Well, Not medium format, and not digital...

[cox]

I have to share. My latest insane acquisition is a large format field camera. Yeah, a bellows camera. With film. Like you see in the old movies...

I was/am unhappy with my 35mm cameras for landscape work. It's not the lack of detail, though more would be better (hence 39MP digital backs for med format cameras), but rather the lack of depth of field. You just can't get a sharp shot from the camera to infinty with a 35mm SLR. If you stop down past f/22, you start losing sharpness to get DoF. The aperture starts acting like a pinhole, and whoops! less detail. :eek:

My choices were: multi-shot panoramas with longer lenses, MF film or digital, LF film or digital. Multi-shot panoramas are a reasonable option, so I bought a tripod head, and went to it. Fine, I can make, quickly, a 40MP panorama. But that still didn't fix the DoF problem. In fact, it makes it worse since you are using a longer lens, and have a commensurately shallower DoF. Still, you can get nice results if you shoot the right scenes, so I will definitely keep working on that... :cool:

If I use bigger format camera, then the aperture is not so small for the same EV, and you can stop down more before you get to diffraction problems with a small aperture. Well, then I might as well go for Big Lenses and Big Film rather than medium film and medium lenses. I could stop down to f/45, or more! Also, you can move the lens... I mean relative to the film plane. You can move up/down, tilt, swing, etc. Go read this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera) if you're interested. It has extrordinary control over framing, DoF, perspective...

Digital backs for med format and large format are prohibitively expensive, and many of them are 'scanning' backs. They have one strip of pixels that scan across the field of view. This takes a long time. One shot can take 1-2 minutes of exposure. A lot can change in a minute...

So I decided to go back to film. :eek:

The 4x5 was an economical choice. Big film sheets, lots of used equipment, and reasonable film/developing charges, as compared to 8x10 or the even larger formats. Also, a 4x5 camera is small enough that I can carry it, film, 3 lenses, and yet another tripod, into the field with all my 35mm gear. The result? I have some great big slides of Pidgeon Point Lighthouse, Grand Canyon, Mono Lake.... :D

Once I get a scanner, I'll add some shots from the camera, but here's a picture of the camera itself. I inadvertantly shot this while doing a panorama with my digital slr.

Besides, with the scanner, it's sort of digital, right? :p

http://www.dphoto.us/forumphotos/data/1613/Tachihara_4x5_sm_C_WY4D6403.jpg

[El Hacko]

I cant wait to see some of the pics Michael. In the age where everyone and everything is going digital I find it refreshing to see someone take a step back in an effort to capture what they really want to achieve. Interesting wikipedia article too! Have fun with your new toy! Let us know what it takes to operate this baby!
Bill

[lecter]

I've just sold all my MF gear.
Trying something new, something old.
Want to get back into Wildlife with Sao again.
Back to my comfort zone and in an area where we can shoot togehter.
MF and those type of persuits are very lonely.
:cool:

[Jeffphoto]

Tell us more about the camera. What is it that you got? Who makes it? I don't know enough about the large format equipment to recognize it by the photo you posted.

How did you go about selecting it, and where did you purchase it. Is it used, and if so why was the previous owner selling it.

Give us the juicy details! :)

[cox]

I've just sold all my MF gear.
Trying something new, something old.
Want to get back into Wildlife with Sao again.
Back to my comfort zone and in an area where we can shoot togehter.
MF and those type of persuits are very lonely.
:cool:
Very poetic, Rob, and all too true. I'm sure other people here have this experience... I've had many people say, 'I want to go on one of your trips with you.' And when they do, they hate it. No one wants to hike several miles, stand around for hours in the freezing cold, or baking heat, or rain or whatever, waiting for me to take a picture. You're lucky to have someone like Sao to share the wildlife shooting!

The large format camera is slow to set up and shoot. It takes at least ten minutes to unpack, level, frame, focus, set exposure, load film, and click. That's if I am rushing. Most times when I decide to use it, I set up on a framing I like, and I wait...

