Foray into Large Format
Recently I got my hands on a Linhof Color Kardan 4×5 camera on the cheap. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at large format for a while now, and it was a case of the right price at the right time, so I took the plunge. Unfortunately the camera was just that, however: just the camera. What I didn’t really appreciate at the time (but I do now) is how much else you need to put together a full large format kit. After weeks of scrounging, however, I finally have a more or less complete setup and am ready to take some pictures. :-) Here’s the full accounting to date:
Linhof Color Kardan 45s monorail camera body (c. 1975 or so): $50
Bogen/Manfrotto 3021 tripod with 3030 pan/tilt head: $60
Film holders, darkroom supplies, and various odds and ends: $70
Caltar II-N 135mm f/5.6 lens + shipping: $350
Ilford HP5+ 4×5 film (25 pack): $25
Grand total to date: $535
Ouch.
So it got a bit more expensive than I originally planned. But on the bright side, I had a lot of fun doing the scavenger hunt for all of the parts (and I could have spent a TON more money buying everything new). Craigslist is awesome like that.
So tonight I did my best to block off all of the light coming into my bathroom and loaded up my film holders. It was actually quite a bit easier than I had anticipated. The film loading that is. Darkening up the backroom not so much. I was amazed how much light leaked in though my flimsy brown-paper-bag-over-the-window job. There was also a bit of light leaking in through the door jam (I did block the bottom with a towel). So yeah… I’m hoping it didn’t fog my 400-speed film too much…. Well, I’ll find out soon enough. 🙂
Now all I have to do is get my butt up in the morning and find some subjects to shoot.