I just developed my first 8x10 sheet of slide film. Until now the largest slide I've seen is 2x3. All I can say is : Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow This is absolutely incredible. I went in the city and took a few shots after sun set (no shutter so I had to do the lens cap thing :-). How can you people can en joy a 35mm shot after seing a 8x10 (or larger)? I'm looking now at the same shot in 35mm and 8x10 and the 35mm seems like child play :-) Developing only one sheet at a time is a drag though :-)
welcome to large format! i think most of us feel that same way - as soon as we moved up from smaller formats to large, it just seems like, even though we all know that smaller formats have their place, nothing smaller than 4x5 even seems like it worth doing any more. i am onlu sorry it took me as long as it did (12 years) before i finally bought my first view camera in 1983. keep at it - the rewards become greater as you begin to master this new genre.
Don't be smug. An 8x10 on a light table is a pisspoor eye straining substitute for good 35mm Kodachrome or Velvia projected to 6x9 FEET across my living room.
I get that feeling too, but don't toss out the small gear yet. You'll find that you start using it in new ways, both because LF will raise your standards and make you aware of things you might not otherwise have considered in working in small format, but you will use 35mm and MF for what they do best, and what LF can't really do well.
Congrats on your first 8x10 slide. Ain't they great. David Goldfarb has the right approach though. Use the cameras as a tool, with each size having its own niche. I certainly agree that having a LF makes one a better medium or small format photographer. One you see what a picture reall ought to look like, you find that you strive for that quality with any format. I shoot very little 35mm or medium formt, but there times when the LF is out of place. I sure would hate to chase my grandson all over the yard with my 8x10!
Sorin... processing one sheet at a time may seem like a drag when you start out, but it will soon become a blessing when you begin to use the development process to enhance the quality of your film! The use of + and - development is one of the keys to the zone system.
Sorin, just be careful, this can be like a drug, many before you fell hard after their first look of 8x10 chromes... some have resorted to eating Ramen noodles only for a year to save up to buy the right lenses, some sell things they need for gear, etc.. :-)
Last night I glanced at one of the manuals for some of my 35mm equipment and thought:
If I'm going to spend 15 to 30 minutes getting things right for a picture, an hour or 2 processing it, and who knows how long to print it...why would I want to spend all that time on 1-1/2 square inches of negative, when I could use 20 or 80 square inches and really get an image.
I just bought by 2nd 8x10 camera. I'm an addict. Is there a 12 step program for LF? Can you be a social LFer?
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