Hi, thanks for the responses. I would like the focal plane shutter version, exactly for reasons JCO writes (use of cheap barrel lenses, I already have one apochromatic barrelled longfocus lens which would be great for tight portraits, and some super-fast LF lenses are cheap to get in barrel).
What I was wondering is if the focal plane shutter can still be reliable after all these years. Apparently it can (it doesn't have to be on mark, but the speeds need to be repeatable). The top (Kalart?) rangefinder is easier to use, I gather from Paul's post. If a beat-up one can be had for 100-150$, that's great! I can do some shutter cleaning myself, and I have good mechanic friends who would repair it cheaply (there are still very experienced mechanics in the former East Bloc, I would even say much more experienced than in the Western world because they had to greatly improvise when official parts weren't available - they can do everything, even the impossible <g> but sadly, many are old and a dying breed). I guess the focal plane version (Speed) can't accept very wide lenses, but I don't mind that - slightly wide to slightly long are what I would use anyway. And the ability to use esoteric barrel lenses is a huge bonus. WRT rangefinder and lenses, is it hard to recalibrate it for different lens focal lengths? Does it use some interchangeable cams? And does somebody still manufacture them (like for Linhof Technikas)? It would be great to mount an Aero-Ektar of 183mm f/2.5 but without rangefinder focusing it wouldn't be much use... (although, Erich Solomon zone focused with his f/2 Ernostars at full bore and still got amazing photos...). thanks for the responses. With the digital SLR as my main tool, it would be both fun and refershing to try handheld large format!
