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Thread: Preferred Format, and why?

  1. #31

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    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    5x7… I think it choose me

    I will shoot everything from 120 to 11x14 (sometimes) in a shoot.. and dag nab it..the 5x7's always come out the best...always

    could be the heliars.. but even with other lenses...the 5x7 is almost can't miss

  2. #32
    Jac@stafford.net's Avatar
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    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    I am reluctant to admit that I am more fond of medium-format sheet film than ever. I make small enlargements and gosh I just love handling the robust negatives.

    NB: I do have an exceptional 4x5 enlarger.

  3. #33
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    Ditto

    I have plenty and far easier for me (bad hands again) to process and enlarge than any roll film.

    Easy to load holders.

    Don't tell anybody!

    but I consider any sheet film to be LF and any roll film a PITA


    Quote Originally Posted by Jac@stafford.net View Post
    I am reluctant to admit that I am more fond of medium-format sheet film than ever. I make small enlargements and gosh I just love handling the robust negatives.

    NB: I do have an exceptional 4x5 enlarger.
    Tin Can

  4. #34
    Jac@stafford.net's Avatar
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    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tin Can View Post
    Ditto

    I have plenty and far easier for me (bad hands again) to process and enlarge than any roll film.
    [...]
    but I consider any sheet film to be LF and any roll film a PITA
    Despite hand injuries, I still manage MF roll film and I encourage you to persist.

  5. #35
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    but buttt I neeed a vacumn back for my 67 RB SD...

    LOL


    Quote Originally Posted by Jac@stafford.net View Post
    Despite hand injuries, I still manage MF roll film and I encourage you to persist.
    Tin Can

  6. #36

    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    This is a really tough question. If I had to be honest with myself and had to pick only 1 camera for the rest of my life I would probably keep my Leica. It produces excellent negatives for reasonable enlargement and I almost always have it with me.

    Every format has it's own voicing and I enjoy photography like I enjoy music which is many notes strung together. No single note can ever make a song better, its the small notes in between the crescendos that make the climax what it is. Anyway I digress.

    Ideally I would want a mamiya 7 or another 6x7 rangefinder but they are prohibitive for me and also I don't trust I would take it everywhere like the Leica. 4x5 is a great format because it's still portable enough so that weight and cost do not become issues for me.

    Favorite format? Do I like my best large format pictures better than my 35mm pictures? No. In many cases they can't be compared because I'm doing something so radically different with each one but I still do shoot my 4x5 handheld and sometimes even with up to 3 flash guns mounted though I haven't seen this work yet but it's more of an experiment for a very specific project where I have the ability to work with the camera in this way.

    love my hassy too

    All of the above.

  7. #37
    Jac@stafford.net's Avatar
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    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    Lately I have reverted to Plaubel Veriwide 100, a true 55mm x 90mm, and post-wwii Super Ikonta 55 x 4.5cm, 531 (i think).Reason: Life is short and these two cameras fit my aesthetic and life-time clock which is running down fast. I print small; someone else can print them larger but I doubt that will happen. I care not.

  8. #38

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    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    There are formats mentioned here I've never tried.

    Based on my limited exposure (ha!), I would say I'm most adept at 120 (6x6cm), having used the format for about 20 years. I use a Rolleiflex TLR as my travel camera, and a Series 6000 with a slew of lenses when I want to get serious.

    I recently bought a 4x5 after wanting to work in the format for years and am loving it so far, but I can see that I still need more practice before I surpass what I'm able to do with the Rollei. I've played with an 8x10 and if money (and weight) were no object, there's no question I'd go for it. 5x7 seemed interesting and like a perfect balance between image quality and weight/bulk as other's have pointed out, until I checked to see what film stock is still available, at which point I wrote it off.

    Recently I sold a fully restored Contax IIa with a full compliment of lenses, it was a beautiful camera, but I almost never use 35mm. I can handhold the Rollei just as easily, and the TLR isn't that much bigger. I also have a Nikon FM3a and a few older lenses, but am sorry to say it almost never sees any use either.

  9. #39

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    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    I really like the 2x3 ratio. At least it has an obvious direction, something I miss in 6x6 or 6x7. So for me it would be 6x9 as preferred format but sadly I haven't found any camera to my liking in that format.
    Expert in non-working solutions.

  10. #40
    Small town, South Carolina, US
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    Re: Preferred Format, and why?

    My preferred format is the 2x3 ratio but sometimes I want to use a square for it's simplicity. I have and use everything from 35mm to 5x7 and own at present an 8x10. It just seems that a medium format press type in 6x9 format is the one I would LIKE to use the most.

    An article by Carl Weese in the now defunct mag Darkroom Techniques (May/June 1995) made a good point that while the 4x5 format is very useful, the 35mm camera is the one camera (and therefore format) that is most useful overall.

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