Scored bigly this afternoon - was not expecting it but sometimes, things happen. Was up to Costco to get gas and blueberries (been eating a lot of them recently) as well as picking up some stuff from Home Depot. I like to stop at thrift stores if I am nearby. 95% of the time I do not buy anything but it is always interesting to see what is new.
This time, it was a 4X5 view camera with two lenses, film holders and hard custom carrying case. I had been looking for one of these for a project but the fscking hipsters have driven the price of these through the roof - literally. You are lucky to find a used bare camera for under $500 and there are usually issues (mechanical or bellows problems). My purchase today? $180.
My project? I like making light fixtures - table lamps, etc... and want to offer them as a regular part of my blacksmithing business. One idea I had done many years ago was to silkscreen an image onto a piece of stained glass and use that for the shade. It is possible to do something with an ink-jet or laser printer but it is hard to get solid saturation in the black areas and the resulting screen usually needs a lot of touching up.
I have done commercial printing in the past and am very familiar with litho film. Litho film has no gray tones - when it is developed, it is either solid clear or solid black. Perfect for exposing a silk screen. Having this camera will allow me to expose sheets of litho film - photos of barns and scenery, litho prints of computer images, all sorts of good stuff.
Time for dinner but I will shoot some photos in a few days and post them. Very happy with my purchase.
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