Handheld 4x5 - what an experience!

[Patrik Roseen]

(I posted this as a respons to the question about the Linhof grip, but I think it might be worth its own item. Hand held 4x5 seems to stir up some emotions I have noticed from other threads but here is my own thoughts based on experience...)

Wow, what an experience!

I did my first attempt at doing handheld with my Linhof Technika III (without grip) equipped with an Angulon 90mm and universal finder using normal sheet film holders and a 'simple' lightmeter (not the normal spot I usually use). I did 6 sheets (or so I thought) over a 1.5 hour period (no bracketing) while strolling around the old-town of Stockholm.

As the temperature dropped during the evening the rangefinder lost some of its flexibility, but I found that it was instead quite easy to adjust focus on the groundglass and just slide in the holder to take the picture while aiming through the universal finder. (I will probably bring a blackcloth the next time to improve visibility when necessary)

Not using the tripod meant that I could not use any movements but instead the equipment was much lighter to carry and I really got closer to people (and at the same time felt that it was easier to avoid the most disturbing 'talkers'...). I managed to shoot at speeds down to 1/2 second handheld with excellent result. I wore a jacket with many large pockets so that I did not have to reach into the backpack all the time.

So, did I learn anything new?

Well, you really have to tell yourself to slow down. I found myself doing all the classical mistakes that I had not ever done before since I started LF 12 months ago. For instance, as I had taken one picture I forgot to put back the darkslide, which was now in one of my pockets when it usually is in my left hand shading the lens, before attempting to remove the filmholder. The worst mistake was the double exposure I made. After shooting a big cruiser ship I happened to run into a group of people dressed up in 17th century costumes and wigs on their way to a party...I got the opportunity to 'frame' them and I blew it!!! In the rush I messed up the meaning of the white and black side of the darkslide and did the most disastrous double exposure ever. @%¤#!!?"## (Man, can you imagine ...people in 17th century costumes in the old town of Stockholm and I ...)

Anyway, thanks for all your advice and good luck doing handheld. I for one will do it again...tomorrow. Thanks, Patrik

[Wayne Crider]

Your enthusiasm gets my blood stirring. It's been awhile since I've shot my Graphic handheld . Usually when on the street I was always very much aware of being watched by people intrigued with what I was carrying, and that was a little off putting in itself as I prefer to go unnoticed, an obvious benefit of a smaller camera. Now my shortest lens is a 135mm not the 90 I use to shoot, and dof as well as steady camera holding is a different thing. Maybe once my Auto Graflex is up and running I'll join the large camera street shooters again. Best of luck, and post an image when possible.

[Donald Qualls]

I'm in process of purchasing a nice, fully functioning Anniversary Speed. I've got 135/4.5 Tessar and Skopar lenses I can mount immediately as well as my 150/5.6 Componon, which can act as a 265/12.5 with the front group removed. My whole intention in getting this camera is to use it the way it was made to be used: hand held, on the go, and the 135 mm will probably serve most for that. It's tempting, however, to get a #0 sized lens board and mount my 105 mm Apotar. There's no way it'll cover 4x5 -- 3x4 is probably close to its limit, and usable sharpness for enlarging won't really go far beyond the 6x9 of it's original camera -- but the mostly circular image with the very soft edges could have some interesting appeal, too. Longer term, I do hope to get a 90 mm Angulon for this camera. Remember to drop the bed, tilt back the standard, and go to maximum front rise...

Meantime, maybe I should go practice with my Ideal(s). These were press cameras before the Speed was invented -- I only need to clean the shutter and check the bellows on the one with 150/4.5 Tessar, and the one with 135/4.5 Tessar is ready to run at a moment's notice, with 14 loaded plate holders in the bag. These were made to be used hand held, like the Speed, though mine don't have rangefinders...

[Brian Ellis]

You made successful 1/2 second exposures hand-holding a 4x5 camera that that didn't even have a hand grip? That's incredible.

[Patrik Roseen]

Brian, please note that I'm using the Angulon 90mm...which I think corresponds to something like 24mm on a 35mm camera. I did not really want to use this slow speed but as the light was low and I also needed to stop down I had no other choice. I'm a little bit surprised myself but I could really feel that it was steady during the exposure. The Technika resting on my two hands, my elbows on my chest and the camera resting on my face as I'm looking through the universal finder. The weight of the camera makes it just sit there.

[Patrik Roseen]

I have carefully studied the negative with the 1/2 second exposure time now that it has dried during the night and it is actually very sharp. The scenery is a building with lots of windows (13 in 5 rows with various heights) shot straight on from about 30-40m distance. Between me and the building there is water and there is a dock 'on the other side like a pavement for people to walk (although there are no people in the picture), there is a starway to the far left leading down to the dock. My position is similar to the third floor so there is no need to restore falling lines. The evening light is coming in from the right side visualizing the structure of the wall with straght horisontal lines and a mish-mash of diagonal lines. Have you seen it before ;-). The reason to stop down was to make the image sharp as the angulon is said to be soft in the corners. I'm using efke PL100 at EI50 so I ended up using f/11 and 1/2s and as expected it is a bit soft in the outer edges but f/22 would have meant 2s.

