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Martin Shakeshaft
31-Oct-2008, 11:39
Hi

I am a photojournalist with 20+ years experience. However most of its with 35mm film or digital.

I have recently been shooting a project where I have been taking landscapes from the same place that I took pictures 25 years ago (best viewed on a wide monitor):
http://www.strike84.co.uk/lbia/index.html

For an exhibition that I am planning for next year I want some large prints, in the region of 9 feet wide. I have also enjoyed taking landscapes so I am planning on dipping my toes into the world of large format photography!

Most of my landscapes digitally have been taken with 50mm and 28mm primes (Full Frame).

So after a bit of research I have come up with the following shopping list.

Chamonix 45N-1 Camera
Fuji SWD 90mm F5.6
Fuji CMW 150mm F5.6

1: Will this get me going?
2: Are there alternatives I should be looking at?
3: Are the Fujinon lenses as good as others?
4: Will this set up be OK for environmental portraits (Arnold Newman type).

Sorry to hit you with so many questions but I am impatient to get going.

Thanks

Martin

Ron Marshall
31-Oct-2008, 11:51
Fuji are excellent lenses. Those focal lengths are good choices, based on your 35mm preferences.

Missing from your list are: tripod, head, darkcloth, filmholders, loupe, lightmeter, cable release.

Martin Shakeshaft
31-Oct-2008, 12:02
Fuji are excellent lenses. Those focal lengths are good choices, based on your 35mm preferences.

Missing from your list are: tripod, head, darkcloth, filmholders, loupe, lightmeter, cable release.

Thanks Ron

I have everything else I need, except a few more film holders.

Thanks for the swift reply.

Martin

lenser
31-Oct-2008, 12:51
Martin,

As Ron said, those are the corresponding focal lengths to your 35mm kit.

Just an extra thought.....I find myself wanting much wider lenses for my landscape work. If you head in that direction as well, you might want to look at the Schneider
58mm XL. It is an incredible lens for either landscape or architecture.

Good luck with your show.

Tim

paul08
31-Oct-2008, 13:00
I've made good 30x40+ prints from 4x5 (Imacon and drum scanned), but I would think if you want decent resolution in a print that's over 100" on a dimension, you will probably want an 8x10" neg.

Clueless Winddancing
31-Oct-2008, 13:27
Would William approve or would he more likely say, "Much Ado About Nothing"? Wouldn't it be clever to merely do 8/10s and adhere them to a pannel or is this to be your last ha-rah and must be extravagantic?

Martin Shakeshaft
31-Oct-2008, 13:37
Would William approve or would he more likely say, "Much Ado About Nothing"? Wouldn't it be clever to merely do 8/10s and adhere them to a pannel or is this to be your last ha-rah and must be extravagantic?

:confused:

Martin Shakeshaft
31-Oct-2008, 13:46
Would William approve or would he more likely say, "Much Ado About Nothing"? Wouldn't it be clever to merely do 8/10s and adhere them to a pannel or is this to be your last ha-rah and must be extravagantic?

:confused:

Clueless Winddancing
31-Oct-2008, 20:55
:) You and "the" Bard share the same name (which was variously spelled) in his day and by his person. 'Tis a small matter but me-thinks the world is your stage and we be but fellow players in this larger format until dust we part.

Martin Shakeshaft
4-Nov-2008, 04:57
Bring this thread back on track!

Is my choice of camera (Chamonix 45N-1) and lenses the correct one do you think? Is there other equipment I should be looking at?

Will I need a bag bellows for a 90mm lens or will I get away with the standard ones?

Will I be able to use a 300mm lens with this set up?

Thanks

Martin

John Kasaian
4-Nov-2008, 08:25
Bring this thread back on track!

Is my choice of camera (Chamonix 45N-1) and lenses the correct one do you think? Is there other equipment I should be looking at?

Will I need a bag bellows for a 90mm lens or will I get away with the standard ones?

Will I be able to use a 300mm lens with this set up?

