rob_barker

Can you have them processed in Italy and posted afterwards?

I agree with Ted: Text and pictures are not the best learning media for an essentially practical skill. Assuming you are a competent 35mm or MF photographer already, the view-camera specific theory is best covered once you are familiar with using the kit.

 

Take a look at www.largeformatphotography.info which will give you most of the knowledge that an online workshop would, ask any questions you want in the forum and then look at attending a proper workshop. Watch this forum and the lfinfo one, and check out www.f32.net, and you should pick up most of what is being organised as the months go by.

 

I hope you get on OK anyway - welcome to the large format community..

Some great stuff there Mike - an enjoyable site to visit!

Front rise is all that was needed to avoid converging verticals until recently. Now you'll get a good result with a Fuji S2 and a photoshop distortion plugin. Perspective control used to be the sole domain of view cameras but, in my humble opinion, those days are now gone.

 

There are three current reasons to go into large format photography:

 

Firstly, and by far the most significant, is the ability to place the plane of sharp focus where you want it - typically horizantally to allow near and far objects to appear perfectly sharp. You cannot achieve this with anything other than a view camera.

 

Secondly, view cameras slow you down. They make the process of taking a photograph an artform in itself. Mastering the tradecraft involved in achieving consistency with a view camera is immensely satisfying. It refines your previsualisation, technical knowledge and skill to a point where much of the staisfaction of producing an image is derived from the journey it involves. A successful final print is often just the icing on the cake.

 

Thirdly, the image quality when producing large prints is very impressive. This shows itself obviously in terms of sharpness, and subtely in tonal and colour gradation. You have to enlarge very large to clearly beat medium format though, and the visible difference is, quite frankly, marginal.

"center of perspective"

 

This is an interesting concept. Does it mean that, if you've used front shift to avoid leaving your reflection in the shop window that you need to view the print from off to one side? ;-)

My underwater gear goes in pelicase when travelling abroad which I put inside a Karrimor rucksack to carry through airports and "disguise" from the baggage handlers.

Can I assume that 5" is the physical size of the filters? I seem to remember reading somewhere that Lee will custom-make filters to unusual sizes. Don't hold me to it, but it may be worth emailing them. The only address they publish on the website is sales@leefilters.com.

 

Or you could always use the one and two stop filters together!

I agree with DP that it's common to use too much tilt to begin with. For a 210mm lens, on a tripod 5 feet above the ground, the tilt needed to run the plane of focus along the ground would be about 8 degrees - tilt the lens forward by that amount and focus a distant object and you should be nearly there. A polaroid back comes in very handy at this point to see how you did.. :-)

 

Some excellent references have been provided in this thread, particularly Leonard's essay which I hadn't seen before and will get stuck into after work this evening, but to add my two penneth, I find Merkliger's addendum to "Focussing the View Camera" the most accessible. It can be found here:

 

http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/FVCADNDM.pdf

I certainly wouldn't fall out with a 90mm as a first lens provided that architecture and landscape are your early goals. If more general photgraphy is on the menu, a 135 or 150mm may be better.

 

Have you considered renting a 90 and a 150 for a weekend to see how you get on?

 

If you go for a 90, try and get a Super Angulon - a scruffy but functional one will be close to your budget and will serve you very well. The same would apply to a Symmar or Sironar 150mm f5.6 if you decide on something a little longer.

 

All the best with it anyway!

I'm with Jim on this one. The thing produces tack-sharp pictures, is easy to carry and never runs out of coverage, on 5x4 at least.

I hope that Neil won't mind me saying that he put in many, many hours of work to index the many uncategorised postings that were here when he became lead moderator. This work has made the archive a much more useful resource and we all owe Neil a huge vote of thanks.

 

Brian - can I suggest one of those nice hero icons for Neil for when he does drop by?

The creative control that the ability to accurately place the plane of sharp focus gives is the primary advantage for me. Stopping down to increase depth of field isn't an equivalent. The sharpness and tonal gradation are bonuses, although a good MF or digital shot skilfully enlarged can be almost a match in my humble opinion.

