Large Format for the Common Man
Digital may be king, but there is a nostalgia about film and a nostalgia about large format cameras. One British company producing 4×5 models is now ready to deliver an 8×10 model. If you’ve a passion for large format photography, and if the names of photographers like Ansel Adams or Edward Weston make you dream of taking your own large format camera into the field, but you don’t want to break the bank, then the Intrepid 8×10 camera is for you. For £480 (somewhere around $620) you can have your high quality and super lightweight handmade Field Camera. It’s the starting point to explore the world of large format. The 4×5 is almost half that.
Custom Large Format
The Intrepid 8×10 is on Kickstarter, with 28 days to go, a goal of £18,000 and more than 200 backers that very quickly confirmed the viability of the project: the amount collected at the moment is £106,568. No doubt, there is interest in large format cameras. The company behind the project, from Great Britain, is called Intrepid Camera Co. and has been designing and producing Large Format 4×5 Cameras for the last three years. It all started, as they say, to solve a problem: a love for 4×5 photography and a lack of money. The idea for an affordable hand made 4×5 camera first came to them about 5 years ago.
The passion and hobby turned into a university project and grew further, in 2014. With the involvement of the other founder, Eddie Garcia, a small loan and a vision, they moved on to Kickstarter, where the reception to the first 4×5 was overwhelming. In two days they reached their goal, decided a real company was needed. They have almost become the modern age equivalent of Britain’s great Gandolfi marque.
A 1000 Cameras
With the 4×5 firmly present in the market, with over 1000 cameras shipped to happy customers, the duo wanted more, and that’s the reason why they return to Kickstarter. The Intrepid 8×10 takes everything they learned from the 4×5 cameras and refines it into the best camera they have ever made. A simple, beautiful and fully functional field camera, all for an amazing price
Made of birch plywood and anodised aluminium for structural components, the camera is the only affordable 8×10 made from high quality and long lasting materials. Opting to use a camera like the Intrepid 8×10 is like opening the door to a whole new world and a learning process that is a never ending experience. The camera is just the starting point, and you’ll have to buy the lens, the film holders, and other accessories you might need. The Intrepid Camera Co. has film holders, designed to be both practical, reliable and affordable, and an alternative to the hard to find and expensive 8×10 holders that are currently on the market. When it comes to lenses, they can help you to understand the best choices and what to look for in the second hand market.
Lenses and Lensboards,…and Pinhole Too!
A lens need to be mounted on a board. A Sinar size board (140mm x 140mm) is needed, and here. If you can’t find a board, they have their own version on their website. They are also planning adapters for Linhof/Technika size boards.With the Kickstarter funding confirmed, the production of the Intrepid 8×10 will start in June, with August as the date that the machinery needed for the larger wooden components arrives. If all goes as planned, by late September the Kickstarter backers will receive their new large format cameras, right in time to go out in the field and photograph the arrival of Autumn. Buying Film.
Intrepid Camera Co.