About Joe Cornish and the scope of the Large Format Photography Forum

[Oren Grad]

I'm sure that I'm not alone in thinking that the essence of the photography discussed in this forum is use of the view camera and movements.

You are mistaken. This is the Large Format Photography Forum, not the View Camera Forum. Many LF photographers use box cameras with fixed or helical-focus lenses, or technical/press cameras with rangefinder or scale focus and no movements. By the same token, roll film or smaller sheet film formats used with view cameras are also outside of scope for us.

There are many areas of photographic practice that are closely adjacent to our scope in one way or another, and many members with interests and experience in those adjacent areas who are happy to share their knowledge. Such discussions are welcome in the Lounge. But that is provided as a courtesy and convenience for our members; it's not our purpose as a forum.

[gypsydog]

Evidently. Which makes no sense, and amounts to telling people that they're free to post, but only if they own a Ferrari.

Wow, you've gone from iPhone 5 or some other number to an even more irrelevant Ferrari.
Resolution is but a minor part of large format.

Pricey toy fetish, maybe?

[r.e.]

You are mistaken. This is the Large Format Photography Forum, not the View Camera Forum. Many LF photographers use box cameras with fixed or helical-focus lenses, or technical/press cameras with rangefinder or scale focus and no movements. By the same token, roll film or smaller sheet film formats used with view cameras are also outside of scope for us.

There are many areas of photographic practice that are closely adjacent to our scope in one way or another, and many members with interests and experience in those adjacent areas who are happy to share their knowledge. Such discussions are welcome in the Lounge. But that is provided as a courtesy and convenience for our members; it's not our purpose as a forum.

How do you know whether I'm mistaken? I expressed a view and simply said that I don't think that I'm alone in holding it, based on 15 years of being a member of this forum, indeed longer than that due to an earlier membership, and knowing a number of members personally. As far as I'm concerned, view cameras and movements are the anchor for this whole forum as a straight factual matter. I'm pretty surprised if you think otherwise. Look at what's actually discussed, the many articles from the home page, the lens tables and the posted images.

In any event, I made the comment in a single sentence in a post (#27) that made a specific proposal. That comment is not exactly the main point, and apparently you've chosen to ignore the actual proposal.

I have no interest whatever in the Lounge. If I recall, it used to be the place where people stuck smaller format photos so as not to "infect" the main forum. Didn't make sense then and it's good to see that issue resolved, also to see that the world didn't end by letting people post them in the actual forum. Their current sub-forum is home to a lot of the better photographs posted here.

If your mind is made up and you don't see the point of discussing this, I don't see what the point was in making this a thread about forum feedback. Just close or delete the thread.

[Sal Santamaura]

...Just close or delete the thread.

Delete sounds like the optimum action.

[Oren Grad]

In any event, I made the comment in a single sentence in a post that made a specific proposal. That comment is not exactly the main point, and the actual proposal is ignored.

Similar proposals were considered long ago and rejected. That doesn't mean policies can never change, but in this respect our considered judgment continues to be that our policy should not change.

If your mind is made up and you don't see the point of discussing this, I don't see what the point was in making this a thread about forum feedback. Just close or delete the thread.

As moderators we consider it part of our responsibility to respond substantively when questions are raised about Forum policy, not to just brush them aside. The Feedback subforum is our place for doing that. Sometimes that involves revisiting topics that have been discussed before and reiterating points we've already made; a certain amount of that goes with the territory, as it's not realistic to expect that everybody has read or remembered everything.

[Sal Santamaura]

...it's not realistic to expect that everybody has read or remembered everything.

In my opinion, it is realistic to expect that posters search for previous discussions of topics and, at a minimum, reopen existing threads on them when asking for reconsideration of questions/requests. Rather than populating the database with redundancies.

[xkaes]

You are mistaken. This is the Large Format Photography Forum, not the View Camera Forum.

Someday there will be a Minox-sized sensor that will produce higher resolution than any 4x5 film -- maybe NASA already has one. If someone slaps it on the back of a large format camera, does that make it large format photography? Ridiculous!

[B.S.Kumar]

The rising cost of film, particularly sheet film has made it difficult for many photographers to continue using film. I know many photographers who use roll film holders with their 4x5 view cameras. A r.e. suggested, a sub-forum dedicated to view cameras using sensors smaller than 4x5, whether film or digital, could be considered.

Kumar

[xkaes]

Minox, meet large format photography. I have an idea. We can call it the "Large Format Photography Sub-miniature-forum"

[bob carnie]

Hi Bob!
Yeah, I don't doubt for one second that those huge files offer resolution equivalent to 8x10. But I will still choose 8x10 sheet film every time, if for no other reason that I enjoy working with physical media.

Me too, I have not made a digital exposure in my life other than my Iphone happy snaps. I prefer the physicality of film, and using it.