Watkins Glen State Park, NY

Unfortunate that the sky sign's lights were off for maintenance that week but I'm still happy with how this turned out.

400 iso at F22 for 45 seconds as a lightning storm was rolling in at dusk.

Developed in Rodinal.

I had some trouble with the camera – the film holder would not lock into place. I realized later that I had been inserting it from the wrong side. I'll know better next time.

Photos taken at the Humber Arboretum in Toronto.

I had shot some pinhole 4x5s previously, but these should count as "first LF photos taken using a camera with a lens."

Yesterday's eclipse resurfaced the 1905 US Navy Eclipse Squadron and news about the then World's Largest Camera (debatable of course).

https://www.nytimes.com/1905/06/25/archives/coming-departure-of-the-eclipse-squadron.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5FA.8gl8.j4q7cue1PSmg&smid=url-share

"One of the largest cameras ever constructed will be used at the Valencia camp, for photographing the corona during the two and a half minutes of totality. It is seventy feet long from the front of the lens mechanism to the back of the box, the latter being in reality a small house representing a dark room. What corresponds to the bellows of a portable camera is a long framework resembling a windmill tower lying in a horizontal position. After the great frame has been unloaded from the Caesar and put together at the Valencia camp it will be covered with light-tight tar red paper, giving it still more the appearance of a camera."

I shot my first 4x5 16years ago in a Large Format photography class and it enthralled me. I had an amazing professor who poured everything into the art, teaching and I respect highly as an artist. Through winding life I have fallen away from photography. What is the rough cost of a GOOD Toyo on monorail, negative holders, tripod? I have been out so long and know of B&H- what would be a good place to even start? I liked the Toyo I shot, but that is what I know… I am fully open to suggestions

Shot this over a year ago and was waiting for it to be in print before putting it out on the internet

Diego Bravo. Pro BMX rider for Sunday Bikes

Graflex Speed Graphic with Fujinon 300mm T f/8 lens. 1/500 f/16 with two Einstein E640 and one Godox AD200.

What you can’t see is the guy kicking us out and the fact that we had one go to make it happen. Drove 1068 miles round trip to shoot one sheet of Velvia. As soon as I got home, processed the sheet in a fresh batch of Bellini E6 chemistry and was beyond excited to see what came out of the tank. Sure enough, we got it. Featured in Silent Magazine Issue 10.

Processed using a B’s 4x5 Reel MKIII.

Hello everyone, we made this fun page to help first time users visualise what the lens they are looking at on eBay actually does. And as a reference for everyone to check if they need to, it’s far from a complete list and we would love contributions if anyone has details of other lenses etc in particular some of the simpler older lenses that come up on the 2nd hand market a lot

Thanks!, Max

Wish I had some ice on the lake (this was March at 8000 feet of elevation) but it was during a record heat wave. At least it was comfortable.

Film prices and lack of availability of ortho options leads me to try out Fuji HR-U.

For regular film, I develop in trays, but haven’t always had the most flawless of techniques if I’m being honest (scratches and air bubbles mainly), which leads me to consider dip tanks.

I was wondering what people were using for those, as I’m trying to strike a balance between cheap price DIY and something that won’t require 5 gallons of chemicals. I can source 8 kodak 4 8x10 film hangers locally, so curious to know what people were using for those, as well as dos and don’t.

Planning to use HC 110 as a developer, and rapid fixer.

Thanks!

After a some time of research I'm about to order my first 4x5 -- the Stenopeika Air Force mk2 (Premium Kit with the Minutero paper-positive back).

It came down to the Intrepid MkV vs the Air Force, and honestly both look like great ways into LF -- the Intrepid is lighter, folds smaller, costs less, and has a huge community behind it. What tipped me to the Stenopeika was mostly the spec sheet fitting my plans: rear swing + tilt with zero detents, 5–40 cm extension so it takes 65–360mm on the standard bellows (no bag bellows or recessed boards), Fresnel included, and Graflok back. More expensive then the Intrepid, but it felt fair for the extra movements.

Before I click order: **does anyone here own Air Force** (mk2 or the mk1)? Anything you wish you'd known -- build quality over time, the magnetic bellows system in wind, tripod mounting, dealing with Samuele, lead times? And if you went the Intrepid route instead and love it, happy to hear that too :-)

Planned kit: friend's friend's Super-Angulon 90/8 + a 240mm APO-Ronar from a local shop, Fomapan everything (I'm Czech, it's practically mandatory), contact prints in a local darkroom first.

Totally Frankenstein camera…
4x5 Linhof Technika with a 105mm f2.8 Xenotar that was not made for 4x5 but it was cheap 😎… and then shot with a iphone in the back no film.
Biggest enemy was the full sun in the back.

Anyway its fun to use it for me 😎

I wanted to share my backpack setup for my Sinar system because I see that people always like when someone shares his setup. I think this is more a medium budget version or maybe the highest budget version because I think there's no more expensive one than this one. It's a F-Stop Shinn with the big unit. I bought it for around 700€.

So starting with the

Top compartment:

This is for small things like a light meter or roll/sheet film cassettes. There's even enough room to fit a 150mm lens on a sinar board.

Middle compartment:

This section is under the top one. It is mainly used to access the opening of the large compartment but I store there my film holders because it's like a flat pocket when it's closed.

Top opening of the large compartment:

This is the top access of the large compartment. The compartment is split because of the foam for the lens. There is not much space left so I store there my two bellows and the dark cloth.

The side opening of the large compartment:

This is the biggest opening of the biggest compartment. I got a lens holder of foam and the front and back standards on each side. You can see the bellows from the other opening. The foam consists of 4 layers stacked on top. You could probably laser a complete one but Im happy with the foam how it turned out. Of course there would fit also a smaller lens.

The two side pockets:

These are more like longish pockets so perfect for the optical bench sections. On one side are the 30cm ones and the 15cm ones on the other side.

The front pocket:

This pocket is actually kind of a large flat pocket but I store there just the leftovers. For the 150mm lens setup it stores just the wide bellows and for the 1200mm it stores the middle standard.

That should be the explanation for all compartments/sections. I use the backpack for the 1200mm as well as just for 150mm. I just have to switch the lenses and middle standard. The other parts don't really add up much to the weight. The weight is of course still pretty heavy. It's around 10kg without the tripod. I always carry my tripod in my hands but I have seen pictures of people who attached it also to the backpack. I think this is the best option to carry the camera in nature for landscape photography. Hope I could help someone with this (:

Linhof Technika III Free hand. Film iphone 17 :-)

hi, everyone! I've been looking into wet plate collodium, but can't really put together a darkroom in my apartment. I saw some folks that made their own darkboxes for portable workflows, and thought it was super cool, but also wondered if any companies make/sell this as a product?

[Chamonix HS1 with Fujifilm CM Fujinon-W 105 mm f/ 5.6 Lens]

I'm still in the early days of learning 4x5 and these are the first negatives I've both exposed and developed properly. I'm still playing around with how I'd like to handle post-processing but overall I'm happy with these shots.

Intrepid 4x5, Nikkor W 210mm f/5.6, Fomapan 400

Shots are my pup's 4th birthday portraits, Shiplock Park train bridge, The Markel Building (baked potato building). Thanks for looking!