large format

[big paul]

I was wondering what large format camera users shoot ,with small and medium format you can photograph almost anything but I would guess that its a bit harder with LF so you would have to plan your shoot before hand ,.I have thought about having a go with LF but I wouldn't know where to start so what is it you like to photograph and what made you start ..


www.essexcockney.com

[Dave Hodson]

Hi there

I'm relatively new to LF but for me, part of this is going back to something I left off years ago - now that I'm retired, I'm moving away from digital and taking it up again. If I was to pick one thing though, there's just that something special about the look of a fine black and white print.

Enlargers are hard to find and expensive to ship long distances here in Canada so I my original plan was to scan and print. 4x5 seemed like a reasonable negative size for detail so I coupled this with an Epson V850 scanner and an Epson 3880 printer using Jon Cone's piezography inks. I haven't installed the Cone inks yet but prints with Epson's inks and ABW look pretty good. This setup can also let me print to large transparencies and contact print in a darkroom which is something I want to try.

The one thing about 4x5, apart from reasonable scanning detail for large prints, is that it seems to be a more accessible format as a starting point - lots of good used equipment around for not a huge amount of money plus easier to lug around than the bigger formats.

That was the plan anyway - kind of a hybrid film/digital workflow based on no enlarger. Wouldn't you know it though? I just found an Omega 4x5 enlarger in good shape and am now in the process of building the darkroom I'd envisioned years ago.

So much to learn and so little time.

Good luck with your efforts
Dave

[MartyNL]

Hi Paul, it's not that I shoot any differently with 4x5 than 120, it's just mainly that I shoot less.
Everything else is pretty much the same.

[Lostlabours]

As a long term LF shooter I began in 1976 for work witha heavy De Vere Whole plate/Half plate/5x4 monorail, finally buying a lighter Wista 45DX around 1986 for personal work.

I'd become frustrated by the lack of movements with my Mamiya 645 cameras and by moving to LF with the Wista gained greater freedom. The Mamiyas still get used when working with models. After a number of years using a Leica M3 alongside the Wista I stopped because I just wasn't using the negatives.

About 9 or 10 years ago I bought a TLR, a Yashicamat 124 cheap off another forum and found that was a handy light camera that worked well alongside the Wista, I like the square format for some images, I had a moth-balled Rolleiflex 3.5E2 as well virtually unused but malfunctioning due to dried lubricants, so I had it and the Yashica serviced.

LF is very versatile, I have a few cameras 5x4, 7x5 and 10x8. With a Crown/Speed or mainly Super Graphic I shoot LF hand held in areas tripods aren't permitted in Turkey/Greece and can work remarkably quickly.

The only planning with LF is really which lenses I carry with me, here in the UK it's mainly 65mm.90mm & 150mm, abroad it tends to be 90mm, 135mm or 150mm, 203mm/210mm, more recently I've added a second 75mm Super Angulon, (the first is on my 6x17 camera) as it covers 5x4 better than my old 65mm Super Angulon.

I like the combination of the LF camera with a TLR which I always use hand held that gives me freat flexibility and I am using the TLR images alongside the LF in my exhibition sets.

Welcome to FADU Dave, I visited Alberta & BC last month and didn't want the weight and bulk of my LF gear (it was a family event) so made a light weight MF field camera with front rise/fall and tilt :D

Ian

[Alan Clark]

I have thought about having a go with LF but I wouldn't know where to start so what is it you like to photograph and what made you start ..


www.essexcockney.com

Hello Paul,
What I like to photograph with my large format cameras is the landscape of the North York Moors, and the North Yorkshire coast with its fishermen's huts and old boats. These subjects are tailor-made for large format, but I also use 35mm and medium format cameras to photograph the same subjects and am equally happy with the prints from all these formats, though of course prints from 5x4 negatives look different from 35mm prints.
I started to use large format cameras many years ago when I saw a wonderful travelling exhibition that included some big Ansel Adams prints that looked stunnning. Around the same time I also saw some John Blakemore prints. The print quality was what drew me to 5x4.

Large format photography can be very rewarding. You see the image very clearly on the ground glass screen. You have movements to help get everything in focus. Negative development can be tailored individually to subject contrast. And prints have a lovely quality to them.
But it's not all a bed of roses. The gear can be heavy to lug around, and cumbersome and slow to set up, so you can't always react quickly to changing light conditions. And developing can be a pain. I have been up on the moors today, and made 12 exposures. As I can only develop 4 sheets at a time this will need 3 developing sessions. I could have made 24 exposures with my Bronica - 2 rolls of film- and still been able to develop them all in one go in a Paterson tank.
Paul, can you make contact with someone who will let you try out a 5x4 camera? Using one, developing the film, and making some prints should help you make your mind up.
Good luck,

Alan

[Dave Hodson]

Hi Ian

Thanks for the welcome and sorry for the late reply. Hope you had a good visit through Canada.

