• Different/better camera
• Gear to allow home processing of negatives/slides
• A means to optically print or digitize negatives/slides (e.g. enlarger with wet darkroom, film scanner, other equipment as might be used for alternative processes)

I ended up buying a lot of things in the last grouping because of my original goals for the LF project. But, that is just me.


Steve

[Joe O'Brien]

Hey, I think there has been a bunch of great advice given on this thread and I was wondering if there is anyway to make this thread easier to find for other newcomers to LF?