Thanks

Martin

1. Probably. It depends.
2. The manufacturer can tell you if his camera can accomodate bag bellows or if the normal bellows can handle 90mms.
3.Normally I'd prefer having 18"-15" of bellows for a 12" lens, but you can get by with...well....12" of bellows (but that's pretty limiting.)

Richard Ritter is a great guy and a first class act. Call him up and you can get the low-down on Chamonix straight from the designer's mouth.

When I bought my Gowland I spoke with Peter first and he answered questions I hadn't even thought of asking. Being able to talk to the guy who designed your next camera is a very worthwhile thing to do, IMHO.:)

Bruce Watson
4-Nov-2008, 08:44
...I want some large prints, in the region of 9 feet wide.

Just a couple of thoughts. First, a nine foot (108 inch) print from a 5 inch film is a 21.6x enlargement. It's going to be grainy and soft up close (and yes, people will walk right up to a print that size and look at it from 30cm (about 12 inches) just to see how much detail you carried into the print). In general, at that print size you'll get better results with 10x8 film.

The other thought is that your experience with small format cameras without movements won't translate all that well to large format. It's like trying to move from trumpet to saxophone. Your instrument-independent skills (musicality, ability to read music) translate just fine, but your instrument-specific skills do not. I'm just sayin' that a view camera is a much different instrument than a 35mm SLR. As long as you understand that you've got some learning curves ahead of you, you should be all right though.

Martin Shakeshaft
4-Nov-2008, 09:14
Just a couple of thoughts. First, a nine foot (108 inch) print from a 5 inch film is a 21.6x enlargement. It's going to be grainy and soft up close (and yes, people will walk right up to a print that size and look at it from 30cm (about 12 inches) just to see how much detail you carried into the print). In general, at that print size you'll get better results with 10x8 film..........

As long as you understand that you've got some learning curves ahead of you, you should be all right though.

Thanks Bruce. You are right about the big learning curve, but I am enjoying finding out about new stuff!

I recently produced some large exhibition prints from my Canon 5D which were A1 (33 inches). This looked great. The 5D is 13 MP, I have read that 4x5 is equivalent(ish) to 50 MP, so was hoping for significantly bigger images. I guess I am going to have to do some experiments. Luckily I do teach at a well equipped college, so to start I can borrow a mono rail camera to run some tests.

Thanks again.

Martin

Gordon Moat
4-Nov-2008, 14:38
. . . . .

I recently produced some large exhibition prints from my Canon 5D which were A1 (33 inches). This looked great. The 5D is 13 MP, I have read that 4x5 is equivalent(ish) to 50 MP, so was hoping for significantly bigger images. I guess I am going to have to do some experiments. Luckily I do teach at a well equipped college, so to start I can borrow a mono rail camera to run some tests.


It is possible, though you need to be much more careful in set-up and focus. Normally a 3.6x TOYO loupe would be fine up to a 10x to 12x enlargement from 4x5, assuming a very good lens, good scan, some post processing, and a nicely produced print. To go larger than that, I would suggest a finer set-up focus using an 8x loupe (or 10x), after you have composed on the ground glass and used the 3.6x loupe for initial focus.

Most 4x5 lenses hit in the 60 lp/mm resolution range. While there is not a one to one lines to dots to pixels to MegaPixels relationship, if you view this in a vastly simplified manner, then a 4x5 frame of film should allow you 11400 by 14400 resolution, or very roughly 164 MP. Remember that your scanner can drop that down further, post processing can reduce resolution, though improve sharpness, and most printing methods have enough dot gain to soften images further. Anyway, once you are past the disclaimers, I think if you shot at f11 to f16, instead of the more common f22 to f32 range, focused super carefully, scanned on high end gear, and post processed nicely, then really really large prints are within your reach . . . just don't expect it to happen with your very first efforts. I suggest you start off with no larger than 40" by 50" (roughly) prints, then work your way upwards after some practice.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

Martin Shakeshaft
5-Nov-2008, 03:27
Thank you for your help Gordon, Its appreciated.

Martin