6x6 processing

I'm a college student from Portugal who is considering getting a 6x6

camera (I might ask you a couple of questions about that later also

;))

 

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I'm still taking my very first steps towards medium format so forgive

me if I ask some silly questions.

 

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Here's what I'dd like to know now: you take your film to the lab;

since the neg is square, how does the person processing the film know

how to crop (vertically, horizontally)? Can you get square prints?

 

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Thanks,

jr

For b&w, the custom in 6x6 as well as 35mm is to have contact sheets

made. 12 6x6 frames fit on a standard (U.S.) sheet of 8x10 paper in

either 3 strips of 4 frames or 4 strips of 3. The advantage over 35mm

contacts of course is that the images are big enough to see without a

magnifier.

 

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For color, you can get contact sheets or you can get 5x5 proofs. I

would say 5x5 proofs are the standard for wedding and portrait work,

where you intend to show proofs to a retail customer. If you're

shooting landscapes, fine art, etc., you would more likely get contact

sheets or be shooting chromes. Shooting for publication is usually on

chromes.

 

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Once you have contacts or proofs and pick the frames you want to make

final prints of, you can get either square (10x10, 14x14, 16x16,

20x20, etc.) or go with traditional horizontal shapes. In that case,

you indicate to the lab which way you want the photo cropped. This can

be done my marking the contact sheet or proof with a felt tip pen.

Many labs offer paper cards you tape your negatives to for printing.

The cards come with various size rectangular shapes that control both

the cropping and horizontal v. vertical orientation.

 

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Craig Shearman

Baltimore

USA

www.bcity.com/redcaboosevideo/

Joao, to Craig's excellent advice, I would add that you can request

"process only" from your photo lab, in which case they will not make

any prints. I say "photo lab" because few 1-hour places process 120

film. Then, from the negative strip, you can tell them which to print,

and whether they are to be horizontal or vertical. If you're on a

budget, as many students are, you may find that approach appealing.

 

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And there are several good medium format cameras that you can get for

$300 or less. When you're ready, just ask away.

 

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Mel Brown

I always get square prints from my lab. No problem.

Don't forget, if you process it yourself and then print it yourself, you can crop the negative any way you want to. Certainly this is alot easier with B&W than with color as used enlargers (without color heads) are available at relatively modest prices.

I just began using a 6x6 camera, & the jump from the very rectangular

35mm format to the square 6x6 has been interesting. To answer your

question, it is easy, & relatively inexpensive (at least in the

States) to get 5inchX5inch proof prints made.

 

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If you intend to crop your 6x6 frames to fit a rectangle, however, it

may be worthwhile to consider a rectangular MF format to begin with.

While I find it easy to compose with an eye for cropping in 35mm, &

find it more difficult to compose for cropping in the 6x6 square (&

framing shots for a vertical crop seems much more difficult than for a

horizontal shot). Maybe I will get better with this as I gain more

experience; yet I think I'm more comfortable composing in a rectangle,

& will probably move to 6x7 when my oil well comes in.