vick_vickery

<p>If you really want to do it right, get a view camera and a 210mm or so lens...and get a copy of Norbert Nelsons' "Photographing Your Product for advertising and promotion"; its and old book, but a very good one. After you get the picture on 4x5 you can make it into a digital if you need to.</p>

<p>Glad to see Andy Glover is back at it again on eBay! :-) Dagor 77 comes up with some of the most interesting stuff on the 'Bay!</p>

<p>For several years in the distant past I used a 165mm f/12.5 Wollensak Ex. WA lens (covers 8x10) as my normal lens on a 4x5 Graphic View II with excellent results. Normally it used only the central and sharpest area of the image and when I did need lots of movements, I never even came close to running out of coverage. My 215mm Ilex f/4.8 is a currently much used lens on my 4x5 Cambo which will also cover 8x10. If the lenses are good buys, grab 'em and enjoy!</p>

<p>I've not switched and I'm not gonna! If I switch to anything it'll be a larger sensor...I sometimes start getting a little too much noise on enlargements now.</p>

<p>Justin, the concept is good and the card looks nice, but like the others I think you might vary the models a little more, even to the point of including a family group if you do those. Also, you are using those photos for a commercial purpose...do you have a release on each model?</p>

<p>Since you're shooting at a rehearsal, be sure to take along a tripod (might get in the way at a performance, but you'll have room to spare at a rehearsal)...it could make a lot of difference at the longer end of the zoom.</p>

<p>Sounds like it needs a CLA. I've had very good luck with Carol at <a href="http://www.flutotscamerarepair.com">www.flutotscamerarepair.com</a> and have found her to be very reasonable.</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>A 60/80/150 group of lenses would be a very nice all-around kit. I have a 50/100/150 kit and am well pleased with it. Unless you do a lot of wide-angle work, the 60mm should be fine and the 150mm is a great portrait length, especially if you add a short extention tube for when you want to shoot really tight shots.</p>

<p>The difference between 2.8 and 3.5 is only about a 1/2 stop...I wouldn't let that worry me.</p>

<p>Have fun, shoot lots!</p>

<p>Tip I learned from when I first started doing my own gunsmithing: When taking apart anything with lots of small parts and springs, DO IT INSIDE OF A BOX! Saves alot of time crawling around on the floor!</p>

<p>Waste one roll of film and see just what is happening. It'll be worthwhile.</p>

<p>To put focal lengths in perspective, remember that 34mm is about normal for your DSLR format, thus anything longer is tele, anything shorter is wide. 50mm, for instance, is always 50mm, but its a short tele on your camera.</p>

<p>I have mixed feelings on this due to my business needs; your eye and your knowledge are both as important as your equipment in many instances, but when specialized work comes along which is best done with specialized equipment, the equipment becomes important. For example, in my real estate appraisal work I have several photos attached to each appraisal, but these are "quick and dirtty" shots included for information only (though I like to think that mine are better than the average appraiser's) done with a digital SLR. My other business is architectural photography for demanding customers such as architects, builders, etc., and for these much more time is taken with the shots and they are done with a view camera, converting them to digital images later if required.</p>

<p>Its pretty easy to tie a rope to the top and bottom and sling it across your back. If you want maximum comfort, you could rig us something with a cushioned rifle sling.</p>

<p>Jon, I use a bag bellows with a flat lensboard and both standards in front of the tripod block on my Cambo. You can use a 90mm with a recessed board and a standard bellows, but it limits your movements quite a bit.</p>

<p>Calumet and Linhoff have good reputations; I like and use the old ones from Graphic, though they are only available used at places like eBay, KEH, B&H, and other used dealers. The Calumet holders slip in under the ground-glass like a film holder or can be put on with the ground-glass pannel removed.</p>

<p>Like Chris, I'd guess that what you heard as "eselar" was really "D.S.L.R.", or Digital Single Lens Reflex...a camera with interchangeable lenses where you look into the finder window from the back of the camera and actually see through the lens, so "what you see is what you get". Also, I agree with him that some reading is in order...go to your library and get some books on basic photography; it doesn't matter if they are about film photography, the terminology and basic principals haven't changed; for example, a "fast lens" is simply one that opens to a larger aperature, therefor allowing more light to reach the film (or digital sensor) than with a slower lens. What is a little confusing is that small aperature numbers, such as f/2.8 are actually larger openings, and therefor "faster", than larger aperature numbers such as f4.5.</p>

<p>Read a little, look at the offerings at your camera stores and big-box stores, and come back here for clarification on things that confuse you! :-) Many of the community colleges offer photography courses that are worth looking into, especially after you have the basic knowlege from the library books.</p>

<p>You must have an adapter, readily available on eBay or at most retailers, to go between the lens and the body; with the adapter in place they work just fine. My favorite portrait lens is a Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 (35mm equiv. = 100mm) usually used from wide open to two or three stops down, depending on how much depth of field I want. The bokeh of this lens is very nice.</p>

<p>Harry, as long as your P&S will easily feed back the exposure data it could certainly be used...once you have one f/stop-shutter speed combination for a good exposure, you can easily convert that to any stop or speed you want to work with, i.e., f/16 at 1/125 is the same as f/8 at 1/500, or f/32 at 1/30, etc. I do think, though, that you would be better off with a good hand-held meter...it would be faster and easier than having to reason out the changes each time.</p>

<p>I remember a time...! I used to use Graphics and TLR's for news and wedding work...it was the normal equipment back in the 50's and 60's, though toward the end of the '60's you saw a lot fewer press cameras, and a lot more 'blads and 35mm SLR's; I guess folks were getting richer! :-) I used to prefer Yashica TLR's over the Rolei's because they were cheaper...if you started having a problem with one you ceremoniously held it at arms length and dropped it into a trash can instead of paying for repairs...you could afford new Yashica easier than you could afford a repeat of the problem!</p>

<p>Actually, Matt fully answered your question...if the photos are to be used in the future for any commercial purpose, you need a release signed by each person in the photo or by parents/guardians in the case of minors; if not, you don't need any model's releases.</p>

<p>Disclaimer: I am not an attorney and am not offering any legal advise, just what I have been told thru the years; if you think this might really become an issue, get qualified legal advice! Also, having a model's release is pretty much NEVER wrong.</p>

<p>Chuck, as Bob said you will need a recessed board and a Bag Bellows for that lens; if you move both standards in front of your tripod block you should be able to work with the standard recessed board...at least my Cambo does, but it is very close!</p>

<p>David Odess is a member of this board and has a very good reputation as a Hasselblad Technician...you might want to eMail him.</p>

<p>Camera Eccentric (<a href="http://www.cameraeccentric.com/info.html">www.cameraeccentric.com/info.html</a>) has a lot of info on B & L lenses, although I only saw a VIIa as early as the 1902 book, but it might be a start for you.</p>

<p>I use a Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 on my Olympus DSLR regualrly via an adapter...works great as a portrait lens in particular with its wide aperature/shallow depth of field and 100mm equivalent length.</p>