Why do you use large format?

[dabick42]

@ Roger...

I've read your ''Medium and Large Format Photography'' epic on many occasions with the intention of learning more about shooting the large stuff and all that it entails, but haven't progressed beyond the ''thinking about it'' stage as yet.

I've a nagging feeling in my water that by the time I get kitted up to shoot big, the appropriate film will no longer be made.

Perhaps I've left it too late.... (?)

 

[Mr_Toad]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_Toad


......masochism?

------------------------------------------

Dont know about that, since I know more ladies that shoot LF then men. For me its about: The tone, the lenses, the process. I dont know if I find it all that fun these days. But there is that huge slice of satisfaction when I finally see my neg and everything I want to be in focus is 😀

Of course women would like Large Format! ....it's that whole "50 Shades of Grey" thing...originated by no less than Ansel Adams.



🙂
.

 

[mbisc]

I've a nagging feeling in my water that by the time I get kitted up to shoot big, the appropriate film will no longer be made.

Perhaps I've left it too late.... (?)

I wouldn't worry about that -- TMax and other B&W films are plentiful, and if need be, you can always switch to wet plates 🙂

 

[sojournerphoto]

Just thinking that my local camera shop, which sells Leica and lots of small stuff, has a 4 by 5 Wista in the second hand window for £500. Except that I've got the Shen Hao with 4 by 5 and 5 by 7 backs, I'd be very tempted. It looks lovely.

 

[summar]

All the reasons Roger lists. I first got interested in LF after I bought some Walker Evans prints from the US Library of Congress. They were made from Evans' original negatives, the ones he submitted to the FSA in the '30s, and they amazed me. Later I read that Evans resented people being able to order prints from the LC, but I thought he might also have been pleased with people appreciating his work so much that they were willing to go to the trouble of placing an order. (You need the LC catalogue numbers, which take some searching to come by.)
I finally found an old Ansco 8x10 in working shape which I'm still learning to use. I also love the current work of Joel Sternfeld, but the price of 8x10 color film is way beyond my budget.
I also read that on his trip with James Agee, Evans would develop his negatives under a blanket in his hotel room. Given the heat of Alabama in the summer, I thought that took real dedication.

 

[nikon_sam]

Camera Movements...Perspective control and 20 square inches of image...

 

[Frank Petronio]

Since most people can't afford to make high quality drum scans and giant prints, a fair amount of the technical advantage of shooting large format isn't realized. Scanning 4x5 on a mediocre Epson 700 is still nicer quality than all but the best medium format digital cameras... but perhaps medium format from a Fuji 6x9 or Mamiya 7 scanned on a Coolscan 9000 comes real close to 4x5 scanned on the Epson 700. If you don't know how to scan, the files from a modern Canikon digital are going to be better than your clumsy efforts, even if they are 500mb scans.

But to me none of that matters. I think of large format as portrait cameras because people respond differently to large, slow cameras. You find a difference from your subjects depending on whether you're shooting with a DSLR, a small Leica, a bent-over Rollei, or a view camera. More so with the view camera I believe.

I'm just as happy shooting landscapes with some little camera, they can look nice with some grain.

 

[sojournerphoto]

Since most people can't afford to make high quality drum scans and giant prints, a fair amount of the technical advantage of shooting large format isn't realized. Scanning 4x5 on a mediocre Epson 700 is still nicer quality than all but the best medium format digital cameras... but perhaps medium format from a Fuji 6x9 or Mamiya 7 scanned on a Coolscan 9000 comes real close to 4x5 scanned on the Epson 700. If you don't know how to scan, the files from a modern Canikon digital are going to be better than your clumsy efforts, even if they are 500mb scans.

But to me none of that matters. I think of large format as portrait cameras because people respond differently to large, slow cameras. You find a difference from your subjects depending on whether you're shooting with a DSLR, a small Leica, a bent-over Rollei, or a view camera. More so with the view camera I believe.

I'm just as happy shooting landscapes with some little camera, they can look nice with some grain.

All true. More and more, camera choice is about the process of making the image and how it impacts on subject/photographer. The other night I loaded two sheets of 5 x 7 into a holder and set up the Shen Hao to picture my wife sleeping. I could have grabbed the M9 or put some film in an rf, or used my phone. I chose the LF camera because that seemed the right way to photograph that, extended, moment.

 

[thegman]

I have a Fotoman 45SPS, it's a relatively small and portable 4x5 camera. It's ready to shoot without unfolding etc and can be used handheld. So I guess for me, why shoot 4x5 is getting closer to 'why not?'.

