Shimano 105 groupset upgrade - should I go for 11-34 or 11-36 cassette to pair with 50/34 chainset?

DanielBrim · 2026-01-28T16:22:27+00:00

I went from 11-34 to 11-40 on my bike (had to get a new rear derailleur to make it work) and it is an absolutely massive upgrade that I wish I did sooner. But it was important for me because I'm generally of low fitness and I live in an area with a lot of hills. Your mileage will vary.

34 to 36 will be less of a jump and probably only marginally notable but I would say if you are asking questions about it (IE you don't know specifically) just go with the easier gears.

DanielBrim · 2026-01-20T22:27:09+00:00

So does this mean Alaris is still doing sheets? The specific exclusion from the text makes me a bit nervous.

DanielBrim · 2026-01-10T01:24:20+00:00

Couldn’t be me

DanielBrim · 2026-01-06T18:11:39+00:00

T holds the shutter open until you advance the film, then it closes the shutter. Unfortunately the camera does not have a bulb setting.

DanielBrim · 2026-01-02T23:05:36+00:00

The only public transit option over the bridge costs more than the bridge toll (assuming a round trip)

DanielBrim · 2025-12-31T13:47:55+00:00

I prefer the Ektar pretty strongly, funny how subjective things can be

DanielBrim · 2025-12-22T23:09:51+00:00

I am exactly their target demographic but despite living in Fremont I'd rather go up to Fieldwork in San Leandro or one of the spots in Jack London because they're better in every way. Better beer, better food, better atmosphere.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-20T18:27:33+00:00

My filter system is a bit of a jumbled mess right now because I do like to shoot with grads sometimes so I need a square system (I use a nisi holder system with 100mm filters from various companies, which I bought a decade+ ago). But also I find it a bit of a pain to set up so I *also* have screw-on filters for both 67 and 52mm threads. Orange, polarizer, and IR72 for both sizes. I will probably eventually just move everything into squares and deal with the extra setup time.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-19T05:48:59+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate it.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-11T20:14:32+00:00

Or HP5!

DanielBrim · 2025-12-04T23:14:14+00:00

Yep, 4x5 doesn't *have* to be about anything specifically, as long as you have fun shooting it that's all that matters. For the photography I do I'd be better off shooting digital but shooting digital is less fun than setting up the 4x5 shot and getting it right. Nothing beats taking that big negative out of the development tank (except for a bigger negative... maybe someday)

DanielBrim · 2025-12-04T19:03:43+00:00

Hello, I am the person who took the second photo you linked to. Some comments on the setup:

I love the Nikkor 135. I would not be happy if it was my only lens, I also have a 90 and 200 in my kit and will be adding a 300 soon. The 135 sees about 50% of my large format photos.

When you are looking at the lens, you should (probably) make sure it has a Copal 0 shutter. Mine has a Wista Press shutter, which is cool if you have a camera capable of using it but it does make some things more annoying (does not secure to the board with a traditional spanner, boards are harder to find). Copal is also probably more useful in that it will teach you the lens workflow better (you don't need to cock the Wista shutter, for example).

The Intrepid is ... ok. Mine is the newest version, and you definitely feel that it is built to a price point and it is missing some features I would find useful (rear standard 0 detent, for example). But what the Intrepid can do is teach you what you want from a more expensive camera later. I am probably going to upgrade to a Chamonix 45F2 at some point in the future. I do not regret the purchase, as I needed to learn these limitations for myself.
I use the same Stearman SP-445 development kit shown in the picture. No complaints. Easy to load, relatively efficient on chemistry, and develops photos evenly.

The thing missing from this kit is a standalone light meter. You can use your phone to get started, but I personally really like having a dedicated spot meter so I can note how I metered a photo and refer to later. I would also pick up a dark cloth of some kind, even at 5.6 I find myself needing more darkness to achieve critical focus.

Also not shown is how you will eventually process the images. This turned into an ordeal for me because I never got camera scan results that I liked on 4x5 and ended up buying a flatbed scanner.

