In praise of LF

[walter23]

I've just started with LF (got a shenhao and a 90mm a few weeks ago) and so far I'm very happy with it. The high cost per print (in terms of finances and time/effort) makes me really consider the value of any photograph I'm planning to take, and causes me to pause and reflect on my composition and change it much more often. I've shot a couple of very nice compositions on this camera that I may have missed otherwise with a more hasty shotgun digital approach. Perspective control is also a nice bonus.

There's another thing I've noticed in this format as well - gear purchases do not make me anxious. I'm coming from a DSLR (which I will still use as my primary travel camera and for events and stuff), and every time I bought a lens it was like a black box full of mysterious electronics and I was always anxious that it would be performing sub-par. The "bad copy" myth that gets perpetuated by a lot of DSLR-oriented forums really got my anxieties high every time I bought a lens. With large format, there are no secrets - everything is laid bare before you - the camera is as simple as it can get, the lenses are perhaps optically complex but mechanically very simple, there are no secrets and no fears of miscalibration.

Finally, the "viewfinder". I went from a 35mm SLR to an APS-C digital SLR and I was always extremely annoyed with the horribly tiny viewfinder on the latter. It's like looking at an image on your pinky fingernail and trying to assess composition and framing. I wanted to move up to a full frame digital SLR at some extremely high cost just because of this. Now the whole idea of a viewfinder has changed for me. Of course I was also shooting medium format TLRs, so I'm not entirely new to the idea of composition and focusing on a larger piece of glass, but there's just no comparison to the huge image you get to preview on your focusing screen. I imagine an 8x10 would get difficult, but at 4x5 I'm very happy.

So consider me converted, even if the film loading & processing is fiddly and the kit is heavy and huge - it's all part of the fun. I haven't even viewed a single negative yet - I've been fooling around with type 54 polaroids. I imagine once I see the detail in a negative or transparency I'll have even more praise for the format.

[Scott Davis]

Welcome to the darkslide. Yes- once you get used to the big groundglass, it's hard to go back. Don't look at 8x10 unless you're ready to "up"-grade (size that is). You'll become hopelessly addicted. And then very quickly you'll find yourself becoming covetous of ULF gear (11x14, 12x20, and other assorted odd sizes). All of a sudden, you'll be talking about contact prints and alt-processes.

Don't think of the size/weight as an obstacle to travel with LF - I just took a Canham 5x7 with me to Argentina, and someone else here just reported on taking an 8x10 to Paris (!!!). There's nothing quite like it - be prepared to spend 15 minutes giving history lessons/demonstrations for every five you spend actually taking a photo when you travel (I've found it isn't so much here in the US, but on the road, people are quite inquisitive and outgoing about such things).

You'll find your 'hit' ratio going way up once you start shooting LF seriously, because the whole process makes you slow down and think about everything, from framing and composition to exposure, shutter and aperture settings. One day you'll wake up and realize that you need a watch with a sweep second hand, to keep track of those 2' 54" exposures. Oh, and a 2' exposure won't seem outrageous anymore, either!