NEW to LF

[Martin_Johansen]

Hello,

Here is some new questions before i start shooting more film with the Sinar.
I am taking pictures of people (headshots, 2/3rd and whole figure)

1. I have heard that i cannot shoot wide open 5.6 with LF, that the biggest opening i should use is around 16. Is this correct?

2. I have a 300 mm, and a 150 mm, and for some reasons i am more comfortable using the 150 mm, but how close to the subject can i use this 150 mm?

3. have some problems getting the results i want when i tilt shift, is it anywhere on the internet that explains the different tilt shift techniques with examplephotos?

4. Just to get this right. if i shoot with a 300 mm, then the lengt between film plane and lens plane should be 300 MM? If i make the length between FP and LP longer, say 600 mm, then i need more light, or compensate with 2 f stops? Wider opening?

5. If i go 200 mm between FP and LP, with a 300 mm lens, do i need to compensate this way as well?

6. I have some diazfilm from 1989, that probarly have been stored cool. Would you overexpose this by one stop, two stops, or precise?

Best Regards

Martin

[Joanna Carter]

1. I have heard that i cannot shoot wide open 5.6 with LF, that the biggest opening i should use is around 16. Is this correct?

It's just a camera like any other; you can shoot at any aperture you wnat, as long as you understand the depth of field that the chosen aperture gives you

2. I have a 300 mm, and a 150 mm, and for some reasons i am more comfortable using the 150 mm, but how close to the subject can i use this 150 mm?

You can use any lens up to the maximum bellows extension the camera allows; but for portraiture you would not want to get too close in case you get too much distortion of facial features.

3. have some problems getting the results i want when i tilt shift, is it anywhere on the internet that explains the different tilt shift techniques with examplephotos?

It would be unusual to use tilt or shift for portraiture

4. Just to get this right. if i shoot with a 300 mm, then the lengt between film plane and lens plane should be 300 MM?

Unless the lens is a "tele" variety, which may require a shorter bellows extension

If i make the length between FP and LP longer, say 600 mm, then i need more light, or compensate with 2 f stops? Wider opening?

At double the normal focal length, you are heading into macro territory and at double the focal length, you will get a 1:1 magnification. Yes, you will need to compensate for bellows extension; the formula is (bellows length ^2) / (focal length ^2) or (600 ^2) / (300 ^2) = 4, or 2 stops.

5. If i go 200 mm between FP and LP, with a 300 mm lens, do i need to compensate this way as well?

You can't focus a lens at less than its focal length.

6. I have some diazfilm from 1989, that probarly have been stored cool. Would you overexpose this by one stop, two stops, or precise?

That' is something you can only experiment with.

[Doremus Scudder]

Let's help get you going here. First the simplified versions of the answers :-)

1. I have heard that i cannot shoot wide open 5.6 with LF, that the biggest opening i should use is around 16. Is this correct?

You can shoot wide open, it will just not be as sharp. LF lenses typically are sharpest at around f/22. Also, you will have very little depth-of-field wide open. However, if that is the look you like, then by all means shoot at f/5.6. If, however, you are looking for optimum sharpness and depth-of-field, shoot at smaller f-stops.

2. I have a 300 mm, and a 150 mm, and for some reasons i am more comfortable using the 150 mm, but how close to the subject can i use this 150 mm?

As a lens focuses on subjects closer to the camera, you need more bellows extension. Your 150mm lens will focus as close as you have bellows length. If you have 300mm of bellows extension, you can get 1:1 magnification. Keep in mind that you need to adjust exposure when you extend the bellows quite a bit. Portraits and general landscapes, etc. will need no adjustment, but if you extend your bellows more than a couple of inches longer than infinity focus, you will need to add exposure to compensate for the light fall off caused by the extra distance (it works according to the inverse square law if you are familiar with that; light intensity decreases as the square of the distance). At any rate, there are tables for finding the right exposure compensation. Just Google.

3. have some problems getting the results i want when i tilt shift, is it anywhere on the internet that explains the different tilt shift techniques with examplephotos?

There are lots of sources. Google camera movements. These might get you started:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_camera http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subsc...movements.html However, you should invest in a couple of good books. Ansel Adams "The Camera" is recommended as is Leslie Stoebel's "View Camera Technique" Many like Steve Simmons Book on the view camera as well. You do not say where you are located. Perhaps there are resources in your country/language that I am not aware of.

