4x5 and large format references

I've fantasized about the perfect digital sensor that will have amazing detail and the convenience of a DSLR, but we are a few generations away from that. The new Hasselblad H2D-39 certainly looks promising, but I don't have $30K in my new equipment budget.

But 4x5s look like a great alternative for that shot which has amazing detail and unbeliveable DOF.

This 4x5 article by Ken Rockwell has definitly got me thinking. But the cost of renting a darkroom or having a lab develop the film will be a factor.

I'd like to try street shooting with a 4x5. Set it up, get your framing, focus, light readings right and ... wait for the picture, wait for the faces you want to see to walk right to you, and click, a silent, discreet little snap from the shutter cable.

It's not instantaneous, it's not high tech, but man can you imagine the beauty of those images when you get it right. It would be laborous, but it could be amazing, as evidenced by the body of work already made this way.