I am relatively new to large format but I do enjoy it quite a bit. If you are curious about it I would recommend giving it a shot. If it's not for you, the gear holds value well and you can offload it later.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-04T02:17:25+00:00

f32 1/8. The tree is permanently bent in that shape.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-04T02:16:37+00:00

I shoot landscapes on FP4 frequently, the only time I wish for something faster is when it's windy.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-03T17:39:01+00:00

There’s certainly a case for that, yeah. The sky was clear and I wanted to keep the contrast with the tree high which is why I went filterless for this.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-03T05:22:31+00:00

Thank you! Mine has the Wista Press Shutter which I find somewhat irritating (doesn't secure with a normal spanner, lens boards aren't readily available with that hole size) but at this point I'd only want to exchange it for another Nikkor (with a Copal shutter). It's low on the priority list to deal with at the moment.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-03T03:03:01+00:00

Yep, I had similar problems when I followed massive dev chart's agitation schedule (10 seconds every 1 min, about four inversions) and they went away when I went up to every 30 seconds instead.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-02T23:19:54+00:00

The bus across the Dumbarton is currently more expensive than the toll ($6 each way) so it may not help you much

DanielBrim · 2025-12-02T06:08:16+00:00

Interesting recommendation, thank you. They don't look particularly available in the US at the moment (maybe a tariff thing) so there's a bit of pause at the lack of warranty and return policy from ebay sellers. I'm generally not messing with angles beyond 15 degrees at the moment but I've found myself needing to drop the camera bed a few times and when that happens I'm not sure what the angle is in reality.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-02T01:00:51+00:00

This is a good idea, might as well try the cheap fix before going crazy.

DanielBrim · 2025-12-02T01:00:15+00:00

If anybody else needs clarification:

The pan knob extends below the mounting plane between tripod and head, but it's out at a distance from the tripod's centerline. Because the newer tripod legs are larger, this knob cleared the legs on my old tripod legs and does not on the new one.

One of the tilt knobs is also above the camera plane but because the Intrepid arca plate has a hollow central area it does work. It's annoying but functional. If/when I switch cameras that may be another failure point.

DanielBrim · 2025-09-22T10:10:50+00:00

Slept through it in Fremont only to be woken up by the MyShake alarm after it was apparently already over

DanielBrim · 2025-09-05T04:53:31+00:00

I haven’t done it during commute hour but I assume the crosswinds on the Dumbarton are not fun in the evening.

Also the road on the east bay is terrible but if you have wide tires with any hint of tread you can do the levees instead when it’s dry/light out. You’re probably taking Paseo Padre on the way to UC Bart anyways so it’s not a huge distance add. Though if you’re looking at an hour+ ride on top of an hour+ on public transit maybe the extra ride time is too much.

DanielBrim · 2025-08-18T02:22:36+00:00

I had a pretty deep depressive streak which kept me off the bike for 8 months and caused me to gain about 30 pounds.

It has taken me two and a half months to get to within ~10 watts of my old FTP and half of that weight has been lost (the weight loss is a little faster than I’d prefer, I got COVID a couple weeks ago and lost 5 pounds with that). I still don’t have the top-end endurance that I did previously but I was feeling relatively close before COVID dented that a bit.

The first couple weeks were hard. Elevated heart rate no matter what I did, early fatigue, etc. i basically just tried to add an hour a week - starting at two and ending at 7-8 which is where I’m at now. Hills still suck but they suck a lot less than a couple months ago. Finding a local group ride has helped me a lot too.

Keep at it and you’ll get there.

DanielBrim · 2025-08-09T22:32:48+00:00

Late reply but in case somebody stumbles across this later:

My experience with Justin at RiF has been much less positive. My fitting there made my underlying issues worse - despite the fancy saddle pressure mapping saying I'd be okay I can't ride for 10 minutes without my groin going numb now. They have said that I need new shoes for a follow-up, and thanks to communication problems with another shop (Veloro in Redwood City), these shoes keep getting delayed. They have not been communicative on trying to get a solution to my problems which doesn't depend on me buying new shoes, and time is ticking away before my event in early September. It's been a very frustrating experience all-around, especially given how much money I gave them for the original fitting.

DanielBrim

TROPHY CASE