Hi RJV
Do you want a titanium mountain bike with front suspension you can lift with one finger and will not go rusty. Ideal for in coal mines!!!

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My previous bike cost a fiver at the church jumble and my current (used almost daily) bike about twenty quid on eBay.

Name a price somewhere in that range & I'll have it!:)

Still wildly off-topic I guess, but this is the exact same model of large-format camera as mine - The Kodak Specialist 2 - though my film holders were all brand-new Fidelity - some of those look a bit ratty!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7NweHDA-cFU/UrGPQ7vvhvI/AAAAAAAAH-U/s8bU2m0LhGc/s1600/box4.jpg 

Not sure if I could really face lugging it underground, but I might give it a test outdoors soon using my normal camera as a light meter. The old Weston V died some years ago, and I'm told it's pointless trying to get it repaired. Loading up the film will be the hardest part in my flat!

Still wildly off-topic I guess

Wouldn't worry, don't think there ever really was one... ::)

For the benefit of the entirely ignorant, what's the benefit off large format?

Still wildly off-topic I guess

For the benefit of the entirely ignorant, what's the benefit off large format?

Better definition and/or less grain. If you have a certain number of granules of silver oxide (or whatever the active ingredient is) per square centimeter then a larger film format spreads the image over a larger area and so there are more grains to take the same image (if you see what I mean). So the final result is less grainy. It's pretty much exactly the same as increasing the number of MPixels in a digital camera.

I think?

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In ye olde days
The grain size on film was very large so using a small negative and enlarging was difficult.
Many of the older images are from full plate cameras and not enlarged (contact prints)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2633713/Rare-early-flash-photography-images-Cornish-miners-digging-tin-1890s-reveal-perilous-conditions-toiled.html 
In order to illuminate his photographs Burrow rigged up a system of lamps filled with highly flammable magnesium powder. He then instructed teams of miners to light the powder, creating a bright flash which allowed him to capture the scene. The process was difficult, time-consuming and often didn’t work - of the 100 images only 24 were deemed printable, and Burrow wrote of how a whole day’s work would often turn out to be useless.
That's dedication.

Still wildly off-topic I guess, but this is the exact same model of large-format camera as mine - The Kodak Specialist 2 - though my film holders were all brand-new Fidelity - some of those look a bit ratty!

I have a couple of those as well, along with a stack of ratty plate (!) holders.
If I was to start using them, I'd be inclined to shoot onto B&W paper, then scan the resultant paper negs.

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I seem to remember buying some of the film holders from a local camera shop - they had them in a box of 'old stuff', and these were brand-new, never been sold. Found a few more online and some at a big photo store in LA too, so I think I've got about ten in all, nearly all in perfect condition. A nice carp-fishing holdall holds the camera and all the film holders, along with cable-release etc.

I'm feeling more and more guilty all the time that I'm not actually using the thing...:-[

Also forgot the other benefits of large-format which are impossible to reproduce digitally (unless you have a digital camera back). Firstly, the lenses can stop down way further than normal - mine is marked to f45, but it'll clearly closer down more. This means depth of field is huge. The 'f64 Club' was formed by photographers specialising in this kind of work - Ansel Adams, Edward Weston etc.

Even better, by tilting the front and back plates out of vertical, you employ what's called the 'Sheimpflug Principle', which simply put, shifts the focal plane obliquely beyond the film plane - meaning even more depth of field:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheimpflug_principle 

Combined with the extra-small aperture, you can effectively take landscape shots with close foregrounds where everything is in focus. Focus-blending software is very good at simulating this, but not perfect. This way is perfect every time, if you can be arsed with all the faffing about...

We're supposed to feel guilty for not using them? :o
Well, that's me scuppered:
http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/125976 

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The 'f64 Club' was formed by photographers specialising in this kind of work - Ansel Adams, Edward Weston etc.

"f256 at a fortnight" as my great uncle used to remark - he begun his enthusiasm for photography shortly before the Great War and was active - solely in B&W - until his death in the 1980s.

I took a photo in a church at f8 for 20 min which allowed for reciprocity using a tripod with a Pentax 6X7. When enlarged they were fantastic.

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We're supposed to feel guilty for not using them? :o
Well, that's me scuppered:
http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/125976 

Amazing - you have two Kodak Specialists? I'm feeling less guilty already...:angel:

We're supposed to feel guilty for not using them? :o
Well, that's me scuppered:
http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/125976 

Amazing - you have two Kodak Specialists? I'm feeling less guilty already...:angel:

I quite like the look of the Graflex and the 6x6 SLR.

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Speaking of black and white, everyone should look at the pictures I took on the victorian trip with an actual box brownie
https://www.flickr.com/photos/doutchy/15133612555/  /end shameless plug :lol:

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Vast amounts of money must be made flogging people gear they have neither the knowledge, need or talent to use!

Isn't that the truth! People spend oodles on a camera and then keep it set to auto. Dohhhhh! :(
Once you can 'drive' one, you can get good results from almost any Camera (within reason), and push it to its limits to explore its capabilities. Now that is fun! 🙂

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My favourite camera back in't old days was a Praktika MTL5. Cheap as chips and totally manual (although it did have a through the lens light meter). I confess to getting confused with all the various modes on more upmarket cameras.

When I eventually get round to buying a digital SLR I'm going to be looking for one with a manual mode.

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Isn't that the truth! People spend oodles on a camera and then keep it set to auto. Dohhhhh! :(

Although..... the auto settings are fantastic on newer cameras and nowadays really do seem to 'know best' in a wider variety of circumstances.

Using auto on my old camera underground was pretty hopeless, the new one really does adapt and sort itself out very well!

We're supposed to feel guilty for not using them? :o
Well, that's me scuppered:
http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/125976 

Amazing - you have two Kodak Specialists? I'm feeling less guilty already...:angel:

I quite like the look of the Graflex and the 6x6 SLR.

MPP rather than Graflex, but yes, that's one of my favourites. It'd also be the most practical large format camera for carrying underground as it folds up into a compact unit and isn't stupidly heavy. But there's also an argument for using the wooden Gandolfi as that would be easier to mend if it took a tumble.:ohmygod:
Don't think I have a 6x6 SLR. Do you mean the Koni Rapid Omega? It is a lovely camera - a rangefinder 6x7 with interchangeable (and very sharp) lenses. Weighs a ton but very user friendly.

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My favourite camera back in't old days was a Praktika MTL5. Cheap as chips and totally manual (although it did have a through the lens light meter).

I had/have one of them somewhere in fact I'm not certain I know many people who don't! Think the foreign currency they brought in helped the DDR struggle through its final miserable few years. Somewhat more useful than a Trabant though!