Just purchased my first LF kit. Any comments?

<p>I've added a couple of LF books to my Amazon wishlist. Maybe a family member will pick one up for me for xmas. Anyway...</p>

<p><a href="http://tinyurl.com/2dt25dj">http://tinyurl.com/2dt25dj</a></p>

<p>I hope the price is ok, it certainly seemed good to me, considering there are some extras like a nice Minolta spot meter, tripod, case, and included film holders. Any comments?</p>

<p>I'd just like to hear about 'stuff' you really like about your LF set, things you think are really nice to have, etc. I have a good mix of digital and film cameras, both 35mm and MF (Bronica), SLRs and rangefinders. I promise I'm not a collector - intentionally. :-)</p>

<p>Kelly</p>

<p>That's a very nice set. Personally I would add a Schneider Super-Angulon 90mm in any version, depending on budget. I have the f8 which I bought for under $200. And film, of course.... I found I never took a lot of large format photos until I bought a box of expired B&W and started developing myself, because I could take as many photos as I wanted without worrying about cost. If I wanted to bracket exposures, experiment with radical movements, anything at all, I didn't do it at $8 a sheet (developed) but at $0.65 a sheet I was much more creative.</p>

<p>Very nice kit, Kelly, and one that will serve you well for a long time. One of the best things about the Cambo cameras is that they are modular machines with easily interchangeable bellows, backs, etc. If you do decide to add a wide angle as was suggested above, note that a 90mm will work on a flat board if you put both standards in front of the tripod block. If you want to use the camera's movements to the fullest, though, you will still need a bag bellows and should also consider a short rail to allow you easier access to the ground glass without poking youself in the chest all the time! The 90mm lens can be used with the standard bellows and a recessed board, but that setup severely limits the movements on a Cambo. My Cambo has proved to be a fine camera for my use in architectural photography and I've been well pleased with it; I have a large outfit with bag, standard, and long bellows and rails since I use lenses ranging from 65mm to 445mm. By the way, that 6 3/8" square lensboard is very nice, too...you can mount very large lenses on it and it lends itself well to adapters for smaller boards. I use a Super Graphic at times for a field camera when I know I'm not going to need movements as great as the Cambo allows and have most of my lenses mounted on the small boards for that camera, using them on the Cambo via a home-made adapter board...works out very well.</p>

<p>Very cool!<br>

You will need a loupe for focusing. I agree with Jody that a nice wide angle lens is a worthy accessory. </p>

<p>You might want to check out the Large Format Photography forum...</p>

<p>http://www.largeformatphotography.info</p>

<p>Peter</p>

<p>Sounds like you got a good deal. As far as lenses go, the 210 is a good all purpose choice. If you need a wide lens, the 90, as mentioned above, is the most useful. Wait until you see that you need it before getting one. A 135 is very useful as well. If you happen to be nearsighted you don't need a loupe, just look thru your bare eyes. </p>

<p>I was wondering how focusing was going to work on a surface like ground glass. I've never used a camera the scale of a LF. My Bronica has focusing aids of course like 35mm. </p>

<p>I have two loupes that I use to view slides and whatnot, are they the same kind you would use for LF focusing?</p>

<p>I will want a wide angle but it's not a priority now. Just learning how to manipulate the camera and making some polaroids will do for now. :-)<br>

I don't have a wet darkroom so I plan to scan my negs, but I do develop my own film some but I guess I'll need a special tank to develop 4x5. I just have the larger Paterson film cylindrical tanks for 35mm and MF stuff.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the help and advice so far! Can't wait to get started!</p>

<p>I use 3.50 magnifying glasses from the $0.99 store. Works better than a loupe, for me, because of the field of view.</p>

<p>If you are thinking of using Polaroids in the Polaroid holder in the kit, then you can't because they don't make them anymore... unless you get old stock. A modern instant solution is to use a Fuji or Polaroid holder for the currently produced Fuji instant films. Fuji part numbers are PA-45 for the 4x5 stuff and PA-145 for the slightly smaller stuff. I'm not sure what the Polaroid versions are. Its not really that cheap so you are probably better off getting cheap B+W and developing yourself. Unless you really want instant feedback.</p>

