ULF Why do it?

**Gary Tarbert** · 2-Apr-2015, 06:59

I am looking at the reduced lens options once you go to 8x10 , And i wonder what challenges face ULF shooters and why bother? 11x14 would be challenging but 16x20 4x bigger than 8 x10 !!what lenses would cover this image area?And yes i know Awesome contact prints no need for an enlarger yada yada ,But hey modern films films are pretty good i think they can stand a four times enlargement . And the weight OMG a 8x10 on a four mile trek is hard enough. Just curious as to why anyone would pursue ULF

**dwross** · 2-Apr-2015, 07:15

Pure fun. The "Yes! I am still a kid!!" kind (although, there is no shame in as-far-as-the-car-can-go photography

.) And you really can't dismiss the Awesome contact prints.)

**William Whitaker** · 2-Apr-2015, 07:21

Ground glass seduction. Besides, it's fun. Like self-flagellation.

You make a good point about enlargement. Some would ask the same about LF in general. But I don't have to prove or defend my sanity to anyone these days. Besides, I love my 12x20. But I don't go on four-mile treks, either. Two or three is enough.

**Oren Grad** · 2-Apr-2015, 07:22

For the contact prints.

Because although carrying the equipment is a pain, using it is a blast.

For the contact prints.

For the contact prints.

For the contact prints.

Did I say "for the contact prints"?

It's up to you as to whether the difference between contact prints and enlargements is something to get excited about. If not, there's little point to ULF.

Sure, you can define scenarios where, if everything goes right, an enlargement from ULF will be technically superior in some perceptible way compared to a bigger enlargement from a smaller format. And for that you pay a fearsome price in logistical challenges.

But for most users, it's about the contact prints.

PS: I can't carry a ULF camera on a 4-mile trek. If it's not somewhere I can get to with a car or with a cart, then I can't photograph it with ULF. C'est la vie. I have smaller cameras for treks.

**Tin Can** · 3-Apr-2015, 16:39

Because I can.

I just unpacked a Korona 7x17 Panoramic View camera. Bought here, on our invaluable 'For Sale' Sub Forum. I have already thanked the seller by personal email for a pleasant exchange and a real beauty of a camera. I, for once, am speechless. No 750 pixel image does this gem justice.

Now to match a lens to her and find a way to protect her when she leaves the enclave.

The GG is original and a vast sight to ponder. I get GG tunnel vision on 8x10, I will need to stroll from section to section of this GG.

A note for other yearners. This is a Panoramic View camera, not a Banquet View Camera, do your homework, before marriage.

Prints de contacto! Pardonome'...

**Tin Can** · 5-Apr-2015, 20:34

Newborn enthusiasm is often killed at birth.

Thanks!

**Jim Fitzgerald** · 5-Apr-2015, 20:50

Originally Posted by Randy Moe

Newborn enthusiasm is often killed at birth.

Thanks!

Never when it comes to ULF!

**Old-N-Feeble** · 5-Apr-2015, 21:16

Originally Posted by Randy Moe

Newborn enthusiasm is often killed at birth.

Thanks!

Nahh... remember when every baby was spanked immediately on entrance into this world? It's good for the character.

Anyway, I expect you'll be doing plenty of self-flagellation as you learn to use that behemoth.

**Tin Can** · 5-Apr-2015, 22:20

Originally Posted by Old-N-Feeble

Nahh... remember when every baby was spanked immediately on entrance into this world? It's good for the character.

Anyway, I expect you'll be doing plenty of self-flagellation as you learn to use that behemoth.

It weighs far less than my C1.

My rule is, you touch me or mine, I touch back.

Tag

**Craig Roberts** · 6-Apr-2015, 18:05

ULF...

Would you believe the Flip Wilson defense, "the devil made me do it!" That's OK, I don't believe it either.

The story I like tell is the the 12 x 20 is my mid-life crisis. I couldn't afford a Porsche and no 20-year old would go out with me, so I decided to build a 12 x 20.

Reality: I had been printing negatives from my trips to White Sands. I rarely print bigger that 11x14 but some of the White Sands images demanded a larger presence. I didn't like the look of 16 x 20 and started cropping to about 12 x 20. Then the ULF camera madness started, why not shoot to size??? It has been 9-years, there is no hope left for me. I'll be back at White Sands soon with the beast (12 x 20).

Craig