Episode 105: John Minnicks and the Aero-Liberator

Episode 105 of the Camerosity Podcast finally delivers on a long-teased promise: a full episode devoted to large format photography, headlined by special guest John Minnicks, creator of the Aero-Liberator. This is a home-built custom camera derived from a Graflex Super D SLR, modified with swings and tilts to accommodate Kodak Aero-Ektar lenses originally designed for aerial photography. The episode also brought together an unusually large roster of guests, including several actual owners of Aero-Liberators—Ron Gee, Mark Cornelison, and Parker Pfister—alongside other large format enthusiasts like Mat Marrash from the Film Photography Project, João Gomes, Howard Sandler, Lloyd Greene, Mark Widhalm, Pat Casey, Will Pinkham, and "some guy named Erie."

John shares the origin story of the Aero-Liberator along with anecdotes about customers who've used his cameras in notable ways, including taking portraits of Barack Obama at his inauguration and during impeachment hearings in front of Congress, with photographer David Burnett specifically mentioned as bringing his Aero-Liberator to Congress. The conversation ranges widely across large format topics beyond the Aero-Liberator itself: discussions of common problems with Aero-Ektar lenses, tips for adapting Leitz Hektor and Tessar barrel lenses to Graflex bodies, and broader gear talk covering Crown and Speed Graphic press cameras, Omega and Sinar monorails, and field cameras from Wista, Tachihara, and Linhof. Parker Pfister recounts developing 8x10 paper using his own urine (a first for the podcast), while other guests discuss RA4 reversal processing, X-ray film, monobath developing kits, and various approaches to sourcing large format film and managing exposure and focus for portraits.

The episode also touches on lens brands suited to large format work (Schneider, Rodenstock, Kodak, Wollensak, Ilex, Fujinon, Nikkor, Turner Reich) and closes with some lighter gear-acquisition chat, including a Kodak Retina Reflex III, a Nikon Nikonos, and Mark Widhalm's newly acquired Voigtländer Perkeo. Overall, the episode serves as a wide-ranging, community-driven deep dive into large format photography, anchored by Minnicks' unique Aero-Liberator project and enriched by the collective experience of numerous hobbyists and professionals who use these cameras in real-world and creative contexts.

AI-generated summary. May not capture every detail — read the full article below for the complete picture.

For Episode 105, it finally happened! As eluded to on a great number of previous episodes and on our official Facebook page and Discord server, the Camerosity Podcast finally dedicated an entire show to large format cameras! And not just any large format cameras, as a special guest for this show, we welcomed John Minnicks, creator of the Aero-Liberator, a home built custom version of a Graflex SLR using aerial Kodak lenses!

Joining the gang and John for this episode were a huge number of other guests, several of which own or have shot their own Aero-Liberators. In alphabetical order by first name, we were joined by some guy named Erie, João Gomes, Howard Sandler, Lloyd Greene, Mark Cornelison, Mark Widhalm, Mat Marrash (from FPP), Parker Pfister, Pat Casey, Ron Gee, and Will Pinkham.

In addition to hearing John Minnicks origin story, he shares many stories about people who he has sold cameras to and what has been done with them, including taking portraits of Barack Obama at his inauguration and at impeachment hearings in front of Congress.

Mat Marrash from the Film Photography Project joins us and gives us his insight into large format and how well it does from the retail perspective. We were also graced with the presence of Parker Pfister who shares his tales of developing film using his own urine! This is the first ever mention of “pee” in a Camerosity episode!

We eventually do get into a little bit of GAS, including some pickups by Mark Cornelison from the Chicago Camera show including the Camerosity favorites like the Voigtländer Perkeo and the KMZ Zorki 4.

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are into shooting or collecting cameras, no matter how long you’ve been doing it, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, the Camerosity Discord server, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

For our next episode, we are going “across the pond” to a European time zone friendly time which will allow for more of our European listeners to join us. We’ll keep the topic wide open to encourage as many people as possible to join us. If you are in Europe or other “European time zone friendly” areas of the world, we will record Episode 106 on Monday, March 16th at 2pm Central Daylight Time, 3pm Eastern Daylight Time, 7pm Greenwich Mean Time (London), 8pm Central European Time (Berlin), and 6am Tuesday the 17th Australian Eastern Daylight Time (Sydney). For more time zones, please consult the World Time Buddy calculator and plug in your time. Make sure you set your calendars and look out for the show announcement at the usual locations and be prepared to join us!

In This Episode

What is Large Format?
John Minnicks, Creator of the Aero-Liberator 4×5 SLR Cameras with Kodak Aero-Ektar Lenses
Going from a standard Graflex Super D to a custom camera with swings and tilts for a unique lens
Three Owners of Aero-Liberators Ron Gee, Mark Cornelison, and Parker Pfister
Common Problems with Aero-Ektars / Bringing People Together
Photographing Barack Obama with Only 4 Sheets of Film
David Burnett and his Aero-Liberator in front of Congress
Timtypes / Giving João Gomes some tips on adapting Leitz Hektor projector lenses and Tessar barrel lenses to his Graflex
Getting into 4×5 Press Cameras / Crown Graphic and Speed Graphic / Omega and Sinar Monorails
Wista, Tachihara, and Linhof Field Cameras
Lloyd Greene is shooting a Sinar monorail, Howard Sandler recommends the Graphic as a companion to a Crown Graphic, and how he shares his Fujinon lenses between them
Parker shoots 8×10 paper and develops it with help from pee
Paul Rybolt misses Cibachrome, Mat Marash from Film Photography Project recommends RA4 reversal
X-ray film and trying to prevent scratches
Monobath single-shot processing kit as an introduction to developing and a great way to test a camera
Sourcing large format films / How to shoot paper instead of negatives and tame the contrast / Light sources for enlargers
Erie is a large format nerd and commercial photographer
Many different methods for developing and scanning
Mark’s trials and tribulations with wet plate collodion
Exposure, Computers, and the Kodak Master Photoguide
Will Pinkham asks about large format lenses / Schneider, Rodenstock, Kodak, Wollensak, Ilex, Fujinon, Nikkor, even Turner Reich can suit what you’re shooting
How do you manage focus when shooting portraits on large format?
A bit of GAS: Kodak Retina Reflex III / Nikon Nikonos
Mark Widhalm got a Voigtländer Perkeo, which Anthony and Ron love / Howard got an Adox Golf

Links

The Camerosity Podcast is now on Discord! Join Anthony, Paul, Theo, Stephen, and Mike on our very own Discord Server. Share your GAS and photography with other listeners in the Lounge or in our dedicated forums. If you have questions for myself or the other guys, we have an “Ask the Hosts” section as well where you can get your question answered on a future show! Check it out! https://discord.gg/PZVN2VBJvm.

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group, Instagram page, or Discord server.

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