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Thread: Is the 5x7 format endangered?

  1. #1
    Jac@stafford.net's Avatar
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    Is the 5x7 format endangered?

    I presume most LF format film is endangered. Is 5x7 particularly endangered, or already dead?

  2. #2

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    Re: Is 5x7 endangered?

    I would say endangered...not a lot of options.
    But not dead like 3 1/4 x 4 1/4.

  3. #3
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Is 5x7 endangered?

    I would say just rare. Life as we know it, is endangered.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  4. #4

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    Re: Is 5x7 endangered?

    5x7 is big enough to be artistically contact printed and also enlarged. I usually print mine 9x12 on 11x14 paper. I don't go bigger because I now have a rather small darkroom and bigger is difficult to easily process.

  5. #5
    Foamer
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    Re: Is 5x7 endangered?

    I just started shooting 5x7 last year and like it. The fact Lane dry plates are available 5x7 makes me hopeful. It's a nice size--not too big, not too small. It's the "momma bear" size.


    Kent in SD
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  6. #6
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    Re: Is 5x7 endangered?

    I’ve been hearing this about 5x7 for 20 years +/-. What’s your evidence? I can get film immediately from BH. Of course, I’m black and white only—don’t know and don’t care about color.
    Keith Pitman

  7. #7

    Re: Is 5x7 endangered?

    Quote Originally Posted by Keith Pitman View Post
    I’ve been hearing this about 5x7 for 20 years +/-. What’s your evidence? I can get film immediately from BH. Of course, I’m black and white only—don’t know and don’t care about color.
    Agree completely with Keith. Go back in the archives and look at the identical fear mongering in the mid to late 1990's that was writing the obituary for 5x7 and look at what happened? Not only did 5x7 survive, it is doing just fine. Recent statistics show that a large percentage of sheet film users are younger new entrants to the LF world and they are the drivers to the upswing in film sales. Stop worrying and keep shooting.

  8. #8
    Corran's Avatar
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    Re: Is 5x7 endangered?

    Just bought a 5x7 camera though I haven't shot anything serious with it yet.

    I've called it a dead format before and for those shooting color it basically is. There's some b&w film emulsions unavailable as well. I'm interested in a smaller contact print so will be doing that only. The camera I bought is a newly-manufactured 3D printed camera and I plan on using nothing but a 72mm XL lens.
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  9. #9

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    Re: Is 5x7 endangered?

    I have had 5x7 cameras since the 1950's. periodically the film has always been difficult to locate. as a result, when I have found it, I have bought a year's supply in each order. Currently i see a plentiful supply of the films in which I am interested.
    Last edited by Jim Noel; 25-Feb-2019 at 19:35. Reason: misspelled word

  10. #10
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Is 5x7 endangered?

    It's been "dead" for decades, but seems to come out of its coffin during full moons. Pity. I love the longer rectangle. Color film can be quite problematic to acquire unless you cut it down from 8x10. Clean holders are also getting hard to find. Alas, I can't afford yet another format. 4x5 film is much easier to find; and 8x10 registers much better for masking purposes etc. Still... a little bird in the back of my brain keeps chirping that a 5x7 reduction back might make a fun shop project.

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