Large Format Poll

[Saulius]

All the discussion about what is large format photography got me thinking that maybe a couple polls would be of interest to many to see what the general consensus is of this forums’ users. Sorry if the wording isn’t the best.

[Walter Calahan]

I consider I'm shooting LF when I use my 4x5 and 8x10 pinhole cameras. They are not traditional view cameras.

[naturephoto1]

I presume roll film backs such as 6 cm X 12 cm on 4 X 5 and 6 cm X 17 cm on 4 X 5 and 5 X 7 cameras would be acceptable.

Rich

[Steven Barall]

Please restate your second option. What's a digital file that is 4X5 or larger????

[Ron Marshall]

To me LF means any size sheet film.

[Ole Tjugen]

Digital files have no size as such, so how do we decide?

I'll go with the Germans: LF starts at 100 square centimeters. Whether that is film or some other capture medium doesn't matter.

[walter23]

I think the common definition would basically be as follows, and this is how I've learned to think of it:

4x5 film or larger in any type of camera (view, SLR, pinhole, box), or 6xWhatever in a roll film back specifically on a view camera. Digital on a view camera would also be large format (e.g. a scanning back or a stitching SLR adapter back), but equivalent sized digital files composed by stitching from an SLR with a panoramic head would not be. Ie, the common denominator for the exceptions to the 4x5"+ sheet film definition is the view camera, because obviously the view camera and LF photography are virtually synonymous in a majority of cases.

Of course these are arbitrary categories, but without arbitrary categorization of things all of the human experience would be a mush of raw sensory experience

I don't typically get upset when people break from expectations but the slew of recent non-LF (as defined above) posts in the picture threads kind of defeats the purpose of having a LF-oriented forum. There are plenty of other places for digital and non-LF film photography.

[Saulius]

Well I wrote these polls last night right before going to bed. On this and the other poll I wrote I had more wording to go with each possible vote but was limited by 80 characters to a line. So I quickly redid it but in retrospect should have put more thought into it when I wasn't so tired. My intention was not to simply stir the pot or create divisions but to just get a better feel for the opinions of forum members. I thought a poll would give more numbers as most people just read posts and don't actually write responses. If anyone cares to they can make a new poll, better worded and structured and we can just kill these.

[Clay Turtle]

Really a tough question in todays world. Naturally I would say any 4x5 or larger format.
But then the other day I was thinking about panaromic 8x10 format as a roll film back?
So one could shoot similar photos as those doing 4x10 except on medium roll film, would it be LF or medium format?

[Alan Davenport]

I've started making all of my photos digital, with the resolution set to 1 pixel per inch. That way I only need 4 pixels by 5 pixels to qualify as large format. Ain't nuthin' to this large format...