Is bigger always better?

[Sergio Caetano]

Quimby,
I use 4x5 because we don't have here where I live ( Sao Paulo, Brasil ) 8x10 stuff. For me bigger is better (always).

[Gem Singer]

Hi Ted,

Just remember, the true measure of a man is not the size of his CAMERA! I'm eleven years older than you, and after twenty-five years of using 4x5 field cameras, I'm hell bent on mastering the 8x10 format. Taking the 8x10 camera out into the field is a logisyical challenge, but it's a heck of a lot of fun.

[Francesco]

Quimby,

I only contact print so an 8x10 is an absolute must for me. I am younger than you but that is not the reason why I hike with my pack 5 times a week. This year alone I have exposed over 300 sheets of 8x10. It is so much fun! And it is heavy! I have one rule: I hike only with one lens and 4 holders. That is it. If you are enlarging then perhaps it is a different story.

I love the 8x10 so much that I have sold my Leica, Hassie and Master Technica so that all I have is my 8x10. If anything, to force me to use it more (lol).

Francesco (www.cicoli.com)

[Brian Ellis]

I use 4x5 and 8x10. As between comparable quality 4x5 and 8x10 negatives I don't think bigger is better until you start making prints in at least the 20x24 range. At smaller enlargements I see no difference between prints from 4x5 and 8x10 negatives. Since I no longer do alternative processes I don't use my 8x10 nearly as much as I used to and when I do it's just because I enjoy using it, not because anything I photograph "cries out" for 8x10.

[CP Goerz]

I find that when I go to a new 'photo area' I use the 8x10/8x20 and mine the landscape for all its worth, after a number of visits though I seem to get more pics on the 4x5/5x7 film sizes. When I revisit those areas already done/redone over in large format or don't expect anything interesting I only take a 2 1/4 and 35mm for the less than spectacular or the interesting little filler shots that aren't worth a big sheet of film.

I do love to use the 8x20 etc but its expensive and large/heavy and not always necessary.

CP Goerz

[Michael Mutmansky]

Ted,

Right now, I find that bigger is always better, because I figure that as I get older, I will eventually have to put aside the large cameras in favor of cameras that I can more easily work with in the field. That is hopefullly a long way away.

I figure that as long as possible, I will use the largest camera that I can use in the field that meets the particular vision I have for the location. On some trips, that will be a 7x17, on some it may be an 8x10, and when I need to travel light, it will be a 4x5. If I wish to do pt/pd, I can use either of the large cameras, but if I want to make silver, then the logical camera is 8x10, since I can enlarge from that.

The above all falls under the realm of B&W photography. If I have a specific need for color, then the 4x5 or maybe medium format rules the day due to availablilty of film. It may be that you are not as driven to make B&W images right now, and so your 8x10 sits in a corner while the 4x5 and MF cameras get the use.

You can eliminate some of the pressure to use your 8x10 camera by getting rid of the rest of your equipment! If you only had one camera, you would (probably) use it, regardless of the size/format. Fundamentally, this is a significant distinction that you have to decide for yourself about, but if you wouldn't use it as your ONLY camera, then it is definitely time to get rid of it in favor of the smaller cameras.

---Michael

[Ted Harris]

Thanks for all the thoughtful posts,



For the moment the 8x10 isn't leaving the kit. I was just very curious to see if others sometimes went through the dame decision process that I have gone through and thanks especially to John for your comments. I suppose that part of the equation is that ther really is no reason to use 8x10 all the time but just in case ... evbery once in a while ... it might be nice to have around. It is really not a question of weight with the Compact II but it is definitely a question of convenience. I'll pack it up and take it with me this aftyernoon when I catch the tail end of the fall foliage in the NH Lake District.

[CXC]

Brutal honesty time. I have a bunch of different-sized LF cameras, that I make a point of using, and I have a blast with them all. But in terms of results, I make better images in medium format (Veriwide, Mamiya TLR). I rarely print bigger than 11x14, and I find the technical quality comparable.

[Bill_1856]

There is a certain pleasure in using fine tools, whether it's a Snap-on torque wrench or an 8x10 view camera, and the satisfaction in knowing that you have used the right tool for the right job. Is it the jobs that have changed, or your emotional response to doing them? Ansel Adams and Brett Weston both changed from using view cameras to 6x6 reflexes, not because they got old and couldn't handle the large ones (they could both have had helpers to carry their equipment for them) but because the smaller cameras could do the (same) jobs and gave them pleasure in accomplishing it. On the other hand, after a lifetime of exciting work many small format photographers give up their Leicas and Nikons and enjoy the contemplative pleasure of a large view camera. I think of Don McCullin, the great war photographer, who quit and began photographing the English countryside, and even Cartier-Bresson who gave up the Leica completely and turned to drawing instead. I don't think that it's your age which is the problem, but your outlook. Only YOU can evaluate why that has changed, and what to do about it. (PS, want to sell your Compact II to an even older geezer?)

[David F. Stein]

Great responses all round, esp. about formats we choose to use and why. Still, on the technical side, I wish film carrier systems had advanced while large format and traditional processes were in their heyday. It would be great to have lighter weight, more rigid, less cumbersome film holder systems. And to this day, with ultra-sophtisicated and expensive medium format camera systems, roll film hasn't really changed since George Eastman's day. Best, Ted and others.