New article: the 5x7 format

[Peter McHugh]

Oops:

re above - I meant red green and blue filters

[Ernest Purdum]

Thank you for this article.

One point that I think is a strong argument for 5X7 is that reducing backs are cheaper than lenses. If you can use more than one film size, your lenses become more versatile. A lens that permits extensive use of movements on 4X5 becomes a wide angle on 5X7.

[Clay Turtle]

thank you for the excellent article and timely to boot. I just got a cherry wood back & in the process of adapting a bender 4x5 with the 5x7 back. I will need to extend the bellows length & the rail. (any tips there would be gratefully accepted as well like how long a rail?) One of the dilemma's I found is getting color film so where can I get the 13mmx18mm holders? Haven't checked out your link yet but I will.

Thank You again for the info.

[Pronier Jean Claude]

Many thanks for you interesting and well documented article.
I was very often hesitating between my 4x5 camera and my nice but too heavy 8x10 Zone VI.
I read and read this article and recently sell back the 8x10 and ordered a 5x7 Canham, I must say that I already had an 5x7 Ozaka.
5x7 contact are a little bit small but we can concentrate on the printing quality and i'ts an exciting challenge.
thanks again and now the bag will be lighter.

[Ken Lee]

Here is a link that works: http://www.largeformatphotography.info/5x7.html

[Capocheny]

5x7 is a great format, frought with inconvenience. To choose 5x7 as one's sole format seems to me an exercise in masochism.

Jay

Hi Jay,

Would you kindly elaborate on the above statements?


QT,

Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of a time accessing the article. Every time I click on the link... it says:

"Safari can’t open the page “http://localhost/5x7.html” because it could not connect to the server “localhost”."

I'm wondering if anyone else using Safari is experiencing the same difficulty?

Thanks

Cheers

[sanking]

The link is http://www.largeformatphotography.info/5x7.html. I fixed the one in the original post, too.

Very good article, QT. Concise but mentions all of the major pros and cons of this format. I have been using 5X7 format for over two decades and really love the wider aspect compared to 4X5. Like many people I came to large format from 35mm and 6X9 and was lucky to immediately discover 5X7. My 5X7 outfit, which consists of an old Nagaoka 5X7 with 105mm, 180mm, 210mm, 300mm and T-450mm lenses, and ten holders, weighs less than 30 lbs and fits in a small Tenba backpack that a reasonably healthy person could backpack easily on mountain trails.

Selection of 5X7 over 4X5 makes even more sense to me today than it did twenty years ago. At that time the only option was to print the negatives with an enlarger, and 5X7 enlargers cost then a lot more than the more readily available 4X5 units. Nowdays, with the ability to scan and either print directly from the files or make digital negatives, 5X7 imakes a lot more sense to me than 4X5.

The only major drawback that I can see relative to 4X5 is the limited choice of color emulsions and the expense of having color fim developed. As for B&W, there are still plenty of great films available.

Sandy King

[paulr]

Nice article. I think in the end 5x7 is my favorite format. Sad, because i've never used it!

[Michael Daily]

with the advant of high-end --> advent
5x7 gear is not much more heavier or bigger --> delete "more", insert "so" after "not"
While five years ago there was only a couple of field 5x7 --> "were"
currently imported by J and C, nclude Forte --> include
I chose to cut myself the film from 8x10. --> ...to cut the film myself

Thanks for the article. I also use 5x7 and I always learn much from reading whatever you write. As are many others, I am a big fan. Please keep up the teaching.
Michael

[Ted Harris]

My usual addendum regarding 5x7 emulsions. The issue is more one of getting the film in North America than it is of actual availability. A wide variety of emulsions are availabe in 13x18 and widely sold in Europe. See the chart at http://www.viewcamera.com/pdf/2006/5...8filmtable.pdf . You just need to work a bit harder when ordering film.

Right now I have Provia, Agfa RSXII, E100G, EPR and EPP in my freezer.