But maybe my real reason is that I like the idea of a photo as an individual artifact, 1 shot, 1 negative, 1 print, and that's it. Now obviously you can do that with any film camera, but large format for me really seems to embody that.

Why 4x5 rather than 5x7 or 8x10? Portability of camera, easy film loading, cheaper film and more available film.

 

[Harry S.]

It just feels great to use a LF camera. Its very peaceful.

Also, it makes strangers friendly; breaks down barriers.

 

[mbisc]

Since most people can't afford to make high quality drum scans and giant prints, a fair amount of the technical advantage of shooting large format isn't realized.

Anything wrong with a darkroom/wet print? There the size of the negative definitely matters 🙂

 

[gdi]

I started with 4x5, scanning on the flatbed, and then decided I wanted to try contact prints. So I bought an 8x10 for that. My printing skills need a lot of work, so I'll study Roger's link for some help.

The process is so different and deliberate compared to 35mm/scanning or digital, that I usually do it when I want to relax. I have been using X-Ray film to cut costs, so I can shoot as much as I feel like without that worry.

Oh yeah- I also really like the huge 8x10 negatives and the look old glass produces....

 

[MISH]

craziness and masochism aside

I love looking at large negs
I love printing large negs
the big camera slows me down and the extra concentration gives me more "keepers"
looking at the image upside down on the ground glass is a great aid in composision
and for me there is nothing like shooting with a wood camera

 

[MISH]

I also read that on his trip with James Agee, Evans would develop his negatives under a blanket in his hotel room. Given the heat of Alabama in the summer, I thought that took real dedication.[/QUOTE]

I think Walker was loading film holders under the blanket, developing film that way would be no fun

but I can not discount the fact that many of my favorite photographs were taken by photagraphers using Large Format equipment

 

[Pioneer]

1. I love those negatives.
2. No need to enlarge.
3. I can roll my own.
4. Have you seen those negatives??
5. My Auto RB Graflex is a hoot to use.
6. Even I can repair most of them.
7. The 8x10 Deardorff is an absolute work of art!
8. I need to maintain the crease in my shoulder from carrying the camera over my shoulder.
9. I can make some gorgeous portraits of my family members that would cost a fortune to have done.
10. Have I mentioned those negatives yet??

 

[goamules]

Because in 1 hour (with wetplate) or 1 hour in two different days (with film), I can have a giant print, comparable to 180MegPix or whatever it works out to be, for just a few dollars. I take time on the front end conceptualizing and composing just one shot. Then print it. Not zip through dozens or hundreds looking for one good one.

 

[maddoc]

... to really impress clueless bystanders ... 😀 Otherwise it is fun and would be even better once I could figure out the correct set-up of Fresnel-screen and ground-glass.

 

[zuiko85]

Because one day, wondering around my neighborhood I stopped at a garage sale. There in a carton was a pile of photographic stuff and I saw a 4X5 holder. Digging into the box I found 6 holders. When I asked the lady how much for the holders she said 'five dollars for the whole box'. The carton also contained a couple of unopened 100 sheet boxes of Kodak B&W paper in 8X10 and some photo chemicals so I thought, why not?

A few months later I found a ratty 4X5 kit camera at a camera show for $25. This was one of those 'build it yourself' kits sold by Calumet in the early 80's and although assembled right is a wobbly beast and not much of a camera. I have repurposed it as a point and shoot with limited front movements. My lens is a 130mm f7.7 from an old Kodak folder that, stopped down to about f22, will barely cover 4X5.

To be truthful I've only exposed paper negatives with my 4X5 and so I am not really a dedicated LF shooter. Someday I'll order some B&W from Freestyle but I really don't know when.

 

[Paul Jenkin]

........because I love the results some of my peers (on another film-based website) achieve and really wanted to have a go myself.

Why don't I use it any more? Because I found the process too slow and tedious to warrant the incremental improvement in quality over my medium format kit.

These days, I tend to use 35mm for snaps and travel and MF for anything I want to shoot a bit more seriously.

 

[Kenj8246]

... to really impress clueless bystanders ... 😀 Otherwise it is fun and would be even better once I could figure out the correct set-up of Fresnel-screen and ground-glass.

😀 😀 I've not yet devoted enough time to my Crown Graphic to have an opinion on this question. Curiousity just got the better of me initially. I hope to get more proficient but doubt that I'll ever be printing huge enlargements.

To Maddoc, I understand that the ridges on the fresnel supposedly go against the ground side of the glass. Honestly? I think I can see better to focus without the fresnel there but that may just be my tired 60-something eyes. 🙂 It's all still a work in progress.

Kenny