Large Format

[neeksgeek]

Anybody on DU shooting large format film (4x5" or larger)? I have a Cambo SCX monorail and I'm doing my own black and white with it. Would love to know if there are any others here who use this sort of camera. Thanks!

[Major Nikon]

1. I haven't even shot medium format for many years

Are you doing large format for a particular purpose, or as a hobby?

[NV Whino]

2. I have a 4x5 Speed Graphic

Which currently resides in VA. It was my father's, and I used it for a few times when I still had a darkroom. It took a lot of pre planning to shoot. I'm a much more spontaneous shooter so would probably never use it again even if I had a place for a darkroom.

[neeksgeek]

3. Several reasons

I have worked as a commercial photographer (I don't do that anymore), and have my degree in "Technical Photography" - i.e. we spent a lot of time on view cameras. At this point I would say it's the art, the "zen" of using large format. Also, I like to make big prints - 11x14 or larger if possible - and 35mm doesn't do that well enough for me. Medium format does, and I have a roll back for the Cambo. I used to have an RB67 but I sold that to buy the Cambo because I really need the camera movements.

I have a couple of lenses that are specifically designed for macro photography on large film (not expensive lenses, mind you). Both are off a Polaroid copy camera; one is a 105mm Tominon that will easily cover 4x5 at 1:1 or greater magnification, and the other is a 35mm Eurygon that is optimized for extreme closups on large format, as much as 5:1 magnification. I photograph the miniature scenes my wife makes and for this alone the ability to tilt, shift, or swing the lens - any lens - is very helpful. The same lenses are great for closeups of plant forms.

The only "normal" lens I have is an ancient Bausch & Lomb Rapid Rectilinear in a Kodak shutter. This lens came off a folding Kodak Autographic camera that was trashed. It's capable of pretty good images, and has a focal length of about 140mm, maximum aperture somewhere around f/8. The Cambo rarely leaves the immediate vicinity of my house or yard. It's quite heavy, as is the tripod I use it on. I'd like to get a field camera but money is tight. For street photography or anything else where I need to carry a light load, I use a Yashica Lynx 5000e 35mm rangefinder or my wife's Canon Rebel K2 35mm SLR.

Here is my Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/78968947@N05/

Some of these photos were made with the Cambo.

[Major Nikon]

4. Macro on large format sounds interesting

With APS-C I'm pretty much limited by diffraction to f/8 or f/16 to produce decent results. I'm assuming with large format you can go to f/32 or better, but I'm not sure how small of an aperture the equipment allows.

I'd like to go back to medium format someday for the stuff I do at work, but the price of digital backs is going to have to come down a bit.

[neeksgeek]

5. Macro on Large Format

Well, I haven't done any testing or calculations of diffraction on this camera; but I can tell you that my Tominon 105mm stops down to f/32. The Rodenstock 35mm Eurygon is strictly a very-close-up lens anyway and depth-of-field with it is super-limited. It only stops down to f/16, but of course at macro distances the effective apertures are several stops slower due to extension.

However, there is something else to consider! With a monorail camera, you get front and rear movements (tilt, swing, rise/fall, shift). Every lens is literally a "perspective control" lens, to use Nikon's terminology, when you use a view camera. The only limitation is the image circle of the lens and the physical limits of the bellows. You can put the plane of focus pretty much wherever you want, so aperture is less of a limitation on your depth of field. This is exactly why I switched to a monorail camera.