Logic tells me the picture should not be this sharp - Maybe I made a 'hole in one on a par 5' likely not to happen again ... or else... I've found myself a new driver! Kind regards, Patrik.

[Joseph O'Neil]

In theory, most of my urban back[acking with my 4x5 is done sans tripod, so technically that may count as "hand held". Tripods can draw a lot of attention, sometimes good, sometimes not so good. But a graphic camera sitting on top of a picnic table, park bench, retaining wall, etc, draws little attention, and allow syou very slow speeds with nice sharp images. The hand held part is my one hnad on top of the camera, pressing down, holdign it in place while I trip the shutter release. I've used lenses up to my 380mm this way, but as a genernal rule, regardless of focal length of lens, the physically smaller the lens, the easier it is to use. I've only used my 380mm once without tripod. Just becasue you can do it doesn't mean you always want to.

Another hand held technique is to lean against a wall/fence/telephone pole, etc, then shoot. This is an area where I seldom go above my 135mm. Using a monopod may not count as hand holding, but is pretty darned close, IMO, and worth looking into if you have never tried it before. No problem using a 210mm with a monopod.

The "secrect" to hand held shooting is to meter your situation well ahead of time, and memorize one setting. For example, B&W film, using my spot meter, under sunny skies outside, lets say I assign my "normal" exposure as 30th sec at F16 before I even pull my camera out (depending on your film , etc, your rmilage may vary). Once you have that one setting burned into your head, if a big cloud moves overhead, you automatically add a stop or two, of if you want deeper depth of feild, or expose for shawows, etc. It's not as difficult as it sounds - if you have trouble remembering, then get a piece of masking tape, and write your value on the side of your camera or backpack case if you have too.

Another thing to do, to help with quicker focusing, is mark on your rails using something that isn't going to leave a permenant scar, the places where your front lensboard stops when using some of your favourite lenses when focused at infinity. For example, I pretty much know exactly where to pull out my lens board for my 90mm, 135mm and my 180mm lenses. You might already be walking around with your camera open, lens mounted, ready to shoot, but if not, or even if you want change a lens for a situation, it can be done quickly then. As for focusing close up, but not too close up, why I chose infinity is that for most lenses of say 135mm and smaller, if you are focused at infinity already, and something good comes close up, well you can always stop down to F22 or more real quick and fire away. Unless your target is closer than say 10 feet, your chances of getting everything into view are very good. If you want to shoot something say - on average - closer than ten feet hand held, take time to focus correctly.

One last thought - when hand holding any camera, not just 4x5, but 35mm and 120 (maybe even those 8x10 hobos too - but I've never tried that myself), it is the natural tendency to point a camera slighty forwards and down a wee bit when you shoot. This is because of several reasons, some of them physiological - bend your head down to your chest, then bend it back and look at the celing - which feels more comfortable right now? Anyhow, as a gernal rule, excpetions not withstanding, your tendency is pointing down - so wqhat I do, when hand held shooting, is pre-set my front standard to have a little bit of rise - say 3/8ths or half and inch. Agian, your milage may vary, but doing this tends not so much to correct the angle you are shooting, but allows you to get what you want to see onto your film. Couple of times I chopped the tops of heads off of people (not litterally mind you when I first started shooting hand held, and using a bit of front rise compensates for that very nicely.

good luck

joe

[CXC]

Patrik's story about failing to shoot the costumed folks passing by captures in a nutshell why I think LF is not the right tool for street shooting. There was an opportunity of short duration that he missed, because he was using the wrong tool.

I'm assuming here that the goal is to get a usable image of a fleeting event. In that case, just about any 120 or 35mm or even digital camera would have had a good chance at success.

Of course if the goal requires a large negative, like for contact printing, then my logic is irrelevant and/or wrong. Similarly if the goal is to have fun shooting with a big old camera.

Now that I think about it, there are occasions when shooting landscapes from a tripod, where I've missed the shot due to the light changing faster than I could shoot it. Maybe I'll start carrying my little digicam as backup, for when any shot is better than no shot.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Just seems like a matter of practice to me. In this case it was lack of practice handling filmholders. That's easy enough to work out. Somehow the old press guys managed to capture a lot of fleeting moments when press cameras were the considered the best tool for the job. It's not as if they've become worse tools in the meantime. We've just become less practiced at using them.

[Terence Spross]

While its true that the mass of the camera causes it to be more steady allowing longer exposures that is countered by the potential of enlarging more with LF negatives. If you are only contact printing, then yes, a steady hand will allow a 1/2 sec exposure with the 90mm lens. But you can tie a 15 pound weight to your 35mm camera with a 24 or 28mm lens and do the same thing ( 1/2 sec) enlarging to 4x5. This is especially true if the weight is spread out over a distance like a barbell to say the size of your 4x5. Try it and see.

The advantage to a 4x5 negative should be the ability to make sharp large enlargments and that requires a tripod or a lot shorter exposure.

I do appreciate your enthusiasm and understand that people react to camera the size of a LF and if that is what it takes to capture people then that is the end to a means. However, the inability to forget putting in a dark slide and the speed with composing is one of the main reasons news photographers quit using Graflex cameras a long time ago. Since I would make the same mistake I have reserved LF shooting for landscapes where I can take my time, or studio work.