Found this picture in my HD.
Shows the best of the crop of my collection of large format lenses.
The content is mostly made by large petzval/portrait/soft focus barrel lenses. The great majority has 8x10" coverage.
Most of those in shutter are in the plastic boxes barely visible on top, and in others containers stored elsewhere, together with smaller or less valuable objectives.
It's so sad. I hoped that large sensors, or at least scanning backs, would slowly become cheaper and more diffused.
Camera with movable standards have a lot to give, it's a pity that digital backs are still so expensive that only very few affluent enthusiasts and well paid pros can afford them.
Maybe one day the technology will allow to get large sensors wafers with no defects, and with low production cost.
If that day will come, maybe we will get 4x5", or even 5x7" digital backs at affordable prices.
I would love to see those wonderful lenses be brought back into practical use.
While I used the Linhof Technika and Bi-System 4x5" when I did still-life photography for ads and catalogs, I never used an 8x10" for work.
A few times I used an old Fatif 13x18cm, that's all. Never used anything bigger for a paid job.
Many years later I discovered how beautiful an 8x10" B&W contact print can be... and I got hooked
I have also seen great works done on self-coated paper or glass, using ultra large format cameras... but I was too lazy to get into that, so I mostly did 8x10" B&W film in my darkroom.
When I lost the darkroom I went fully digital, and all my analog gear is languishing
Here are my favorite pets, a DeVere Multi-Purpose 8x10" monorail, a Century Universal 8x10" folding, and an old Pettazzi studio camera that should date back to 1911 (the serial of the Heliar 36cm, sold with the camera, reveals the age of the combo). Unfortunately it is fitted with a sliding reduction back (the original 24x30cm back is missing).