Possibly wanting to get into LF...

It looks good Carl. I await with expectation.
 
well you wont get into LF any cheaper than that. Lack of any description is a little off putting but it has to be worth a punt. It will be interesting to see what it goes for.
 
Carl Hall said:
Oh I am :D
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yay :) bid snipers for the win! ;) good price. just check the bellows dont leaklight, take the lens plate off and stick a torch through it in a dark room, you will see any pinholes easier and check the lens for mushrooms.
 
Also it is worth modding the lens board to take a wista board, the 171 lens board enormous and you need one for each lens you want to use.
 
Just paid for the camera so hopefully it'll be here next week sometime :D Film arrived too yesterday so that's awesome. Just need to find some double dark slides, a loupe, a dark cloth and a doohicker that will let me mount it on a tripod (and then anything else that I forgot...)

AshleyC said:
yay :) bid snipers for the win! ;) good price. just check the bellows dont leaklight, take the lens plate off and stick a torch through it in a dark room, you will see any pinholes easier and check the lens for mushrooms.
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Ahh that's a good way of checking, I'll do that when it arrives :) Is there a decent way to fix bellows or do people generally just stick a bit of black tape over any small holes?

steveo_mcg said:
Also it is worth modding the lens board to take a wista board, the 171 lens board enormous and you need one for each lens you want to use.
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Thanks Steve, do you have a link explaining how to do this by any chance? :) I'm not sure when I'll get another lens so it won't be too important right away (although I'm not sure what length lens comes with the camera...), but it's something I'll add to the to-do list :)
 
Carl Hall said:
Sounds like a greaet deal, although I'm not sure if a field camera would be better suited for me as it's mostly for landscape work? I've just googled where it is (Braintree is an interesting place name!) and it seems to be about a 7 hour round trip (not sure if you can get stuff delivered off gumtree?)
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I bought a motorbike unseen from gumtree last year, though I was able to streetview the address given to me and confirm the houses in the background of the bike shots were the same and had a friend who worked nearby pop over to check it out. Very much buyer-beware but you can get bargains, much of the time because other potential buyers are put off due to the same reasons! Maybe a local member could pop over and check it out (I'm aware that you no longer need this, posting in case anyone else is thinking of it :)).

abbandon said:
I'm not a Porta fan ...
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*swoon* *rallies* how ... how can you say that? *swoons again*

Nice bit of ebaying there, Carl (y)
 
Carl Hall said:
Ahh that's a good way of checking, I'll do that when it arrives :) Is there a decent way to fix bellows or do people generally just stick a bit of black tape over any small holes?
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Bit of black tape from smiths :) If the seam is loose then some impact adhesive does the trick. You might want to track down a copy of Ansel Adams "the negative" and "the camera". I consider them my bibles for all things LF.
 
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Idly browsing because I really don't want to buy another camera right now - perhaps someone could advise whether this is as much of a bargain as it looks? Seller doesn't want to post but I'm sure between us we can make suitable arrangements if someone here was tempted :)
 
Carl Hall said:
ahh that's a good way of checking, I'll do that when it arrives :) Is there a decent way to fix bellows or do people generally just stick a bit of black tape over any small holes?
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Another one which works for the "pinhole" type of holes you can get on the folds is to use the latex type fabric paint - it's flexible enough to not flake off when the bellows is collapsed/opened. You just need to keep the bellows open until the paint dried thoroughly... i've even used it to repair the fabric shutter curtain on my old FED3a when the rubberised coating perished and flaked off. Sometimes it takes a few coats to get a thick enough coat on that will block the light, but thin enough that it doesn't dry "lumpy".
 
Carl Hall said:
Thanks Steve, do you have a link explaining how to do this by any chance? :) I'm not sure when I'll get another lens so it won't be too important right away (although I'm not sure what length lens comes with the camera...), but it's something I'll add to the to-do list :)
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The pictures are too small to see now but it looks to be a normal focal length, 135 to 180, probably ideal as a starting point as it is much easier to see the results of movements etc with a slightly longer lens than it is with a WA.
 