4. Just to get this right. if i shoot with a 300 mm, then the lengt between film plane and lens plane should be 300 MM? If i make the length between FP and LP longer, say 600 mm, then i need more light, or compensate with 2 f stops? Wider opening?

Exactly right. See #2 above and search on bellows extension. It's really fairly simple. I carry a small tape measure and a card with extension factors for the lenses I use.

5. If i go 200 mm between FP and LP, with a 300 mm lens, do i need to compensate this way as well?

Your 300mm lens will not focus with only 200mm of bellows draw. The theoretical focus there is "beyond infinity." You need at least 300mm bellows draw to focus on infinity. If, however, you meant 500mm bellows draw (300+200 more), then yes, you need to adjust exposure. My chart says + 1 1/3 stops.

6. I have some diazfilm from 1989, that probarly have been stored cool. Would you overexpose this by one stop, two stops, or precise?

I assume you mean transparency film (Diafilm) Try a couple of test shots at box speed. If you are lucky, it will be alright. With age, color film loses color balance. If your transparencies look underexposed, add exposure and test again. If the color is not what you need, toss it or use it for practicing movements :-)

Best and good luck,

Doremus Scudder

[Martin_Johansen]

Dear Both Joanna, and Doremus!

Thanks alot for excellent answers, and for guiding me here. Its really nice of you to take the time and give me answers, links and make me a bit wiser =)

I am located in norway, the booktips was excellent, i´ll probarly buy them from amazon.

This is the look im going for with the tilt shift, so if anyone has an idea how this is done (tilting/shifting) please let me know

Have a nice day friends, ill show you pictures later if it got any good.

[Ole Tjugen]

That photo looks more like extremely shallow DOF than tilt, to me at least. But you can get similar results with a little tilt, or swing, and wide aperture!

Hvor i Norge er du, Martin? Kanskje vi kan finne noen lokale hjelpere?

[Martin_Johansen]

Thanks everyone, i just put up the camera in the darkroom checking the entire camera with a flashlight and i found three holes in the bellows. But i have another one without holes in it. So one problem solved. Then i found out i have put film holder in the spring back the wrong way, (noob) so problem two solved. Now i also think i have been a little fast with the darkslide pulling it out/putting it back a little fast so its not straight on, and because the film holder was the wrong way could have given me movement in the process. phuuu

Ok, so i managed to do everything wrong, on my way out now for some new exposures =)

Jeg er i Oslo Ole, Så kult med flere nordmenn her. Jeg har ringt rundt til flere storformatbrukere og gitt dem alle sammen Hodepine =)

Håper/tror jeg begynner å få kontroll nå, på det elementære ihvertfall =)
hvor i Norge er du?

[Ole Tjugen]

There are always more mistakes to make with large format, I think there was a thread about it a while ago? Anyway, most of us have made many more mistakes than that. My personal "favourites" are pulling the dark slide without closing the lens, exposing at f:4.5 with the shutter time as if I was using f:32, and pulling the wrong slide.

Jeg er i Bergensområdet, men det er en god del av oss galninger i Oslo!

[Dave Jeffery]

I'm not sure how much LF that you have shot but there's lot's of great information on the homepage of this site.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...o-operate.html

Have fun with it!

[Alan Gales]

[QUOTE=Martin_Johansen;729496]Hello,

2. I have a 300 mm, and a 150 mm, and for some reasons i am more comfortable using the 150 mm, but how close to the subject can i use this 150 mm?


If you have shot a 35mm camera or a full frame DSLR a 300mm lens on 4x5 roughly translates to a 100mm on those cameras. A 150mm lens translates to about a 50mm.

There is a lot of argument on this subject of how close to your subject you can be with your camera. Generally, the unofficial rule is no closer than 6 feet with any focal length lens or you risk distortion.

The best advice that I can give you is to just shoot, have fun and find out what works for you!

[Martin_Johansen]

Hi all, and thanks alot for the help, here is my pictures i did today, shot at 5.6

My main problem now is dust, do you know how i get less of it?

And i dont understand what you are saying about focus if the below is under 15 cm long shooting with a 150mm. The below was between 8 and 10 cm today, and it still looks like im in focus?

http://martinjohansen.no/wordpress/2...e-format-test/