Choosing a large format film medium

[neil poulsen]

The best place to learn LF is on this site. There's lots of stuff to see. As you know, you also have the opportunity to ask questions. The two make a powerful combination for learning.

I agree with Christopher on starting out with color slides or negs. I would say negs, because you have a lot more latitude. Do you have a color "u-develop" in your area? If so, it can be an excellent resource in which to develop your own prints. We have one in Portland, and they help determine exposure, color correction, etc. This type of system works very well for beginners.

You can get some very nice B&W results from Type 55 negatives. But, you must expose them at about 30 ASA.

[Martin Patek-Strutsky]

I jumped in LF recently. If you are on a budget my recommendation is to get a rollfilm back and shoot some dozens of rollfilms before using sheet film or even spending a fortune for polaroids.

And prefer slide film over neg film as it will give you an unmistakable feedback on where you are on the learning curve.

After this relatively affordable experience you will know how to handle your LF equipment and you are ready to jump to larger formats and try different films.

I opted for a used Horseman 6x9 back, but there should be a lot of alternatives...

[Rory_3532]

Thanks, I decided to go with a Kodak holder, T-max and Portra.

Neil, there's a lab about three blocks from my house that rents out time for both black and white and colour. The place has an excellent reputation. The new camera and I are going to Halifax this weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving. I plan to take some photos, together with some detailed notes. I figure that the notes will come in handy when I see the results and have to figure out what went wrong.

[Paul Butzi]

Everyone else is weighing in, so I'll throw my opinion on the pile.

When I first started working in 4x5, I did so with several boxes of type 55 p/n and a Polaroid 545i holder. It was an excellent start, because it freed me from the need to solve several problems all at once - how to load film, how to process film, etc. Instead I could, right at the start, work on actually making exposures. There's just no substitute for the instant feedback of Polaroid film, and I found that by making one test exposure (exposed for the print) and examining the print, I avoided wasting a lot of film that I would have blown otherwise. After I got a print I liked, I'd expose a sheet, not process it, and then process it back at home, do the sulfite thing, etc. I as a happy camper for several months before I felt the urge to move on to regular filmholders, etc.

I'll also second the notion that readyloads/quickloads are a great alternative. There are lots of film choices in color (so many I no longer keep track on my web page) and two excellent choices for B&W - Kodak TMax-100 and Fuji Acros (which I can buy at my local camera store, so the import thing seems to be solved!). Readyloads are compact, light, avoid the dust problem, and make keeping notes and film together a snap. The only downside is cost, and to be honest, I've yet to work on any significant project where the film was the major cost.

[tim o'brien]

Ah think I'll keep loading my APX100 (till it runs out), Classic200, and Efke 25 and leave the real pro film to all you pros.

I read the original post and thought, quite uncharitably, how anal is this thought process when he doesn't even have a camera yet.

But you all are the experts and have given him the benefit of your wisdom, so I will only point out a couple of things...

Make sure that lab you are planning on using has 4x5 capabilities, some don't.

Make sure you have the resources to finance all these high priced films and film systems. I learn alot by making do with my old Speed Graphic, Type 5 film holders, a homemade darkcloth (it has flowers on it), and a bathroom where I can load film, unload film, process film, and print to my hearts content, not feeding the economic machine of superfulous equipment that you have no idea how to use, and won't need till you have several thousand bad to mediocre images under your belt. Maybe using Polaroid materials will bring that down to several hundred bleah images but nobody can convince me that not going through with learning how to load film, process film, and print film will make you a better photographer. From the start.

Good luck Rory.

tim in san jose (a not so old fuddy-duddy)