TheBigYin said:
Another one which works for the "pinhole" type of holes you can get on the folds is to use the latex type fabric paint - it's flexible enough to not flake off when the bellows is collapsed/opened. You just need to keep the bellows open until the paint dried thoroughly... i've even used it to repair the fabric shutter curtain on my old FED3a when the rubberised coating perished and flaked off. Sometimes it takes a few coats to get a thick enough coat on that will block the light, but thin enough that it doesn't dry "lumpy".
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Thanks, hopefully the bellows will be in good order but if not I will either try the tape method or some of this paint if I'm feeling brave. How long does it take to dry?
 
steveo_mcg said:
The pictures are too small to see now but it looks to be a normal focal length, 135 to 180, probably ideal as a starting point as it is much easier to see the results of movements etc with a slightly longer lens than it is with a WA.
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Yeah I think I'd like a normal length lens to start with. I'd love to get a wide angle lens to try and get some nice landscape shots that are pin sharp from front to back, but I think I need to walk before I run haha.
 
Carl Hall said:
How long does it take to dry?
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Well - I gave it 24 hours in a warm dry place between coats, just to be certain - it was "touch dry" in 3-4 hours, but as I knew it'd take more than one coat, I wanted to be 100% sure that the first one was completely dry before adding any more.
 
Strappy said:
Idly browsing because I really don't want to buy another camera right now - perhaps someone could advise whether this is as much of a bargain as it looks? Seller doesn't want to post but I'm sure between us we can make suitable arrangements if someone here was tempted :)
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Maybe this was missed previously so here's the link in full...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131425252559?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

I'm tempted despite being in the middle of my OCOLOF project - can someone take a look and advise on which model Sinar it is and whether it's worth a punt, please?
 
That's a nice looking bit of kit Dean. I don't know if its a bargain but its certainly worth a punt at that price.

Andy
 
So I see...
 
That Sinar ended up selling for £237.78 (not to me :D). I think someone's snagged a proper bargain there, shows that it's always worth looking at items that the seller doesn't want to post.
 
Strappy said:
That Sinar ended up selling for £237.78 (not to me :D). I think someone's snagged a proper bargain there, shows that it's always worth looking at items that the seller doesn't want to post.
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Nor me :)
 
stevelmx5 said:
Not sure if these are any good to you (or if they're still available) but for £3 each they might be worth a look;

http://www.gumtree.com/p/video-camera-accessories/5x4-double-darkslides/1098580729
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That is quite a bargain! I've sent them an email and they've got a few left, but they're the "Riteway" brand instead of the "Fidelity" ones shown in the photo. Not sure what difference (if any) there is in design or quality between the two brands but for that price it's worth a punt!

Thanks Steve :)
 
I've been 'avin' a think.... dangerous.....

I really don't want to go and spend hundreds and hundreds on an LF kit and then don't use it so I was looking at alternatives. I found an interesting link to a large format photography site which had this article.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/cameras/pacemaker/

I like the look of it and prices seem to be very reasonable. I understand its limitations of movement but as I would be mainly using it for big landscapes thhis should present a problem. Also you can get roll film backs for it so it could be dual purpose, its light, packs down fairly small and has a good selection of very fine wide angle lenses.

Any thoughts from you LF bods?

Andy
 
Aside from being reaaally dusty, it looks in good condition. There are a few pretty big splits in the bellows but some tape will fix (bodge) that for now. The lens also spins in the lens board but I assume it just needs to be tightened or something?
 
Excellent stuff Carl. I think we know what your doing this weekend.

Andy​
 
Carl Hall said:
The lens also spins in the lens board but I assume it just needs to be tightened or something?
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If you take the board off, you should find that the rear of the lens has some notches on a ring. The ring holds the lens tight; the notches let you tighten the ring with a lens spanner or wrench.

View attachment 31070
 
StephenM said:
If you take the board off, you should find that the rear of the lens has some notches on a ring. The ring holds the lens tight; the notches let you tighten the ring with a lens spanner or wrench.

View attachment 31070
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Cheers Steven, it's all tight again now :)

I spent a couple hours cleaning all the various bits and having a bit of a play last night. It's amazing how much grime and fluff can accumulate in all the crevices but a toothbrush and some soapy water sorted that out.

I played around with the movements when it was all back together, and was really shocked at what you can actually do with it. I had a go at focusing on an entire scene ("focus to the far, tilt to the near. Repeat three times" I think were the instructions I remember from a Youtube video?) and it's great to see it work. Can't wait to get out and shoot, need to pop to the shop and get some electrical tape to fix all the bloomin holes in the bellows first!
 
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