<p>You can use a slide loupe for focusing but I find them too big and cumbersome. I have a small Horseman 7x one. There are lots of cheap loupes around and you can even make your own.</p>

<p>If you don't already have a darkroom or a changing bag, then you need one for loading film. Or you can use Fuji Quickloads with the Polaroid holder.</p>

<p>A 210 lens is a little long and I would personally go for a 135 or even 150 as a next lens. 90 is a pretty wide view and the difference to the 210 will probably leave a hole in the middle. 150 lenses are usually very cheap since they are the normal lens for the format. You could probably get one for about $100.</p>

<p>Books on LF photography are valuable, even to some of us older LF users. I prefer the more technical <em>View Camera Technique </em>by Leslie Stroebel, although the many others are also good. A preview of edition 7 (1999) of the Stroebel book is at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=71zxDuunAvMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=view+camera+technique+by+leslie+stroebel&source=bl&ots=8SLVmSNWRY&sig=GeIvZjv-7JOwxuFugOtZRBmoQQo&hl=en&ei=gAz1TKfNJ8KenAft4dWCCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false">http://books.google.com/books?id=71zxDuunAvMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=view+camera+technique+by+leslie+stroebel&source=bl&ots=8SLVmSNWRY&sig=GeIvZjv-7JOwxuFugOtZRBmoQQo&hl=en&ei=gAz1TKfNJ8KenAft4dWCCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false</a>. Earlier and much less expensive used editions are available from many online booksellers, and cover all but the latest equipment and details. They should serve almost as well.<br>

</p>

<p>You will want to have a fresnel lens along with the ground glass just like your smaller format cameras have. The fresnel will spread the light evenly across the gg and eliminate the dark corners and edges with a plain ground glass.<br>

When you focus a view camera critically you are focusing on the image forming layer of the ground glass. That is the ground side of the glass which is normally facing the lens. Your loupe is placed on the top of the gg or the frenel and the loupe can be quite a distance from the grain side of the gg when the loupe is flat on the gg or fresnel. The idea is to use a focusing loupe and to focus the eyepiece of the loupe so that the grain of the ground side of the gg is in sharp focus. Then you are focusing on the actual imaging forming layer at the image plane rather then the thickness of the gg and fresnel away from it. To focus the loupe on the grain side just take the lens off the camera. Point the camera at a light source. Place the loupe on the gg or fresnel and focus the eyepiece till the grain of the gg is sharp. Then put the lens on and you are ready to go. Bear in mind that as the day goes on your eye might tire and you should periodically recheck to see that the grain side of the gg is still in sharp focus with the loupe. Plus you might accidentily change the position of the eyepiece.<br>

If you get an asperic element loupe it will hold focus across the entire image area of the loupe. A non-aspheric can not be critically sharp at both the center and the edge of its field.</p>

<p>You got a good deal there - congratulations. I take it you won't be mountaineering with it. It looks like a fairly heavy bit of kit. </p>

<p>Well everything has come in today and I figured out how to get the camera assembled. I got the tripod yesterday (Bogen 3035). That will quickly be sold once I determine my Gitso legs are enough to hold everything steady. I have that plus a RRS BH-55 ballhead I think should do the job. I've already ordered a better locking plate for the camera but I've got one to tied me over until it comes. Now I only need to load some film figure out how to use it. Too bad the Polaroid back isn't really any use to me. I have Fuji polaroid stuff but it won't fit this mechanism.</p>

<p>Decent lens for this camera? I'll need a lens board but I've got a couple in my watch list already for a #0 shutter.</p>

<p>http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKON-Nikkor-W-135mm-5-6-Lens-4x5-View-Cameras-GRAFLEX-/200551606002?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item2eb1cea6f2</p>