[510picker]

The large format camera is slow to set up and shoot. It takes at least ten minutes to unpack, level, frame, focus, set exposure, load film, and click. That's if I am rushing. Most times when I decide to use it, I set up on a framing I like, and I wait...

So I can assume we won't be seeing any birthday party snapshots taken with this :)

I admit I have no experience usin film and would find this overwhelming, but on the ohter hand the "gear junkie" in me finds it somewhat fascinating.

[cox]

Tell us more about the camera. What is it that you got? Who makes it? I don't know enough about the large format equipment to recognize it by the photo you posted.

How did you go about selecting it, and where did you purchase it. Is it used, and if so why was the previous owner selling it.

Give us the juicy details! :)
I tried to cover a your questions, but was necessarily brief (I am moving today), so please ask questions on anything else you may be curious about or want more detail about...


Camera Body
This is a Tachihara Field Camera. I bought it because of glowing recommendations from Ken Rockwell and others. It's made in Japan, by hand, from (as the manual states) 300-500 yr old Cherry wood, and has brass or brass plated hardware. It's quite pretty. It weighs about four pounds and folds into a little flat box-shape that is easy to carry. It even has a little leather handle. My girlfriend says it looks like an evening bag...

To use it, you unfold it and move the lens closer/further from the ground-glass back where you see the image. You need a loupe magnifier to make sure your focus is where you want it. Everything here is manual. No electronics. The shutter/aperture works off a clockwork mechanism, and is mounted to the lens. A shutter for each lens, no kidding. Then you slide a film holder under the ground glass, remove the dark-slide and trip the shutter. Didn't close the shutter after focusing? $2 mistake, one shot gone. It's a little unforgiving of mistakes in procedure. On the up-side, the film has pretty wide exposure latitude, so you get a break there. I use Velvia 100 for those great deep blue skies...

I picked it up new from Adorama for $700, because they were the only ones I could find who were stocking them. (I don't usually buy from Adorama because they are always closing for holidays. In this case I had to wait three extra days for the camera because of Rosh Hashanah. Last time, when I bought a polarizer, it was ten days wait for Passover. Don't get me wrong, Adorama, everyone should observe holidays, but hire some goyem to keep the business running! ;) End of Rant)

Lenses
Lenses are separately mounted on camera-specific plates that slide/clip into the front of the camera body. I have three; a 90mm f/8 Schneider wide angle, a 150mm f/5.6 Nikkor normal, and a 210mm f/5.6 Schneider telephoto. The cool thing is, you can use any large format lens from any manufacturer! No IS though... :D All bought used from KEH, because dealing with eBay sellers scares me. I need one longer lens, a 300mm probably.

Film/Operating Cost/Resolution
It uses 4" x 5" sheet film, in a plastic holder that accomodates two sheets, one on either side. The holder weighs about 8oz, so carrying 20 shots is about five pounds of extra weight. A sheet runs about $2, and then developing is about $4. $6 a shot is expensive until you think that a 40MP MF back runs about $30-40k. I'll have to shoot 7500-10,000 shots before I lose money. Besides, I can scan at 4800dpi, which will give a 19200x24000 image (460.8MP), 10x bigger than a Phase1 back! I'm going to need a bigger hard drive...

Accessories!
There are a bunch of accessories you need, of course. You need all those film holders, a 'dark cloth' to go over your head and a loupe magnifier for focusing. You need a really dark place to load film. In my case, an interior bathroom with a velvet backdrop hanging over the doorway to make sure no light gets thru the cracks in the door jamb. You also need a light table to look at your slides once you get some shots back! Oh, and a notebook full of slide holders to put them in for storage, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...

[FredG]

Can't wait to see the flight shots you get with it, Michael. Oh, did I miss something? Seriously, though ... I came upon a LF shooter at Bryce NP a few years ago. We watched him for the longest time, while he never took a picture. We then talked for a long while about his equipment and its usage. He let me take a peek and I got a kick out of the upside-down image in what I can only describe as a head-sized viewfinder. It was a very pleasant and very educational interlude. We watched for a while longer, and he still never clicked the shutter. From that, I've gathered it's a very contemplative and meticulous endeavor. It seems to suit your style. Knowing the wonders you work with 35mm, we're looking forward to seeing some of your LF results.

