Cameras

I have the Mark 1 model with the rectangular base and the plywood front standard. I haven't handled the Mark 2.
It arrived later than promised but I put that down to the necessary transition from optimistic student to real-life manufacturer.
The rear standard is fixed and has non-adjustable struts. The front standard has rise, fall, shift, swing and tilt. Both swing and shift are controlled by one common knob, as are rise and tilt. Ebony made a model with similar specifications, but the Intrepid is no Ebony; nobody is going to intone "...just stroke an Intrepid."
It is very, very much cheaper – the current price (Mark 2) is £250 but mine was cheaper through Kickstarter.
It seems important to mention, for other readers, that photons are no snobs, cannot tell the difference and do not care about attractive grain patterns or polished brass.
When the camera arrived its surface was little rough, as though the finish had been sprayed in a dusty workshop. A light rub with with fine sandpaper cured this easily and I didn't resent doing it. More seriously, the focus rack was a bit loose but I fixed that by inserting a sliver of veneer. (I quite enjoy tinkering.) After that that, focusing was smooth and the lock worked well.
There are some ingenious cost-saving details; the tripod is fixed to an ordinary nut held captive by a metal plate instead of an expensive machined unit.
It's a very simple to erect. You simply unfold the back, clip the struts into place and tighten the screws. Then you unscrew the locking bolt from its parking place in the baseboard and fix the front standard to one of three brass-lined screw holes. It would be nicer if the screw were fixed into the standard, but that's a small detail. On the Mark 1 there are small supplementary screws to centre the standard. They were not quite in the right place on mine, but I had no problems without them. There is a notch to centre the height of the lensboard and this means that the lens moves backward by about a millimetre, so you might need to check focus if you used this halfway through taking a shot. As tilt is locked by friction, it might not be suitable for very heavy lenses.
In principle, the rear standard can be slid forward by about an inch, for short-focus lenses but you need an Allen key to do this.
The screen seemed to work well, not as brilliant as more expensive ones, but I found that I liked this. Very bright screens seem to require the eye to be accurately centred and I find this uncomfortable. (Both my eyes are a bit dodgy, but in different ways). It's a simple ground glass with no markings and no Fresnel.
The elastic band that holds the spring back worked well and Intrepid claim that this is marine grade elastic, designed to outlast a boat.
The back rotates, rather than unclips, to change from landscape to portrait so there's nothing to drop with cold fingers. I remember using this (on an MPP?) to square up a horizon when I was too lazy to adjust the whole camera. When you rotate the back, you can see the fixing for the elastic so it should be easy enough to replace. One small point is that when using a short focus lens, the sliding bed projects behind the camera and obstructs the rotating back, so if you change your mind halfway through a shot, you will have to rack out the camera before you can rotate the back. Not a major defect, but worth remembering if you are intending to use both orientations. There are sliding clips to fix roll-film backs and suchlike, but I haven't used these. The bellows are fixed and seem flexible enough for me.
It's a little bit stiff to insert a dark slide; it seems to need a final extra push to go right home. This might be just the effect of newness. (It is; I very lightly sanded the sharp edges of the opening and everything worked well.)
Mine was supplied with a ply pinhole lensboard and red bellows. Red is apparently the most popular colour. It takes Linhof-type boards.
To be honest, I haven't used it a great deal, but I can see no reason why it shouldn't work very well where a simple and very lightweight camera is needed. Architectural photographers might find they need more movements of course. For any established LF photographer it would make an excellent reserve or back-up camera.
It is of course, absolutely outstanding value for money. Intrepid are to be congratulated. The Kickstarter target for the new 10x8 was reached in twelve minutes. There must be a huge hidden interest in LF photography, held back by the price of entry. Who knows what Intrepid might produce next? An enlarger, perhaps? A film processor? A changing tent? They've apparently redesigned the 10x8 film holder, which I have not seen. I'd like to see what they could come up with for a dark cloth, even if it was just matching the colour of the bellows.
My sister-in-law, who knows nothing about cameras, thought it looked charming.
 
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I've had a few medium format cameras, my first being a Mamiya RB67 which I loved and then a Mamiya 645 and most recently a Mamiya C330. Since taking up large format photography in 2009, I've found the format suits me very well and the kind of photography I like to do.

So now my camera collection consists of my Toyo 45AX and my Tachihara 8x10. I've found that if I purposely go out to make photographs, then it's one of the two large format cameras, otherwise it's casual snapshots and I've found my Google Nexus 6p phone suffices more than well.
 
