Very nicely presented. I shot my weddings with my crown graphic, same as yours, from 1955 to the mid 60’s until 6x6 was finally recognized as “big enough” I loved my 4x5. One thing I wanted say…if your rangefinder is well calibrated it will work 100% of the time. You also have a wonderful feature…with one or two batteries in it you can project your rangefinder image on the groom’s suit for instance and be right on. There is that little red button onn the side

I think a drug deal went down in the background at 13:37 lmao

I definitely misread that title as large format friday

I just bought my first 4x5 two weeks ago. I have had hell ever since. Still working on it but man has it been a process. Found a Cambo sc in not great condition but it turned out to be just dusty and it had a few light leaks. Lens that were sold as is and needed to be cleaned. It has been some work. Lost a few shots so I went for paper negatives and I finally got something I could scan. Waiting on new bellows to fix my light leaks. All in all I got into large format for less then $450 USD.

I modified my speed graphic and removed the front nuts so I have full access to front tilt. coupled with bedrop, it's almost more front tilt than is needed for a majority of front tilt work, and it has surprisingly a lot of swing shift as well. Press cameras get a bad rap, when they can do 90% of a field camera.

I should also note, speed graphics and super speed graphics DO have a rotating back :D for anyone interested.

Also, you should make a good video on the zone system and how to achieve that with a spot meter, for those who may not know how to use it.

loved that down to earth Squarespace ad XD

Just watched your super informative video but I want to add 2 points about the film backs .
You say you use rubber bands to keep the darkslides into place, most if not all film backs come with little metal hooks that can rotate and stop the slides from accidental movement. Secondly you forgot to mention that the dark slides are color coded black on top and white on top on the other side , that way by rotating the slide (after you have taken your shot )and sliding it back into places you can tell if the film has been exposed ( white side for exposed and black side for unexposed or the other way around)

I can recommend switching to the sp-445, even just because it is so much easier to use than the mod45

Maybe this has already been pointed out in comments but I was surprised to see you making a fundamental error with the dark slide sheath. When removing the sheath to make the exposure you should remove totally and then, when reinserting following the exposure, reverse it such that the indicator strip at the head of the sheath shows black to indicate that the sheet has been exposed. The sheath has a white and a black header for this purpose. White for Virgin film, black for exposed film. You should also re-engage the L shaped wire lock to prevent accidental sheath extraction. Another good habit, when using one of those stiff metal cable releases is to bend it to form a U shape before depressing the plunger.  This will further reduce the chance of lens panel movement. I have the same Graflex and spot meter and look forward to following your example and giving them some exercise soon. Thanks for the video. Now, where is my 40% grey card. 😉

Hey, crown graphic buddies! 😁

I do love a nice 4x5 graflex, I don't know why but especially the older graflex cameras are so fascinating to me. Shooting slide film in an ancient graflex SLR is a surreal experience hahaha! Also large format reflex cameras feel like a total paradox, that fuckin mirror slap damn

Oh, edit as well, but I will recommend some fpp frankenstein 200 if anyone's looking for some decently cheap 4x5 b&w that looks super sharp. I've been shooting it at 400 and pushing a stop in D76 and it's been fantastic. Like 35 bucks for 25 sheets ain't bad at all

I love my Crown.  It is really cool to bring it out at parties and set it up Weegee style F-16 and  1/100 and set the distance at 10 feet with flash.  Everyone gets the 10 minute blue spot in their eyes.  really gets the conversation going.

Very informative. Would love to start shooting 4x5 one day

I've got a Horseman 970 which is really a 2x3 camera. But i use it with 120, so I have the ability to use all the movements of the large format system on a more cost effective way!
This was a good refresher of the major info for LF photography, thanks Noah!

I have a fotokor 9x12 cm plate camera that is slightly smaller than 4x5 but foma still makes sheet film and I’ve coated glass with emulsion and made glass negatives with varying levels of success

21:57 "I really enjoy the convenience of it," that made me chuckle quite a bit after you explained one of the most inconvenient ways of doing photography ever 😄 It's all relative, I suppose!

I'm only shooting 35mm and thinking of trying camera scanning soon, so large format is not on the horizon for me just yet. Being able to scan myself might make medium format more viable, though.

Thanks for the video, super fascinating stuff and well-presented as always!

I love the shot of you doing the ad read LOL

I have a b&j press camera it's one of the few press cameras I've seen that has a rotating back.

Shooting with a bergheil is so satisfying.... 🤤 Sadly, the format 9x12 isnt supported anymore for colorfilm-sheets.

so helpful for my second hear photography class I'm doing in university right now.. thank you so much

I respect your excellent video; it shows how a camera really works. It's great that there are still people doing this, along with understanding light and composition. When it comes to exposure, you need to factor in the bellows length, the longer the bellows, the more exposure you need, and vice versa. Old-style rack tanks and nitrogen burst processing are the best development methods, or alternatively, dip-and-dunk machines, which I have practiced. Nothing will ever match the incredible images that were captured—or are still being captured—with this process.