Why View Camera & Sheet Film Today, in our here and now?

[Tin Can]

Art Police

as for Carrington event, right now 1A NPR is chatting up preppers

[lifted_spirit]

I photograph digital and film. I manually meter each of my film cameras, and the larger the format, the slower and more intentional I become. While I take my digital camera and lenses out on long hikes, I prefer photographing with my 6x7 MF and 4x5 LF cameras because they slow me down so much. It's a much slower, intentional, meditative process. I do it as much for the process and workflow than anything else.

[Jim Noel]

The Foveon sensor has been around in some form for several years, and as Bernie suggests, there are few choices without sever limitations, other than H6D-100c and IQ4, both out of bounds for those of modest means, but each with perhaps more accurate color? A new Rodenstock 90MM for the XF will cost you $13k which is high-end Leica territory. Not for the faint of heart nor shallow pockets.

I am considering a new Shen Hao with 350MM bellows and rear rise (at least) to supplement my current long term photo projects, in the meantime waiting impatiently for that digital holy grail (and it ain't GFX). I'll get someone to help with the carrying part. My heavy Toyo and Linhof 4x5s will continue to attract spiders in the basement (both needing new bellows).

I'm certan that some beginners or upgraders' in LF would love to have those cameras for what you must think they are worth.

[Jim Noel]

I just started shooting film in April and shoot half frame to 4x5. I came to this from astro imaging for a year. I got so, so sick of sitting in front of a computer... a different computer to the computer i sit in front of all day at work, but still a computer.
I'm now printing in a "darkroom", my garage (not on full-ish moon nights) and I'm still in the phase of looking at negatives with wonder, prints developing front of my eyes in wonder. I don't think I'm alone in enjoying being away from a computer screen in my spare time.

Good for you John. Enjoy film.
Jim

[Drew Wiley]

Since Mr. Rattling Can has taken a vow of silence in the monastery, maybe he can still read. A number of posts back, he claimed I admitted to now doing digital photography. Whaaaar did thet come from? I've never done digital photography in my life. I did buy a nice full frame digi SLR for sake of use on the copy stand in the lab, in order to catalog actual darkroom prints. And that's where it stays. But that hardly makes me a digital photographer. It's still all real film : 4X5, 8X10, 6X9, 6X7, rarely 35mm.

[Scraps]

My take: digital is about the distribution of images. Film is about crafting an image. More or less. I do take a 50MB Canon on multi-day backpacking trips now. Carrying 20lbs of film gear in addition to camping gear for 7 days is getting a bit much, but it's such a joy to shoot. I don't see film as a slow process. I usually have to hurry to catch the right conditions, or scurry to a better spot, or rush to pack up before a storm hits.

[Dan6077]

I like to experiment with the plane of focus movements with my field camera
Something not available with standard cameras, digital or analog

Dan

[John Kasaian]

Why?
For me, futzing around with old cameras, 8x10 negatives, contact prints and toxic emulsions makes me smile.

[BBW]

+1 on that!