I shoot all of 'em - of them..my 5x7's come out consistently the best..but oh my - when an 8x10 or 11x14 'hits' - - nuthin better
I'm shoot B&W of course, and in a studio - if I had to cart this stuff about..I'd probably stick to 4x5 or 5x7
Printable View
I shoot all of 'em - of them..my 5x7's come out consistently the best..but oh my - when an 8x10 or 11x14 'hits' - - nuthin better
I'm shoot B&W of course, and in a studio - if I had to cart this stuff about..I'd probably stick to 4x5 or 5x7
Jumping into LF with 11x14 sounds crazy to me.
If you are shooting landscapes, stopped way down for DOF concerns, you likely won't see any appreciable resolution increase from 4x5 to 8x10. If by "massive" prints you mean 5+ feet, yes maybe 8x10 with a really good scan will show a bit more detail if shot perfectly. You might have a chance at getting more resolution in other situations where you aren't shooting at f/64 or smaller.
Realistically, with a couple hundred bucks, I think you should get a Crown Graphic and decent lens and shoot a bunch first to see what you get, and then what you need. IMO past 8x10 is the domain of contact printing. Even 8x10 really but since I have a good scanner I can realize a bit more resolution than your run-of-the-mill Epson. Having hauled a huge 8x20 camera many miles before and lost all 4 sheets shot to an atrocious light-leak, I really would advise not dropping thousands on a huge camera until you know what you are getting into. If you are dead-set on 8x10 stick with that but not larger.
Just as a for instance, I recently shot 8x10 in the field. It was way harder than using a 4x5, mainly because of a 10-15 mph wind. Sure, if you have someone to hold a wind blocking umbrella, this wouldn't be a problem. Will you have that person? The main issue was the darkcloth constantly blowing in front of the screen. That made viewing the composition difficult and frustrating. With 4x5, I have a Maxwell bright screen, and so I could've done away with the darkcloth, or I could've used a monocular direct or binocular reflex viewer, but those are rare options for 8x10. One other consideration is that 8x10 film holders are 4x bulkier and heavier than 4x5 ones. If you're shooting near the car, that's not a problem, but if you get farther afield it could be.
When I'm out shooting my 8x10 and the wind picks up----it's time to pull out my hip flask, sit down and wait a spell :o
Nonetheless some do it.
I always encourage creative insanity if legal. Big cameras are legal most places.
Why to people that have never ridden a motorcycle buy the fastest one made?
That's crazy and I know many to have done it, despite my every objection. I learned on 65cc Honda.
Size matters...
Randy,
People do all sorts of things, some more "reasonable" than others.
All we can hope to do when advising a newbie is to present options that have a high probability of success.
We can't get inside his brain to evaluate and understand his experience and abilities.
- Leigh
Sure go for 11 x 14 just please buy a good one so when you're totally disgusted in six months someone in the forum can pick it up at a good price!
Unless you intend to contact print, at a certain point you will have diminishing returns. It is rarely practical to enlarge 11x14, and special film cuts are required,
affecting availability. How do you intend to use the gear? Unless you're shooting in a studio or rather close to a vehicle, the combined weight of camera, sufficient
tripod, and film holders goes up proportionately. Have you ever lugged this kind of thing around?
I suspect these are questions the OP has not even though of, particularly since he has not chimed in to this discussion that he started. I suspect he's going from 35 mm to 11x14. You mean I really have to haul 50+ pounds of stuff? Makes perfect sense doesn't it?