Large Format....Should I?

Gandhi

Gandhi

Suspended / Banned
Messages
4,666
Edit My Images
Yes
I've been looking at some large format cameras to have a play around with. I quite fancy the idea of being able to scan a 5x4 trannie and producing a 1Gb tiff file! I know the cost of film/processing/drum scanning is gonna be high (about £5 a frame for full process) and it's gonna be a humungous PITA to cart to locations. But this is planned on being a special occasion camera for when the landscape is a blinder.

I found a relatively cheap one

That should do whilst I'm learning the basics, I can use the d200 as a spot meter. I can't quite run to an ebony yet but I quite fancy this as an experiment.


Please, Somebody put me off before I buy something I really, really shouldn't.

Either that or could somebody suggest how I can get it delivered without the g/f seeing it!
 
Awesome! If you can stand the cost of feeding the thing JFDI! :thumbs:
 
I prefer to use the studio monorail Sinar F or the Horseman, even out in the field.

Just taken some advertising shots in the studio, on Fuji Provia 100F (RDPIII) absolutely superb stuff, and on Digital using the P25 back and 3 shots stitched.

Go on buy it you know it makes sense.

Tell the G/F is was only a few quid, you'll probably get away with that.
 
DONT DO IT!!!!!! Can you imagine what the GF will do if you start knocking around with a 5'4" trannie?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
 
I have been wanting to get a LF camera for ages, I think I eventually will buy one when I know I can afford to feed it :D
 
Hoodi said:
Do it.
Click to expand...
now!

:D:lol:

There is nothing like shooting on LF and that looks like a good camera. You might want to check out some of the ebony copies first though. I don't remember what the prices are like but cameras like the Shen Hao can be pretty good. As long as you lock them down tight before shooting.
 
This is the second time this item has been up on the bay so I'm hoping I can haggle him down a bit.

Will have a look at the Shen Hao stuff but I'm not sure I can stretch to new camera and they don't appear 2nd hand very often.

The budget price of this is what attracted me in the first place!

A friend of mine is gonna borrow his uni's LF camera tomoz for me to have a play with, so hopefuly that'll sway me in the right direction!
 
The camera you're looking at is very similar to the two I have -- but it's definitely on the pricey side in my experience. I have a mint Speed Graphic 4x5 for which I paid $175 US and a Press King 4x5 that shows a little external wear but works perfectly, for which I paid $125.

It's definitely an adjustment to get used to large format, as it's totally different than using any other kind of camera, but the results are more than worth it.

- CJ
 
With a f/4.7 127mm standard Kodak Ektar lens, not cosmetically perfect but free of defects and producing an excellent quality neg. Also included were three 4x6 film holders and a few filters. These days, I don't generally bid on any auction that doesn't include everything I need to make photographs, with the exception of film.

If you're really interested in large format photography and gear, I'd highly recommend www.apug.org as an invaluable and incomparable source of information and equipment. It's frequented by the likes of Simon Galley (head of Ilford), Les McLean (amazing photographer and printer), Tim Rudman (author of at least two books on toning), Sandy King (amazing darkroom master), and just about everyone else widely known in the film world. I was lucky enough to speak at a conference and do a gallery show with most of them last year in Toronto. I can guarantee that any film camera/equipment/other technical question you could ever have will be answered there. They've answered my bonehead questions thoroughly on a number of occasions. ;)

- CJ
 
When I used colour transparency film I always got it done by a lab. But as I only used colour when someone had commisioned a job and I was sure I would be paid that wasn't a problem.

For B&W, which was always either for fun or on spec with no guaranteed sale I did the processing at home. Its not expensive if you dish dev.

I made an audio tape which had a clock ticking in the background (so I could be sure the tape was still running even in pitch darkness) and recorded my voice counting out the time at 30 second intervals up to 10 mins or so.

Get a set of negs that require the same dev time and dilution and put them into the dev at 30 sec intervals. If you add a drop of wetting agent (or washing up liquid ) to the dev they dont stick. Put each new neg on the top of the pile. When the time is reached take the first one out from the bottom of the stack, and subsequent negs every 30 seconds. Dead simple even for 12x10 film sheets.

If you are using the zone system (and if not why not) you are unlikely to have more than 2 or 3 negs that need the same time/dilution but I have done 10 or 11 at a time with no problems. For big numbers you need to be sure there is enough dev for all the negs before it exhausts.
 
Messiah Khan said:
Quoted for truth. One day I will get a Large format camera, but not until I have the space to develop the shots myself.
Click to expand...
Its the enlarger that takes the space not the rest of the kit.
5x4 enlargers are big but one with a 12x10 head is HUGE. Mine was horizontal and actually had a rail system bolted to the floor to move the whole head in order to set print size.
 
You won't be able to use the meter in your D200. It factors in the focal length of the lens and the distance from the focal plane to the rear element of the lens automatically when making its calculation. The focal length of the large format unit will probably be different and the distance to the rear of the lens will be vastly different.
You will have to use a handheld meter; and do some calculations based on the distance from the rear of the lens to the focal plane of the camera and the focal length of the lens being used. If you don’t your exposure will be way off and at £5 a pop you don’t want that
 
I'm not sure I can get my head around that magellan.

If you point a meter at something (in this case, one in a d200) and it says 125th at f8, then it's 125th at f8.

If that's the exposure for the shot, then the type of camera, lens or format is not going to change that.
 
No; it's 125th at f8 with that lens at that focus range. If you change either; the exposure changes. Within the confines of a small 35mm SLR those changes may well be too small to register in the viewfinder or on the screen, but the camera will make the changes however small. Once you start dealing with the distances involved in large format they become much more significant. Handheld light meters are calibrated to assume you are using the "standard lens" for that format; focused on infinity. When focused on infinity the rear element of the lens is at its nearest point to the focal plane, focus closer and it moves away from the film, in the case of large format the movement is in inches; and the light fall off is huge.
 
Hi Gandhi,

you do realise that you need a WHOPPER of a PC or Mac – like an octo core, with 4 GB's of RAM – to process those sucker files, don't you?

A Wallmart Dell won't hack it.
 
Magellan said:
No; it's 125th at f8 with that lens at that focus range. If you change either; the exposure changes. Within the confines of a small 35mm SLR those changes may well be too small to register in the viewfinder or on the screen, but the camera will make the changes however small. Once you start dealing with the distances involved in large format they become much more significant. Handheld light meters are calibrated to assume you are using the "standard lens" for that format; focused on infinity. When focused on infinity the rear element of the lens is at its nearest point to the focal plane, focus closer and it moves away from the film, in the case of large format the movement is in inches; and the light fall off is huge.
Click to expand...

Good point. When you start to move the lens away from the film plane like that, which is also the case with macro bellows and extension tubes, you encounter the Inverse Square Law (of light) which means every time you double the distance you quadruple the exposure time.
 
in the case of large format the movement is in inches; and the light fall off is huge.
Click to expand...

OK, I'm back with you now. For the movement to really start making a significant difference though you'd have to be into some pretty close up stuff. On 5x4 anyway.

I have a little thingy that you place in the scene for very close up stuff and measure the size of it on the ground glass. On the back it lists the adjustment required for what ever size it would be on the film. Much easier than trying to do the math. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top