Dave

[Lostlabours]

Dave, if you're near Calgary there's a small group of LF photographers who meet up every so often, Eric Rose co-ordinates it I think. I know they met up a couple of weeks ago.

The Camera Store in Calgary is s great store I wish we had something like it near me in the UK.

Paul, Alan's suggesting of meeting with a local LF user is something I often suggest and I've had a few come visit me over the years. I'm too far unless you're ever in the West Midlands on business :D

It's useful to see different cameras and examples of lenses and what to look for, it's also worth seeing a demonstration of how to use movements saves struggling.

Ian

[big paul]

I think I would like to have a go and use one now and then ,maybe next year when I have sold some of my camera gear I will buy one.. that's what I love about film 110 35mm 120 and LF all bring something different to the table ,as bailey says different attitude plus all the combinations of chemicals papers and films make for a great hobby that's never boring ..




www.essexcockney.com

[DaveP]

?..a great hobby that's never boring ..




On that note I'm going to spend all evening cleaning and loading 20 5x4 film holders....

[Lostlabours]

On that note I'm going to spend all evening cleaning and loading 20 5x4 film holders....

I've got the daunting task of checking and testing about 50 5x4 DDS (film holders) as my cache has become muddled and there's a few with issues. Luckily they are separate to my MPP DDS, another 40-50 :D

No that is boring . . . . . . . . . .

Ian

[Martin Aislabie]

Using a LF camera is a very rewarding experience - but (unsurprisingly) it does not make you suddenly a much better photographer

Because it is a very simple machine all the work is down to you.

There are so many adjustments available for you to use - it becomes a very slow and methodical process.

This slowing down, gives you time to think and consider the image you are taking and whether its really worth firing the shutter.

You therefore have to look much more carefully and think hard about the possible shot before you even put the camera up.

Then there is the wait for the right light - because its taken you so long to put up the camera - the light has almost certainly changed since you first saw the shot. So you look up and the sky and wonder about when the cloud pattern will be right to best illuminate the subject. This bit is a guessing game - sometimes you are pleasantly surprised and sometimes you are disappointed. In landscapes almost always the best light is a mixture of sunshine and clouds - there is almost always some waiting for the light involved.

All in all, its a very slow process.

This whole slowing down process is not for everyone - but as the BBC4 TV programs have shown - slow can be very enjoyable.

I shoot mainly landscapes and canal scenes - and I joke that the canal barges are a bit too fast for me.

There are downsides to LF - the camera, lenses, tripods, enlargers and darkroom equipment are all very expensive. Everything tends to be big and heavy - so you never go for a walk and bring your LF camera along "just in case" Plus when you start out, the opportunities to mess up the shot are considerable - so your strike rate is very low - but it does get better with time and practice.

If you are an instant gratification person - then probably LF is not for you.

However if you are a more slow and considered person who is methodical, then you will probably find it very rewarding.

Martin

[Lostlabours]

Using LF doesn't need to be any slower than 35mm or 120.

There's two different things here. It slows down the number of images you shoot because you become more critical, film costs are higher usually you carry less film in terms of the number of images you could shoot.

Actual shooting of an LF image can be almost as fast as using 35mm or 120 on a tripod or hand held.

Ian

[maltklaus]

I started out earlier this year using the Intrepid 4x5 I helped fund on Kickstarter. I replaced the ground glass screen with a much brighter one and have shot quite a few sheets by now. Great camera to get started.
More advanced cameras are tempting (no back movements on the Intrepid), but then again I am still far from mastering this simpler camera and I always keep telling myself many people made amazing pictures with simpler gear, so that helps me in pushing myself...

[andycmcr]

im loathe to use one again after last time.

turns out i have damaged tendons in my shoulder carrying the bugger about! who said photography is pain free???

[Martin Aislabie]

im loathe to use one again after last time.

turns out i have damaged tendons in my shoulder carrying the bugger about! who said photography is pain free???

A decent backpack to carry the stuff around is an absolute must.

LF weight is death by 1000 cuts - no one thing is all that heavy but collectively they do make your knees sag.

Martin

[andycmcr]

A decent backpack to carry the stuff around is an absolute must.

LF weight is death by 1000 cuts - no one thing is all that heavy but collectively they do make your knees sag.

Martin

to be fair i was being an idiot and carrying it mounted on the pod up "that" hill in Haworth :D (then realised i didnt have a light meter with me :slap: )