What's involved in using a large format camera?

[j. caputo]

I have been hearing alot of people mention they use large format camera's for landscape photography. I jumped in

this forum and read a bunch of threads but did not find all the answers. I think this thread will help alot of newbee's.

 

I have never used a large farmat camera. I shoot full frame digital. Being a landscape photographer, what can I benifit

from using a full frame camera? Do I need to develope the images in a darkroom like 35mm film? Is this a very

expensive process? What type of camera is best for landscape? What size can I enlarge a image to if I shoot with a

4x5? 5x7? 8x10? Does the size have an effect on the final output print size? Is it difficult to use a large format

camera? What can I do with a large format camera that I can not do with my digital Canon 5D? I am sorry for all the

questions but I love a challenge and large format looks like an interesting one. I could go buy a book and spend a

week reading it or I can ask all you folks who use these camera's everyday and I'll get answers in a matter of

minutes!

 

Thanks,

Jimmy

[guytal]

A bit dated, but not quite as dated as LF ;)

<br><br>

<b><a href="http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0205/gt0205-1.html">LF in Nature Photography</a></b>

<br><br>

Hope this helps,<br>

Guy

[acjtucson]

I am relatively new to this but I found Jack Dykinga's book on LF photography extremely helpful. Our office bought two of

his prints made with a 4x5. They are about 6 feet high and look fantastic. I think his book is well worth the time it took to

read it. Good luck.

[llgarcia]

Hi Jimmy,

 

You probably will find all the answers to your questions at:

 

www.luminous-landscape.com

 

Enjoy!

 

Lester

[sheldonnalos]

Also check out:

 

www.largeformatphotography.info

[michael_briggs2]

LF photography tends to be slower and more deliberate than 35 mm size cameras, whether film or digital. Rather than snapping a bunch of photos and later selecting the best, the LF photographer typically carefully selects the camera position, then carefully composes the photograph, and in some cases, may wait for the ideal light. The large ground glass image aids in visualizing the photograph. Almost all LF photography in this era is done with a tripod. It takes a certain amount of effort. There is a minimum weight and size to the equipment, but there are some small format photographers with a large kit of lenses who carry a comparable weight. With experience, one can take a photo in a couple of minutes, but an inexperienced photographer or a difficult problem can take much longer. Besides the image quality of the large film, the large ground glass for viewing is an important advantage. View cameras also permit movements, which change the relation between the lens and image sensor in ways typically not possible on smaller cameras (there are some shift lenses for small cameras). With movements one can alter perspective or the plane of best focus.

 

Digital backs for LF cameras are very expensive, so most amateurs use film. You don't have to develop the film yourself, there are labs that will do that, one example that you can check pricing: http://www.chromatics.com/Serv-Film_Process.htm. But that said, developing isn't that hard to do yourself, especially B+W film. The question of how large you can enlarge a film to is not a simple one. It depends on your demands on what the image looks like, from what distance it will be viewed, what film is used, etc.. Some people dislike the slightest appearance of film grain; others may notice that a large print from a digital source is grainless but lacks detail. Obviously a larger format will support a larger print size of the same quality.

 

Many of your questions have been asked already on this forum: try browsing some of the previous threads in "Beginner's Questions" section of the forum. There are excellent introductory articles at http://www.largeformatphotography.info (already cited).

[billkantor]

Great resource here: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/

 

Bill

[jeffmather]

Everyone has given excellent advice and pointers to more information. I've been writing about my newbie

experiences with 4x5 photography on my web site, especially the mistakes (a.k.a. "learning opportunities") I've

made: <a

href="http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/category/large-format-camera/">http://jeffmatherphotography.com/dispatches/category/large-format-camera/</a>

[dave_redmann]

For me personally, the main reason to shoot LF is camera movements: by adjusting the geometric relationship

between the lens and the film, you can eliminate certain types of distortions (or deliberately induce them!) and

selectively increase or decrease depth of field. You can only do these things to a much more limited extent with a

small-format camera (look into the TS-E lenses for your Canon), and by most accounts digital sensors are not too

happy with them, because they cause the light to strike the sensor at odd angles. To some extent you can do these

things in the digital darkroom, but there are significant limitations, quality being one of them.

 

Some subjects require these abilities more than others. Architecture probably requires them more than landscapes,

but they can be useful for all sorts of pictures.

 

As for enlargement, obviously it depends on many, many factors, including the subject and the viewer's tolerance for

noise/ grain and unsharpness. But based on my experience using 5D output (processing and printing other peoples'

pictures), I think you can produce an excellent 11x14-inch print, and probably a good to very good 16x20. With a

4x5, I think you can produce an excellent 24x30-inch print (or bigger as long as you stay at a normal viewing

distance), and a good to very good one much larger, with 40x50 inches being quite doable.

 

As for difficulty of use, part is physical and part is mental. A 4x5, to say nothing of an 8x10, is a big rig that is often

comparatively heavy. I probably wouldn't backpack with a 4x5, but Ansel Adams backpacked with an 8x10, and he

was considerably smaller than I am. As to the mental part, a view camera is as manual as you can get. Nothing is

automatic. There are lots of ways to screw up. But it's fundamentally a pretty simple operation.

[sknowles]

<p>Like Jeff, I started in LF recently (Jan. 2006) and keep a <a href="http://www.wsrphoto.com/lfbloglist.html">blog</a> on the

thoughts. Nothing technical so much as thoughts or experience. Personally, I would seriously think about jumping into LF,

because it's not going to be as cheap or as quick as you may think. That's because sheet film isn't cheap ($4-5+ per sheet

film and processing, mistakes count too), and if the interests wanes, you have a bunch of stuff collecting dust.</p>

 

<p>Before you dive in,you might try Canon T-S lenses. They're also not cheap but they will give you some ideas of the work

and ideas of LF work and cameras, and help with digital images. Then if the interest is still there, find a LF camera to rent

or borrow for a weekend (come technical or community colleges have them for students).</p>

 

<p>That said, the rest of the responses covers it very well.</p>

[friedemann_pistorius]

<i>"What's involved in using a large format camera?"</i>

 

<p>Time and patience.

[erlend sæteren]

In large format the normallens is large (long). On 4x5 inch it is 150mm, on 5x7 210mm, on 8x10 300mm, on Canon 5d it

is 43mm. Imagine how things looks in a 200mm Canon-lens. Imagine that you like the look in the 200, but almost needs

the angle of a 35mm to cover the scene. The answer. You can use a 210mm with a camera that is large enough to cover

that scene. Of course this 210mm must project a bit wide to cover your film, and the largest f stop might be 5.6.

 

You can visualize some of this if you take lots of photos with a long lens from a scene that is too wide, and stitches

them together.

 

One nice thing with Lf is that you can get used equipment for 1000 dollars, and produce superquality.

Film is a bit expencive, so it is good to get a spotmeter. That will reduce the number of wrong exposures. Maybe the meter in your 5d is

good enough.