Intrepid 5x4
Hasselblad 501C
Bronica ETRSi
Leica M6
Olympus OM2N
Canon EOS3
Olympus XA (x2)

And I thought my collection was a little over the top! :)
 
12"x10" Unbranded British field camera and 20" RR lens

10"x8" Agfa Ansco Commercial View with 12" Goerz f6.8AM Opt Dagor (coated, can use with 12"x10" camera as well), 165mm Super Angulon
10"x8" Agfa ansco Universal View 300mm Nikon M, 159mm WA Raptar

7"x5" Seneca Improved View (x2 - one needs rebuilding) 240mm Nikon W
7"x5" Seneca City View 21cm f4.5 CZJ Tessar

5"x4" Wista 45DX 150mm Sironar N, 90mm f6.8Grandagon, 75mm f5.6 Super Angulon, 65mm f8 Super Angulon, 210mm f5.6 symmar S, 360mm f5.5 Tele-Xenar - main 5x4 kit
5"x4" Graflex Super Graphic, 150mm f4.5 CZJ T Coated) Tessar or 135mm f5.6 Symmar, 90mm f6.8 Angulon, 203mm f7.7 Ektar - light weight kit for hand held work

5"x4" 2 Speed and 1Crown Graphics. The speed Graphics are used with shutterless lenses, Petzval, 420mm Dallmeyer Telephoto etc, the Crown lives in Turkey.

5"x4" MPP Micro Technical MkIII (one fully functional the other a parts camera now have the missing back and bits)
5"x4" MPP Micro Technical MkVII with 150mm f4.5 Xenar - these are for use at workshops etc.

The list of othe British field cameras and LF SLRs is too long as are the MF and 35mm cameras :D

Ian
 
I know we are a large format forum but I am sure you must have other formats.

I have in my collection

Bessa RF 6x9 (Heliar lens)
Bessa 11 6x9 (Heliar coated lens)
Mamiya 6 folding camera 6x6
Rollieflex 3.5f 6x6
Fujifilm GA645zi 6x4.5
Kodak box brownie
Pentax Lx
Plus my Chamonix 4x5, 150 & 90mm lens
Zero image 6x6 pinhole camera

I use them all from time to time and enjoy them all, the easiest to use is the 646zi, fully automated with a superb short zoom.

The the folders, Bessa and Mamiya 6 are not blessed with great viewfinders however you get used to them and they produce great images and very pockatable.

My favorite is the Rollieflex, the Planer lens is amazing, I use for night shots, produces hardly any star burst on lights, lamps etc

The LX is a great camera, big viewfinder, the metering is very special in this camera and works flawlessly,

The brownie was my first camera and still works it must be near 50years old

The Zero image pinhole is quite superb, love it.


What if any cameras do you own, film of course


Oooer . . . hope this doesn't develop into a Trump-style 'my bomb button's bigger than yours', but I too have something of a collection, from 5x4 down. Well, it's a museum really. Most do get used, and starting at the top:
Crown Graphic 5x4 with 150mm lens, 6x9 rf back
Mamiya Super 23, 100mm f3.5, 150mm f5.6, 6x9 rf back, screen finder
Mamiya RB67 Pro SD, various lenses & backs - ex CID forensics
Hasselblad 503CX, various lenses, backs and finders
Mamiya C330 Pro S, various lenses
Rolleiflex 2.8E Planar
Nikon F, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6 and Nikon D800 - lenses from 15mm to 600mm manual & af
Canon F1 with 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 135mm and 180mm lenses
Leica IIIG, M2, M5, M6, 21mm, 35mm and 50mm glass
Pentax LX, screw and K-fit lenses 15mm to 200mm
Then there are a couple of dozen Pentax bodies from SV to Spotmatic II and Electros
The rare autofocus body and 35-70 zoom lens - world's first autofocus camera and lens
Then there are a brace of Edixas (the first SLRs I worked with), a very nice Exakta II with some nice Schneiders, and my very first serious working camera - an Altix N with 35mm, 50mm and 90mm lenses, all of which are excellent.
I got this when I was 14 before I went to art college and used it for a photo-feature which was published nationally and set me off on my journalistic career!
Oh, I nearly forgot . . . Kodak No 1 complete with brown canvas cover, and one of those jelly mould bakelite Brownies complete in presentation box with an unused roll of film.
And they're being added to shortly by 'the Hogwarts Camera' . . . the Argus C3 'Brick' as seen in the eponymous movie. This is a complete pack with the flashgun, Argus meter and various bits including user manuals. Bought for the collection because of the movie link, and also as it was - and remains - the worlds most widely sold 35mm camera at nearly three million units.
I also recently acquired a used Fujifilm X-Pro1 as an always-available camera, and while it does produce very high quality images, I've not found it easy to use in viewfinder mode, as there is no variable correction in the eyepiece. There you have it - and if anyone wants a Pentax, contact me!
PS: My great grandfather is to blame for inflicting me with the shutter virus - he was a semi-pro snapper in the late 1800s - Edwardian era and had everything from a quarter plate folding reflex to huge 11x14 stand cameras. One of his commissions was to shoot all the regiments of the Imperial Army at Queen Victoria's Jubilee review at Alexandra Palace in 1897 - there were several albums of these which my grandmother kindly disposed of along with two large trunks full of plates and his cameras. I did manage to save three or four of the albums and some others with his work - he did occasional stuff for the Daily Sketch! Sadly, after I got divorced, my ex-wife apparently also disposed of these. I believe The Imperial War Museum does, or did, have the complete presentation set.
 
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Thanks for posting this Jeremy......it's a useful reference point for the next time my wife tells me i have too many cameras :)

Mike
 
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