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Thread: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

  1. #101
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    How about "photography can be down right miserable."
    Great experiences and memories, but times that were in no way, fun.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  2. #102

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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Klein View Post
    Don't oil paint artists decide where to put the subject effectively deciding which lens angle to use? Sculptors? Why should photographers have any less choice?
    Last I heard, painters didn't use lenses (unless you count the paint-from-photo crowd and still, they don't always use the entire photo for their work, but do, of necessity, use the photographer's viewpoint).

    Choosing your viewpoint determines the relative positions and sizes of objects in the scene - that's perspective. Choosing how much of that scene you want to fit on your canvas is called framing, which corresponds to lens choice for photographers.

    Set up your camera in a spot. Take six photos with six different lenses. All will have the same perspective; just the framing will be different. Note that all six could be duplicated by simply cropping from the image made with the shortest focal-length lens.

    There's an ongoing discussion about whether using back movements on a view camera changes perspective. I'm in the "yes" camp on this since moving the film about in relation to the objects in the scene changes their relative sizes, if not positions.

    Doremus

  3. #103

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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    “ There's an ongoing discussion about whether using back movements on a view camera changes perspective. I'm in the "yes" camp on this since moving the film about in relation to the objects in the scene changes their relative sizes, if not positions.”
    Back movements change image shape. Front movements do not.

  4. #104
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    Quote Originally Posted by Doremus Scudder View Post
    There's an ongoing discussion about whether using back movements on a view camera changes perspective. I'm in the "yes" camp on this since moving the film about in relation to the objects in the scene changes their relative sizes, if not positions.
    I think Doremus is correct about back movements, as long as one distinguishes between geometric perspective and viewpoint perspective.

    Back swing changes geometric perspective, but not viewpoint perspective.

    Back shift changes neither.

    Doremus, if memory serves, I think you proposed those two terms many years ago in that old, eternally long, but incredibly entertaining thread about how to define perspective. Do you remember that fun but exasperating thread? Those are two terms LFers might put on their refrigerator door.

  5. #105

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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    How about "photography can be down right miserable."
    That's why it attracts us masochists.

  6. #106

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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    Using a view camera for images like Portraits absolutely alters the sitter's perception and overall mood-emotions of the portrait being made. Having done both view camera portraits and roll film-digital portraits, each has their own plus-minus to meet a given portrait image goal.

    Goes back to the "Decisive Moment" image -vs- highly crafted with conceived intent image. Yet, the roll film or digital camera is absolutely and fully capable of being used for those "highly crafted with conceived intent image"... think tethered display digital camera on a camera support. And yes, using a digital or roll film camera does not make image making any less serious.

    View camera or mirrorless digital they are mere tools and means to achieve a given image goal.
    Bernice

    Quote Originally Posted by Alan Klein View Post
    I wonder if using a LF camera makes it seem the photographer is giving special attention to their work? That they're serious about what they're doing. That helps the subjects be more serious as well in responding more expressively.

  7. #107

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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    Except there are many that continue to believe the lowest weight field folder is the most desirable view camera... for them to discover the un-alterable limitations of their lowest weight field folder.. followed by a shoulder shrug..

    ~Demands on camera/lens/camera support and all is directly related to image maker experience, demands and needs, which is learned by being challenged with a variety of image making needs and goals.


    Bernice


    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Unkefer View Post
    Monorail cameras are too heavy and wood folders are better for use in the field

  8. #108
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    How about "photography can be down right miserable." Great experiences and memories, but times that were in no way, fun.
    I think the most physically painful and emotionally stressful of any LF endeavor is macro work in the wilderness.

    Among those who have tried it, this might actually be a popular opinion winning instant agreement.

    But among those who haven’t, it might be an unpopular opinion, since they wouldn’t be able to imagine the misery they’d be getting themselves into!

  9. #109

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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    Newer is always better belief, until real world experience teaches the most difficult lesson of how any given problem is solved can be done in more ways than one. These Foto folks lack the experience/understanding/experience of what advantages sheet film absolutely has over digital. They have learned and are secure with their digital centric skill set that other image making methods can be threatening to their ways and abilities..

    ~Brain-mind is wired to resist change and continue with what has proven to be workable, regardless of the truth or reality.


    Bernice


    Quote Originally Posted by Doremus Scudder View Post
    Oh boy, does that ring true for me!

    I remember working in the Steens Mt. area in Oregon once when a group of photography students from the University of Oregon came by with their Holgas and digicams (with their instructor too, I might add). They though I was out of earshot, but I could clearly hear the disparaging remarks from, "what a dinosaur," "who does he think he is anyway, Ansel Adams?" etc., etc. I'm still angry.

    Doremus

  10. #110

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    Re: What’s your most “unpopular” opinion about LF?

    Lens focal length and lens type is driven and determined by image to be made/goals.

    FF digital/35mm film lens choices goes from 14mm to 500mm, with large apertures on some and sorta focus lenses.

    6x9 view camera lens focal lengths from 38mm to 500mm.

    5x7 view camera lens focal lengths from 72mm to 780mm, add sorta focus lenses to this mix.


    Camera serves lens choice, lens choice is driven by images to be made.

    Bernice


    Quote Originally Posted by xkaes View Post
    Interesting.
    For me, it's the opposite -- where I set up the camera determines what focal length lens I will use.

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