Best choice for landscape photography???

[Robert Baumann]

Have done 35mm extensively and a little MF work with borrowed equipment. Always lured by the high resolution/control of LF view cameras. Recently saw panoramic shots of landscape/ruins done in 6x17cm (Fuji GX617) and was enthralled. Want LF that can do 6x17cm, + other formats, and that is portable in the field. I am leaning towards a metal Canham with 6x17 back when available but worried about lack of support for 5x7 film si ze when not shooting 6x17. Any comments about best way to go? I love 1:3 panor amics and my goal is to make 1:3 and LF poster sized works. Is 8x10 portable wi thout a mule??? Any opinion and especially first hand experiences appreciated. Also any opinions about lens types and quality would be appreciated.

[Ted Harris]

I'll answer the last part of your question ..is 8x10 portable without a mule? Absoluely! I can shave the weight of my 8x10 field kit down to around 11 pounds + tripod and that includes two lenses. The trick is a light camera body and in my case that is a Phillips Compact II that is ~8 lbs. I say + tripod because that can be the backbreaker. I don't have a carbn fiber pod (but am thinking seriously about same) and the additional weight of my Ries pod and head double the weight but still managable.

[Bjorn Nilsson]

There are lots of information about 5X7 cameras (and film) on the large photography home page written and maintained by Q. Tuan Luong who happens to be the moderator of this forum. (A large format photography home page.) About film choice for the full size sheet film, there are indeed not too many options, but that also depends on if you want to shoot color or b/w. 5X7 film isn't as readily available as 4X5 film, but you can find it. There are enough choices for b/w, and you could always cut 8X10 film to get two sheets of 5X7 if you want to. (The "receipe" is somewhere in the above mentioned link.) Or, you could get a 4X5 reducing back for the Canham.

[Per Volquartz]

Bergger, Kodak and Ilford distribute BW 5X7 film. Badger Graphics in WI sells 5X7 Provia and Velvia...

[chris jordan]

i'd recommend chosing between panoramic format and view camera. get either (or both) a 4x5 view camera, or a fuji 6x17. i am fortunate to have both, and each is lightweight enough to carry wherever i want to. a view camera that could support a 6x17 back would be large and cumbersome with sheet film holders as well as the 6x17 back and roll film, especially for someone new to LF photography. just my $.02...

[Matthew Runde]

Robert,

You could make 4x5/5x7/8x10 images and crop them depending on the subject matter. I saw prints by a man who uses this technique, and he said that it gives him flexibility with the aspect ratio because he has additional information in the negative.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Robert,

You may also want to consider 4x10, which is pretty easy with the (wooden) Canham... However, like 5x7, one has to be 'creative' in order to get all the film stocks you want . I have been on and off 5x7 for about 15 years. The availability of 5x7 film isn't really that bad--most B&W films are manufactured. Fujichromes, as mentioned, are availble via Badger (or a bit cheaper if you have a friend in Japan). I am currently using EPY (from B&H) which is much cheaper--if you don't mind popping an 85B onto your lens before exposure.

[Clayton Tume]

Robert

If you want true panoramics (as opposed to cropped images) the only way to go is a rotating camera. 6x17 is limited to about 100 degrees horizontal view, a rotating camera will give you 360 degrees +.

The advantage of a rotating camera is small size and edge to edge sharpness because you only use the centre strip of the lens. Also you don't need a lens with big image circle (just enough to cover neg height).

I use a MF camera with 50mm Nikon lens, 55 degrees vertical view, a typical 360 will be 330mm long, double the length of a 6x17 and double the impact. I also use LF rotating cameras and 4 to 5 foot long negs is normal.

No I'm not a rotating camera freak.....I use 4x5 and 8x10 as well but these formats and 6x17 don't cut it when put up next to a 1:6 panoramic.

Here's a 360 shot that I've cropped to about 340 degrees.

[scambug]

The problem with 360 or 340-degree shots is that they have no relationship to human vision. Those "panoramas", IMHO, may hold some brief interest for some folks, but I see them as a useless gimick that tells us nothing about the world. Better to have 100-180 degree shots that relate to human vision.

[Kevin J. Kolosky]

I agree with you Art.