Are you shooting more than one format

[Stefan Lungu]

Hello together,

Not sure where to post this, so I went with the camera forum. I was wondering if you are shooting more than one format. The reason I do ask is because I have one Bessa I lightweight 6x9 folder, a 6x9 back for 4x5 cameras along with a Sinar and I have now got myself a 5x7 Horseman in order to be able to produce decent size contact prints ( and I am pretty impressed with the ground glass image - it appears significantly bigger than on 4x5 ). Now I am wondering if I should keep the possibility to shoot 4x5 ( and 6x9 roll film ) on the Horseman ( not that difficult, bellows and bag bellows from Sinar can be "reused" ). My processing on the roll film is scanning with Epson V850, so the LF are the ones that are planned for contact printing. Just wondering what your experience is, if you stick to only one format or do more ( I also have a 6x6 TLR on it's way, just because I like the view finder and it should work better for critical focus when portability is needed ).

Regards, Stefan

[Dugan]

Hmmm....
35mm, 4x4cm, 6x6cm, 4x5, 5x7, Whole Plate...working on getting an 8x10.

[Tin Can]

iPhone, Digi FF, 4X4, 6X6, 6X7, 6X8, 6X9, 6X17, 2x3, 3X4, 4X5, 5X7, 8X10, 11X14, 7X17, 14X17

Postcard Plate, 1/4 plate, 1/2 plate

20X24, 14X36 in progress

I started late and need to catch up

you can have my camera when you pry it from my cold dead hands

[Alan9940]

I shoot iPhone, SX-70, 35mm, 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7, 6x9, 4x5, and 8x10. Don't use all formats all the time...just quite a bit of hardware collected over nearly 50 years of photography. I enjoy each format for different reasons.

[Jim Noel]

6x6, 6x9, 6x17, 4x5, 5x7, 5x12 and 8x10. Primarily 5x12 and 8x10. I gave up my 7x17 when i was 90.

[LabRat]

I shoot all formats, but tend to not mix them during a shoot or faze... Can be confusing to my (mental) focus...

Often so much so, I forget to take some snaps with my fone or point & shoot of my LF set-up or shot for my reference... :-(

Steve K

[Jody_S]

Haven't shot anything smaller than 4x5 in several years now, slowly liquidating equipment for smaller formats to free up space and money. Nothing larger than 8x10 because I can't afford film and lenses and can't carry an 11x14 kit in the field. And I get discouraged when I spend a day out in the swamp with my lf gear and the 2 or 3 snapshots I took with my phone come out better than my lf shots.

[Graham Patterson]

About the only 35mm film I use is in a panoramic camera. Otherwise (at various times) 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x9, 5x4, 8x5, 4x10, 8x10. The latter three on an 8x10 camera. It's all down to how the size/weight/portability/subject balance works out. These are all rangefinder/direct vision, or ground glass focusing. I do not do well with SLR focusing these days.

[diversey]

4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 12x20 large format. Rarely use small and medium formats.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I only shoot 8x10, 11x14, 8x20 and 14x17...... all cameras that I've built myself.

[profvandegraf]

Shoot iPhone, DSLR, 35mm, 645, 6x6, 6x9, 4x5 and 8x10. Been shooting more 35mm lately after not shooting small film for a few years.

[Vaughn]

Rolleicord to 11x14. Choice is often image/mobility driven.

[Drew Bedo]

I sometimes scout out a location using an iPhone-7, but never print them out.

My film cameras now are limited to a Zone VI in 4x5 and a Kodak 2D in 8x10.

I have been thinking about a ULF pinhole rig. . . . but maybe not.

[neil poulsen]

Mostly 4x5 HP5 for black and white and always MF digital for color. When the occasion arises, I photograph 8x10 HP5.

For travel when weight matters, MF digital color and 120 HP5 for black and white.

[Wayne]

6x4.5 (as of Monday), 6x6, 6x7, 4x5, 5x7, 8x10 (though I don't use the latter 2 as much as I'd like). My recent acquisition is a dual format Mamiya 6.

[roscoetuff-Skip Mersereau]

FWIW, 4X5 for creative stuff; 6X6 MF on a TLR "for fun"; and 35mm as my sketchbook. But of course there's the iPhone, the DSLR for scanning and when you have to have "it" with no "do-overs" or "misses". I may be okay with "misses" and the like, but the family is less forgiving.:(

[Joseph Kashi]

Depending the specific circumstances, I use a variety of formats, some LF film and some digital. I'll often carry two kits in the vehicle, a 5x7 outfit and a weather-resistant Olympus bag.

I use large format when I have a free afternoon and want to take my time on a few images taken in a more contemplative manner, 4x5 for color negatives, scanned, 5x7 for BW, also scanned although I still have enlargers for both formats and a wet darkroom.

The 11x14 field camera kit is ready to go as well, refurbished with new bellows and good film holders. I'm waiting for the oil well to come in so that I can afford the film.

But, I use Micro 4/3 and Pentax full-frame for much other work when there's no time for the LF film approach or when the situation has a great image, but one not suitable for LF.