[cox]

...We watched him for the longest time, while he never took a picture..
Yup, it's a waiting game, for sure. Just the right light... Then shoot four exposures, and then pack up. Usually in the dark. :D

...Knowing the wonders you work with 35mm, we're looking forward to seeing some of your LF results.
Thanks, Fred. I appreciate that. I'll post some shots after I get a scanner. I'm still researching that.

[cox]

Ok, I know, it took me over a year to get to scanning large format slides. I just got my new scanner, an Epson V750 PRO. I loaded a couple of slides into the 4"x5" holder that comes with the scanner, tweaked the histogram, and I have digital pictures from the best photographic equipment 1940's technology has to offer. :p

Here's the first one, a shot of the Grand Canyon (which I am sure everyone is sick of seeing after all my recent panos) from Yavapai Point. Sunset shot, Velvia 100, scanned at 4800dpi. I have no idea what the aperture and shutter speeds were...

Scary big resolution: 20,876 x 16,701 = 348.6MP = BIG PRINTS :D Contrails are the bane of my existence...

http://www.dphoto.us/forumphotos/data/931/medium/Grand_Canyon_Yavapai_Sunset_sm_C_4X520070928-004.jpg

[lecter]

nice . . . .
My MF gear has passed hands again.
Even the loner found it lonely....
he he

[jpreston]

I've toyed with the idea of getting at least another MF camera if not a 4x5 myself. But, now with the 5DmkII out, I can get most of what I want in a MF/LF camera for about the same cash outlay. Though I have seen some ridiculously low prices on MF 6x4.5 gear lately.

[cox]

...Though I have seen some ridiculously low prices on MF 6x4.5 gear lately.
No joke. I just bought a used 4x5 Horseman 450 Bag Bellows camera for $310. Some of the other MF/LF deals are also not to be believed. Lenses for a few hundred $$, not a few thousand. I'm looking at LF as a complementary photo tool to my digital kit, but they do really different things. I'm surprised that so many MF/LF shooters have moved to 35mm exclusively.

[skagitswimmer]

You're inspiring me Michael. I have had a Linhoff 4x5 technica with 2 lenses, 20 film holders etc etc in boxes. I bought it when I was living in a national park east of edmonton in the mid 70's. Used it cost what was then a fortune to me. I have never been able to part with it. How do you like that scanner?

[cox]

You're inspiring me Michael. I have had a Linhoff 4x5 technica with 2 lenses, 20 film holders etc etc in boxes. I bought it when I was living in a national park east of edmonton in the mid 70's. Used it cost what was then a fortune to me. I have never been able to part with it. How do you like that scanner?
Technica's are supposed to be great cameras, you should pull it out again. :)

I like the scanner very much. Straightforward operation, and super-high quality scans. You can put the software in "professional" mode, which then allows you good control - change histogram, color balance, yada, yada, yada. The only gripe I have is that the slide holders are really flimsy. Convienient, but flimsy. I envision needing to buy replacements for the ones that become casualties of my ham-handedness... Fortunately, the 4x5 holder looks to be the most robust of the bunch. Overall=thumbs-up.

[cox]

My most recent effort is a composition of two frames, one exposed for the scene, one exposed for the moon. I really enjoy the colors that Velvia film renders in landscapes.

http://www.dphoto.us/forumphotos/data/931/medium/California_Pidgeon_Point_Lighthouse_moon_edge_sm_C _4X520070922-001.jpg

And, a recent photo at Natural Bridges National Monument. This is a natural rock bridge eroded out of a canyon. There are several of these in the park, well worth seeing, but it's sort of equidistantly isolated from anything else in south central Utah. Love that sky...

http://www.dphoto.us/forumphotos/data/931/medium/Utah_Natural_Bridges_National_Monument_Owachomo_Br idge_Sunset_sm_C_T4x5V20081130_004.jpg

[wcrosman]

One might think you're getting serious about this thing we know as photography. ;)