I've decided after today's experience that using the Cambo 8x10 monorail to take photographs of rocks along the coastline west of Victor Harbor is just too dam difficult.

The idea was simple. I'd do a variety of rock studies with a digital camera, then reshoot those that work in black and white with a large format camera. The reason for black and white was that this film was cheaper in colour. Hence renovating the 8x10.

However, it takes two of us to carry the camera, tripod and dark slides if we have to walk more than half a kilometre. That is the distance I can carry all the equipment on my own, in spite of all the sessions on weights at the gym.

What I've since discovered is that I'm limited in what I can do. The above shot, for instance, was done with a digital camera as a rock study. It would look good in black and white. It is, however, shot close to the ground. This cannot be done with the Linhof tripod that supports the weight of the 8x10, as the tripod can only work at waist level and above, whilst the rock study was done from ground level.

I need a lighter and smaller camera for this sort of work:--one that is easy carried in a back pack and which can work on a tripod that has the capacity to spread its legs so that can nearly lie flat on the ground. That is the 5x4. Maybe I could carry the 5x7 and tripod over my shoulder when the new 5x7 bellows arrives from the UK?