As an extreme example to illustrate the point, I've done a fair bit of photography, including some pretty spectacular landscapes, while flying our Cessna 336 light twin-engine Skymaster up among the mountains and glaciers of Alaska. There's no way that, as the pilot, I can use any sort of LF camera while flying, assuming that I can even fit an LF camera between the control column and the small inward-opening window for the pilot. A compact AF/AE camera with a twisting LCD screen is the only way to reliably get that sort of image and get it safely back on the ground. On one such trip, I had to fly a 10 mile track back and forth several times until I could get the angle and the shaft of sunlight on the cloud-shaded glacier just right. It's now a signature image. I shot many frames that day to be sure that I got one where everything clicked just right. That was doable with an Olympus, but surely not with LF.

Truth be told, with good gear and careful post-processing, even Micro 4/3 format produces excellent gallery quality large prints if you don't need to enlarge beyond 24'x32' and your viewers do not have their nose touching the print and using a magnifier in the gallery. I've hung a fair number of university gallery shows over the years, many populated with M4/3 shots, and have never heard complaints about bad print quality. Any quality problems are the fault of the photographer, me.

I love the BW tonal quality that careful LF produces and digital still can't touch. There are images that benefit from the care and thoughtfulness that the slower LF process mandates. But, there are images and situations that are not really feasible with LF film and never have been, but which work smoothly with digital.

So, in the end, it's about making the image and thus using the right tool for the image at hand.

[DG 3313]

To me cameras/formats are like fishing poles or power saws.....none of them are exactly right for everything but, all are exactly right for something. (I phone to 8x10 for this guy).

[Havoc]

4x5, 6x12, 6x9, 6x4.5, 24x36.

Most used is MF (6x4.5) as it is large enough to actually see something of it without a loupe, reasonably to scan. Good selection of film in 120 format. I can use slide film and have a nice number of slides without breaking the bank. Gear is a nice size, not too big, not too small. And there is a large selection of different types of gear. From fully automatic auto-focus to the most basic antiques.

I'd like to use 4x5 more. For me a contact print of a 4x5 would be nice already. But it is so much stuff to take along and set up that when I see something, by the time I'm out of the car, took all the setup out, lugged it to a place I can all set it up.... it is nightfall. Also being limited to just b&w 100 iso is a pity. It is a great format but only to be used if you can dedicate all your time to it.

These days I'm a bit more drawn to 24x36 as it is easy to take along on trips for the job. Just a camera, a little zoom and you are set.

[j.e.simmons]

DSLR DX, DSLR FX, iPad, iPhone, 35mm, 6x6, 6x7, 6x9, 4x5, 4x10, 8x10
If there is such a thing, I have too many cameras.

[fotopfw]

35mm Digital, 6x6, 6x7, 6x8, 4x5" and 8x10"
Often scouting with digital, then I come back with film.
Very selective in 8x10", can't remember even one that I wasn't content with this format.

[Greg]

Digital: FX.
Film: 6x6, 6x9, and 5x12 cm. 4x5, whole plate, 8x10, and 11x14 inches.
The colder it gets out there the smaller the format I tend to use.
Try to stick with shooting only one format and one subject matter per week.

[gregmo]

primarily: 617 and 5x7

Also shoot: 645, 690, 4x5 and 8x10

I also have a Horseman and can easily switch out the rear standards & bellows to either shoot 4/5 or 5/7. Nice to have the option.

[Peter Lewin]

Sony Digital FF, Leica and Nikon 35mm, Rollei 6x6, Canham 4x5 (and unused for years, a 6x9 roll film slide-in holder). Ilford HP5+ for all formats.

[Stefan Lungu]

I am relieved that I'm not the only one taking pictures with various cameras and formats :D. I think I will still keep the possibility to shoot both 4x5 and 5x7 on the Horseman since I would actually be able to keep a complete rear standard with GG and bellows, so switching would be easy and I would have a spare L-shape standard. I actually use mostly Ilford B&W and had used some Velvia some years ago - would have to have a look at what holders I can put my hands on since 5x7 seem to be rare around here, but I saw Ilford FP4 is still around in 13x18cm size as are Fomapan and ADOX.

[aphcl84]

35mm Digital, 645 6x12 and 4x5. Digital for work and macro or when I need a shot immediately, 645 for the camera I always have with me and 6x12 and 4x5 for planned photography for myself.

[denverjims]

Stefan,
I'm impressed by the folks who have posted earlier and who seem to be able to use such a wide range of formats effectively. For myself, however, I tried for a while to do 6x7 (Mamya RB) and 4x5 (Ebony) but found that they were different enough that I had to put more brain cells into the mechanics of the process than the creative part. I have come to feel that the mechanics should be so effortless and automatic that 100% of my efforts needed to be on the image I was making. So I went to 4x5 and stayed with it. That worked for me, but maybe I'm just too simple-minded.

Last year I started using 5x7 some and, while the different aspect ratio is taking some getting used to, being both LF, sheet film formats they are enough alike that the mechanics were natural.

