Help with Med or Large format digital back and body suggestions

[oneword]

Hi everyone, I'm hoping I can draw on the huge cast of knowledgeable people here to get some recommendations.

I am a full time commercial photographer but, I've never shot anything other than 35mm format cameras. It's always been sufficient for my clients so, I've always stuck with it. However, lately, I've been thinking about getting into a larger format, mostly for personal work and studio experiments. I know that a lot of the larger format gear is getting cheaper and cheaper on ebay and other forums so, I'm tempted to buy a nice old medium or large format camera and put a digital back on it.

Problem is, I have no idea where to start. I've spent a lot of time looking at various manufacturer site etc but, just cant find out where to get information on which backs fit on which cameras, what to buy, how to get it all together etc. etc. There's almost too much information out there and making sense of it seems impossible to me.

In short, i want to put together a bit of a "dream system". 4X5 or 8X10 camera and whatever I need to run it, the right back to match up to it and whatever else I need. Is 4X5 or 8X10 the only options for Large format? Can you even get backs to match these? where the best place to find the recommended camera, etc. etc

Any suggestions, help or guidance would be great appreciated.

Cheers,

Dan

[Graham Mitchell]

What are you shooting? It can make a big difference to the equipment choice, e.g. single shot, multi-shot, scanning back.

[oneword]

Hi,

People in Studio and on location for the most part.

Dan

What are you shooting? It can make a big difference to the equipment choice, e.g. single shot, multi-shot, scanning back.

[JonathanBenoit]

Hi,

People in Studio and on location for the most part.

Dan

well, there really isnt any benefit of 8X10 over 4X5 for digital. 4x5 use over medium format would be more for creative uses like tilt/shift. Does sound like you have much use for htat. You're limited to one shot medium format backs for portraits. Personally, I would choose a camera based on lenses. Either Mamiya/Phase or Hasselblad, are the safe bets, since they are active in digital. A used Contax 645 is another good choice because of the lenses and entry cost.

[David Saffir]

I tend to agree with Jonathan - a med format body and back would probably meet your needs. A couple of thoughts - one manufacturer, Hasselblad, most current models are what one might call "closed system" - the back and camera must be used together. In other cases, such as Mamiya and Phase One, one can obtain a camera body and fit a back to it.

David