Originally Posted by
Drew Wiley
My brother used gyro stabilizers in conjunction with a Super Technika 4x5 for aerial photography, even from badly vibrating helicopters. Needing to use a stack of regular sheet film holders is cumbersome. Of course, real aerial camera have been around a long time, including 9x9 inch roll film versions. As I already hinted, someone's choice of MF digital instead is more likely a logistical workflow decision rather than something revolving around optimal print quality. Burtynsky's color style is rather soft and evolved around the idiosyncrasies of color neg film, and he is on record as disliking greens and blues in his compositions; but maybe now he's expanding his color palette and needs an option to expensive chrome film and scanning. That's not a criticism at all, despite what some seem to be thinking. There's no crime in discussing personal style and how it often factors into equipment option.
As far as convertible lenses go, they're not apt to be in the same league optically as dedicated focal lengths, especially for color work. And as supporting long lenses go, there are certain ways to get around double tripods which are far more convenient and even more stable at the same time. But that's a different topic. I don't have 360/500/720 Nikkor teles, but optically way superior Apo Nikkor 360, 450, and 760 process lenses, all of which easily cover 8x10 format, and which of course all need full bellows extension. But for sake of backpack convenience, I prefer just to use 450 and 600 Fujinon C's (compact series) instead.
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