If you are anything like me, I'd suggest picking one or two and stick with that. I'd keep with the 4x5 and 5x7.
Best, Jim

[Gord Robinson]

35mm, 6x9, 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10. Primarily use 6x9 and 5x7 - they seem to be the favorites lately. Need to use the other formats this spring and summer to reduce the inventory of film.

[Benjamin]

Depends on the project. I go for 35mm for street, travel and more documentary-style photos: anything that calls for quick reaction and improvisation.

Used to have medium format (various sizes) for portraits and some nature stuff, but I'm moving toward 4x5 because I have two special projects that call for a slow and more deliberate aspect of photography.

I like the idea that you can have one format that calls for you to work very fast, very instinctively, and one that calls for time and reflexion. I also find it interesting that they call for very different types and modes of contact with people when photographing them.

I don't do digital. Nothing against it. I just think film is magic. :)

[GRAYnomad]

In the LF arena it's just 6x12 and 4x5 for me, same camera of course, just swap the back.

I don't want multiple options, I just want to grab a camera and go, not try to decide if it's going to be a 10x8 subject or a 6x12 subject, get there and find I should have brought a different camera.

That said, if you are car based and shooting not far from the vehicle, I guess you can take them all :)

[PRJ]

In ascending size-

Super 8, Minox, 110, 16mm, half frame, 35mm, 645, 6x6, 6x9, 6x12, 4x5. I don't have an 8x10 anymore. I only ever take one at a time with me.

Digital too, but who cares?

[Exploring Large Format]

Instant film: SX70 & Instax Wide (awaiting back from Lomo)

Not-so-Instant film: 35mm, 4x5 (Handheld, Field & Studio) & 5x7 (Studio) Just sold 6x9 back to afford the 5x7.

Digital: DX DSLR & Android


Just slyly got an old Nikon 35mm film camera with motor drive to fill the family snapshot niche thereby putting the DSLR mostly to pasture. Understandably, even though family supports my/our plunge into LF, they longed for when I captured them quickly--not ponderously--in candids and action images. I still get to use film; they get me back in my mad snapper mode. Developing & scanning quickly, I can send them the images later that day.

DSLR does get some use: scanning my LF format negatives for evaluation. Maybe a future family event like a graduation when we have them again?

[RyanBuckPhoto]

35mm or 6x6 tlr for family outings. 6x7 , 3x4 and 4x5 for me.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

[martiansea]

I've shot enough good photos that made it into serious prints with the "Leica" in my Huawei Mate 9 Pro phone to consider it a legitimate part of my regular kit. "The best camera is the one you have with you," is a quote that pops into my head often. Can save as DNG files natively. Its monochrome feature looks spectacular.
My "serious" digital is a Nikon D800. Love it. I still hang on to my ancient Sony A100, which mostly serves as a trusty spot meter for LF these days.
In film, I shoot everything that I have available. A wonderful Minolta XE-7 is my main 35mm. I have an old Argus C3 brick as my fun 35mm, and got some nice shots with it. For medium format, my Zeiss Box Tengor 6x9 consistently gets shots that are way too good for what it is, including several that became serious prints. I have a Zeiss Super Ikonta 532/16 that has gotten some great shots as well, but now the lens is jacked up from the balsam getting loose on a lens element, causing it to become crooked...it's become a DIY repair project. Have a 6x9 back for my Cambo SC, which is what I use for "serious business" medium format and has made me reluctant to invest in any more medium format cameras because how could they compete? I shoot lots of 4x5 on the Cambo and love every minute of it. In the process of rebuilding my Seneca 8x10. Impressed enough with the shots I got with it to decide to give it an overhaul and try to get it up to par for serious business. I look to be shooting 8x10 for most of what I intend to render as alt prints in the future. Seriously considering fabricating a 5x7 reducing back for it to round out the format collection.

I keep seeing all these old 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 "Whole Plate" cameras for cheap. Very tempted to try the format, because it seems like a nice intermediary between 4x5 and 8x10 that maintains a similar aspect ratio (as opposed to 5x7). Incidentally, I printed a few of my Leica Phone shots at this size to get a feel for how the format looks as a print, and I dig it.

The point of my rambling is that I love shooting photos no matter what camera I use. Each format (and individual camera) brings its own vibe and workflow, which translates to a different kind of image than I would have gotten otherwise. Like Bob Marley said about different guitars having different songs in them.

[jnantz]

I have been shooting multi formats for a while now but the past handful of years I haven't used a camera much I've been doing a lot of cameraless work.

[John Earley]

Aside from DX and FX digital I shoot 35mm, 6x6, 6x7, 6x9, 6x12, 9x12, 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10. Lately it's been mostly FX and 8x10.

[dodphotography]

I've bounced around a bit but seemingly always come back to 8x10... my biggest issue has been navigating some mental issues with nearly all of my mentors being single format people (almost all 8x10).

[D. Mesa]

35mm, 6x6, 6x7, 5x7, 8x10

I used to shoot APS-C and mirrorless but have sold those now and my only digital camera is a Google Pixel 2. Sometimes I'll borrow my mentor's full-frame Nikon for studio test shots.

Lately it's been all 5x7 and 8x10. Something about the view camera.........