 

I, personally, enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

An ideal tripod for 5x4 is the Gitzo 1325 with a low profile head (like the G1370M) It keeps the centre of gravity low and hence the whole plot stable, it is light and yet rigid as a girder. It has twist lock legs though and would be a pain for 35mm work.

 

A Manfrotto 055 with an 029 head would fit the bill and, although a little heavier and less rigid that the Gitzo, it is considerably cheaper. It'll be called a Bogen something or other if you're in our former colony across the pond! ;-)

I understand that 300 dpi for up to 20x16" and 256 dpi or thereabouts for larger print sizes is a good rule of thumb. For a linear enlargement factor of 10 you can add a zero to the dpi number and scan the trannies at that resolution - in other words, 3000 dpi scans will give you all the detail you need. The final file size will depend on the colour mode and the file type, any compression used etc.

Corr, no need to shout old boy! I'll mail the powers that be and let them know.

Holly

 

Just for reference this forum deals with Large Format photography, i.e. using view cameras and (usually) 5"x4" sheet film or larger. I'm not sure that you have posted in the right place.

 

No matter though - it's good to see that you have some useful tips.

 

I'll delete the thread in a couple of weeks to give you a chance to see the reples - that way it will keep the LF forum archives nice and tidy.

Let me know if this problem persists Tim and I'll raise it with photo.net.

I simply think it's time to move on and get back to talking about large format photography.

Thank you for the message David and welcome back.

 

I have taken quite a bit of action today to remove material from the forum due to personal insults that some messages contained. Neil and I will continue to do this to ensure that the forum remains friendly and useful.

 

Robust, good quality debate is fine. If everyone agreed with everyone else then life would be very boring. Personal insults and obscenities are out though.

 

I hope the position is clear.

 

End of thread now please folks.

 

Rob Barker (Co-moderator)

And a third! A different reason this time.

 

Paul Owen's post regarding the f32.net Fall Workshop has been removed as the workshop does charge a fee. The recent commercial threads thread clarified this position - it's against photo.net policy so that's that.

 

This one left me in an awkward position since I am involved in the organisation of this particular workshop, albeit as an unpaid assistant. I want to make this point clear in the interests of transparency

Further to this the "copyright" thread has also been withdrawn. My apologies to the original poster but the useful content of the thread is all in the archives anyway.

 

Anno has been banned from posting until 1st October 2004. Neil and I will simply not tolerate the level of insult and obscenity that was posted.

 

Rob Barker (Co-moderator)

John Downie's thread has been removed due to his choice to include

personal insults in his initial question. I apologise to those forum

members who spent time responding to the question asked. There was

nothing in the thread that isn't in the archive. I equally apologise

for not catching this one more quickly.

 

To be clear: Personal insults are not tolerated in this forum. Keep

it friendly and constructive please.

 

John has been banned from posting for a month.

 

Rob Barker (Co-moderator)

Matthew

 

The "carrying equipment" category is there for that very reason :-).

 

Rob the mod.

David

 

I'd give my eye teeth to see a proper print of that shot. It looks amazing.

 

Fuji UK have kindly given me a sample batch of Velvia 100F and I will be posting a review here soon with particular emphasis on reciprocity performance, high-contrast scene handling, skin tone reproduction and mixed lighting conditions (including flourescent lighting).

 

Rob (Co-mod)

Another vote here for LowePro back packs. My super trekker carries an Ebony, 3 or 4 lenses, 10 DDS, darkcloth, changing bag, meter, Metz, 2 lastolites, complete Lee filter system, meter , loupe, big tupperware box of polaroid with back and several boxes of film and still has room for a flece, gore-tex jacket, sandwiches and a flask. My tripod fixes to the back very neatly. It has a pukka expedition bergan back system, padded waist strap and chest strap.

 

I was quite sceptical about them before I treid one, being a die-hard Billingham boy. I'd shudder to be without it now.