>>4475641Intrepid is not the cheapest. A cambo/calumet/sinar monorail can be had for 200-300 dollars. LF lenses can be had for under 300 dollars, and with wetplate softer lenses kinda sorta work better, although wetplate colloidion "grain" is as fine as microfilm, so if you wanted to enlarge your glass plates a nice sharp lens will serve you very well.
You can buy wetplate kits from bostick and sullivan. They are perfect for beginner. The most expensive part is the silver chloride, but it lasts a very long time with proper maintenance.
The cheapest way to get plates is to buy 20x24 sheets of glass and then cut 4x5 plates. It's insanely annoying and time consuming to properly clean them. The black plated aluminum is only a bit more expensive.
Zebra makes a decent wetplate holder for pretty cheap. Kinda dslicate, but it works well and is nice to use.
When I was shooting wetplate the cost was less per plate than similar sized film.
Start with 4x5 wetplate. Almost everything about it is easier and way cheaper. 8x10 cameras usually start around 800 for a giant heavy 100+ year old wooden one and then a monorail is anywhere from 1200 to 2000. Modern field 8x10s like chamonix can run upwards of 5k dollars. Deardorff 8x10 with a replaced bellows is pretty great for around 2k.
It's very fun and challenging. I would definitely recommend giving it a shot. :D
