It’s time for the sixth in this series of EMULSIVE Community Interviews, and our first camera vendor, no less. I’m proud to announce the call for questions for the EMULSIVE x Intrepid Camera Community Interview.

If you’re even a little bit plugged-in to what’s moving and shaking in analogue photography, you’d be hard pressed to have missed Intrepid Cameras’ arrival on the large format scene, as well as their subsequent total domination of the compact/light large format camera space.

They’ve recently completed a successful Kickstarter for their brand new 8×10 camera and you will hopefully have caught up on a recent chat I had with Intrepid co-founder Max, as they entered the final days of that campaign.

With that out of the way, let’s jump in to explaining how this interview will work.

 

 

Interview timeline

Part one: Call for submissions (this article)

The submission window is open for two weeks from today until midnight on Tuesday 25th July 2017. This is your chance to have a think about what kind of questions you want to ask to Intrepid and submit them in the comments section below. The comments section of this article is the only place questions will be accepted.

Please keep your questions concise and limit yourself to a single question per comment. You may post up to two questions each. Please try to stay away from asking questions already covered on the Intrepid website, as they’ll likely be skipped.

 

Part two: Handover

Once the submission window has closed, the panel will come together to deliberate. A shortlist of questions and commentary will then be passed over to Intrepid for review.

We’ll be working with Intrepid to put together a finished article as soon as possible after this time.

 

Part three: Release

We’re expecting to have the finished interview released toward the end of August 2017. If you posted a question that made the cut, you’ll be credited in the finished piece. We’ll also try to link to you on social media. There may be other things to announce here but we’ll leave that until closer to the time.

 

 

Interview structure and panel

The panel shortlist will consist of questions submitted by you, the film photography community, one question from yours truly and one each from the panel. It’s the job of the panel to help make the final decision as to which of the questions submitted will make the cut for the final piece, as well as to discuss, review and revise the final interview before it’s released.

Why go to the trouble of selecting a panel? I want to alleviate any concerns regarding impartiality and bias and make the process transparent. Anyone can be a panel member for future Community Interviews, all you need do is ask.

Speaking of the panel, I’m very please to introduce you to:

 

 

Starting questions

Here are the four starting questions from myself and the panel. Hopefully they’ll help get you in the mood. Please feel free to extend or develop these questions, if you’d like more detail on a specific aspect.

 

EMULSIVE

Considering your roots and how organisation has grown over the past few years, do you have any existing mechanism or future plans offer advice and/or resources to other small-scale designers trying to new bring analogue photography hardware to the market – almost-but-not-quite a type of “manufacturing incubator” for those in the same space as you?

 

Ben Horne

ILFORD and Kodak are very responsive to the latest generation of film photographers, but Fuji refuses to distribute some of its best film (Velvia 50) in large format outside of Japan.

The very reasonable cost of Intrepid large format cameras have made this medium more accessible than ever in recent years. Was the preservation of current film stocks, and keeping large format film alive one of your objectives when creating the Intrepid Camera?

 

Don Kittle

You guys have really knocked it out of the park with you cameras. Can you share, high level, where you are going in the future?

Will Intrepid Camera Co be somewhere we’ll shop at more regularly (say, for consumables like film or paper), or are you wanting to continue to focus on larger ticket items?

 

Richard Pickup

With your Intrepid 5×4 camera you’ve successfully addressed a sleeping demand for an affordable large format camera that functions properly and is robust. You’re now building on this success by making a 10×8 model that, as the Kickstarter backing attests, is resoundingly popular.

I was wondering if there are other such markets, ones that are similarly high-priced traditionally, that you might get into? It seems to me that there are other items that the photographer who bought one of your cameras might want: a good large four-blade masking easel, a contact printing frame perhaps, or even a UV exposure unit for making Platinum / Palladium prints. When I look at the construction of the Intrepid, I imagine the materials and fabrication methods you use would lend themselves well to such items.

 

 

Next steps and guidelines

Doors for your submissions are open until midnight on Tuesday 25th July 2017 and the only way to submit your question is in the comments section below. It should be noted that:

1) Questions are not subject to moderation at this stage but you are asked to keep them civil and in the spirit of the community.

2) Any question deemed to be hostile or not encouraging reasonable discussion will be removed and the poster will be banned from future participation. In short, we’re all here to develop our community, so don’t be a troll.

3) Submitted questions may be edited down into smaller chunks or merged with others if we feel there’s a need to do so. This being said, all questions will be submitted in their original form for Intrepid to answer.

4) If two or more very similar questions are posted, we will endeavour to credit each party.

5) Only new, top-level comments will be considered for entry, so please don’t add yours as a reply if you want a chance to have it featured.

 

These guidelines are by no means exhaustive but you can be assured that we’ll keep everything as transparent as possible during the process — see the following past Community Interviews for an example of how this finished interview might appear.

Over to you, let’s see what you’ve got.

~ EMULSIVE

 

 

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7 responses to “The EMULSIVE x Intrepid Camera Co. Community Interview: Part 1 – Submit your questions”

  1. I really like the Intrepid Cameras and they are works of art at an affordable price. Are there any thoughts of using the same design but with different, more durable materials? I have had several wooden cameras, but have forgone all of them in favor of more durable metal cameras. With the proper materials, the weight could be the same or less (ie: carbon fiber) I understand this would increase the cost, but the popularity of Intrepid could help sell these options.

  2. Thanks for an awesome product guys. I do sometimes have issues with ‘locking in’ movements after desired focus is achieved only to find that I missed focus. But that is something I think I can manage with better practice. My question : Is there anyway I can do a mod to achieve rear standard tilt? Not critical, just curious. Thanks again for a GREAT product. Best of luck moving forward

  3. I have a first generation Intrepid and I love it! I was wondering whether you would consider releasing the design of either of your cameras under a Creative Commons license or something similar, essentially making your camera an Open Hardware camera. That would be extremely valuable to people who would be interested in making their own.

  4. Is there any possibility if applying the design and build principles of your current cameras to a medium format camera? I appreciate that lenses might be an issue?

  5. filmphotographylondon Avatar
    filmphotographylondon

    Whilst there is still a good supply of lenses out there, it is a finite and ever dwindling supply, do you have any plans to produce a range of new lenses for your cameras

  6. Have you been contacted by, or had discussions with the film companies, regarding preserving a film supply for your specific market? After a significant investment in a large Format sheet film sector, having a secure film supply is critical to your success. Curious if your success is driving film companies to rethink their focus and market attention. I sure hope so…!

  7. Would you ever think about making a panoramic medium format camera?

 

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