A half darkslide mask for 4x10" on an 8x10" camera is a lot less bulky than a 4x10" back and additional holders for the occasional pano, and you get two frames on one sheet.
A half darkslide mask for 4x10" on an 8x10" camera is a lot less bulky than a 4x10" back and additional holders for the occasional pano, and you get two frames on one sheet.
Where can I find a half darkslide mask? and will it fit all film holder types?Originally Posted by David A. Goldfarb
I started with a 4x5 and lenses at 90mm and 150mm. I moved up to 8x10 because I wanted to make larger contacts. I realized that the 8x10 is so much easier to compose on and feel what is happening. I gave the 4x5 and lenses to my parents.
Now what is amusing is that some of my favorite new prints are 4x5 or 5x7 contacts done on a reducing back. But i could not have used a 24" inch lens on my old 4x5.
Bender (the maker of th e LF camera kits) sells (or sold) them.
I've made a few using spare darkslides. I like the recent one I made using a metal darkslide. An earlier plastic one got damaged (I am sort of rough in how I store them) and the metal one is holding up well.
I used a hacksaw blade and touched it up with a file. I used a black marker pen to blacken the cuts. I mark the handle of the darkslide to show which half is missing (and to remind me which slide I have it -- the half or the whole one!)
Two points to remember, 1) Leave enough slide to completely fill the light trap at the top end (end of holder you insert slide into) 2) Cut a little less than half the darkslide away -- you want to have some overlap that will seperate the two 4x10 negs on the sheet of film.
Vaughn
OTOH some days you'll want to shoot only 4x10. 4x10 film holders are a fair bit smaller then 8x10.
I think this is the major thing going for the 8X10 format. It has a lot more bellows extension which makes shooting 4X5 and even 5X7 lenses a lot less prone to lens flare AND it allows you to use very long lenses that you would not otherwise feel comfortable or even be able to use on a 4X5 period. This is speaking for field type cameras as a monorail and even some specific field cameras in 4X5 can have very long bellows extension. Then again, that's still nothing compared to the equivalent 8X10 monorail or field w/extra extension possibility.
And you get to use reducing backs for "any" size that can fit into a holder properly and of course, is less than 8X10...so 4X10, 5X7, 4X5, 5X8, 6X8, 5X10, you name it...
I will have 8X10 very soon and will also have the 4X5 reducer on it, so I will be able to comment on the differences in quality between the two, but IMHO, I don't see how the 8X10 image would not be "significantly" and not just "edging" out the 4X5 be it color or black and white. It doesn't make sense to me that 4X larger film will look similar at even 11X14, but definitely at 16X20.
I know others can chime in here with what I feel is the most critical thing of all, final print size and the differences in color between the 4X5 and 8X10 print, for example, at these sizes/enlargements:
8X10, 12X16, 16X20, 20X24, 24X30, etc.
I bet I can see a difference in an 8X10 image...but I can also see things others question how I could see them...bad hearing, but good sight!
Here I am voting for the 8X10 when my primary use of my camera will be whole plate))
If you only have one camera pick the 8x10. It can do everything the 4x5 does but it also opens up the whole world of non-silver photographic processes that require contact exposures with a large negative.
Photography:first utterance. Sir John Herschel, 14 March 1839 at the Royal Society. "...Photography or the application of the Chemical rays of light to the purpose of pictorial representation,..".
The penalty you pay for the bigger and longer bellows is weight. Sometimes, a lot of weight. A 10x8 camera has to be bigger and beefer, has a ground glass that's 4x the area of a 5x4 ground glass, has the bed sections to let you make that bellows extension, etc. And a bigger camera demands a bigger tripod and a bigger ball head....
If it's worth it to you fine. But if you are hiking long distances and/or with large elevation changes, weight is a consideration.
Bruce Watson
Hiking around with my Wehman 8x10 is certainly more effort than with a 4x5 system.
In the end the weight is just a bit more since the Wehman is one of the lighter 8x10s, so i probably skimp on the tripod compared to most 8x10 outfits. But I can bring only at most 5 holders.
This seems all right since I usually settle on bringing 3 holders.
Of course there's a difference: a piece of 8x10 film has 4x (400%) the area of a piece of 4x5 film. How could there not be a difference? You've asked the wrong question. What you want to know is, is there a difference which matters to you, given what you intend to do with them. Only you can answer that question, with experience. The best we can do is guess. I choose to guess 'yes' because this is America, darn it, and size does matter!
If it's easier you want, get a dedicated 617 camera, such as one of the excellent Fuji's. The right tool for the right job and all that sort of thing. When I choose to use my 4x5 over my 8x10, it's because I think I'll want a print larger than 8x10 and I don't have an 8x10 enlarger. "Easier" isn't a consideration. Frankly, if I want "easier", I'd pull my 35mm out from its dusty case and fire it up. As for your original observation, you don't need anything special to compose for some other aspect ratio or size on the ground glass and ignore the rest of the image. Some folks mark on their ground glass with a pencil for their favorite. You don't need special holders or anything, although at one time there was a required permit you had to get from Kodak.
How can we possibly know the answer to that one? Those of us who use any particular format obviously believe that the materials will still be available for a reasonable time into the future -- or perhaps we're just stupid. No, I'll go with the first option. But, there are no guarantees. You rolls the dice and takes your chances, same as you do every time you step out your front door. Just realize that, whatever you do, the Great Yellow Father will do the opposite as soon as it identifies the most inconvenient moment to do so.
You know, what you need to do is spend a weekend with an 8x10 and see what you get out of it and then decide what to do. If you're in New York or LA you have rental options. If not, post the city you live in and see if anyone there will spend a day or two shooting something bigger than 5x7 with you. Then you won't have to guess before making such a large investment: you'll know!
Politically, aerodynamically, and fashionably incorrect.
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