Please tell me how easy it is to shoot with a 4 x 5

[Doug Paramore]

Fred: I couldn't agree with you more. I can't count the times I have set up the camera, studied the scene, and never made a shot. The wonderful thing about large format is the shooting process itself is quite enjoyable. I love studying the image on a ground glass even if I don't make a negative. I, too, have set up the camera and watched as the clouds turn to mush, the wind picks up, of the image just won't come together, and I couldn't answer to myself why I was making the neg. I wanted to get the message to Dave that with practice, setting up the camera and managing the image would become habit and allow all the focus to be on the art instead of the mechanical side. Repetition is still one of the best ways to become familiar with a process. Doug.

[Daniel Taylor]

I don't think I would ever characterize LF as easy. fun, exciting, rewarding, but not easy. you want easy, go elsewhere. one of the most exciting aspects for me, is the hands-on involvement of loading film holders, loading the Expert drum, developing, and the magic feeling when the lid is popped off and those magnificent negatives come to life in the tray and on the light table.

[Alex Corbishley]

Something I didn't see mentioned above: get a polaroid back for your 4 x 5. This is the best tool for LF. You can see the results of your exposure and movement experiments immediately.

I have been using my Toyo field for about 2 months now, shot 2 boxes of Polaroid, one box of QL Velvia, one of TMAX (reg film) and one of 100VS. I will never go back to Med format. 35mm has its place but LF is where the beauty is.

For film Quick load is by far the way to go. If you eliminate the pictures lost by misloaded film, fogging, fingerprints - QL ends up being CHEAPER! However there are limited emulsions available - Velvia, Astia, Provia and Neopan 80 in Europe. I had 100% of my QL come out fine.

I shoot mostly landscape and cities at night and love the large chromes - nothing else comes close. I dove right in - new camera, Schneider lens, spot meter, 545 back, QL back, and some other misc stuff. I use a black t-shirt for a dark cloth - works very well if you get a size that snugs around the back of the camera and it will not blow around and smack you in the side of the head!

If you do some research and buy the "right" stuff you can sell it after trying it for a while without much loss. Check Ebay, overseas and the back of Shutterbug.

Enjoy!

[James Chow]

One thing is that it's best to show up before the light is optimum so you have enough time to set up. If you're planning to shoot an early evening shot and show up after sunset hoping to just setup and shoot within a few minutes, you'll find that the ground glass might be too dark to even focus, or you'll be so rushed that basic mistakes might occur! It helps if you scout the sites out in advance. I usually bring both the 4x5 and 6x6 systems w/ 4 lenses each. If I see a great shot and barely have enough time to setup the tripod, it'll be shot on medium format. I won't get the big chrome that I desire, but it's big enough for a respectable enlargement.

[Sean Billy Bob Boy yates]

And if you think 4 X 5 is easy, wait'll you try an 8 X 10.

[David.R.Williams]

After working with 35mm, medium format and large format systems I've come to the conclution that it's all a scam! I sold all my gear and bought the cheapest polaroid camera I could find brand new ($29.99) and it's every bit as good as a 4 X 5 print! Even more detail! The other benifit is that there is no need to buy any studio lighting equipment either! It came with a flash system on top of the camera! See Doug....I don't need to buy a 4 X 5 camera to make a complete ass out of myself, I mastered that years ago! O.K. now that my off the wall, early morning humor is out of the way, let me say a few things. I must say I'm very impressed with how quickly you all replyed and how many considerate and compationate people there are in the large format field. After reading other forums about 35mm and medium format, you can tell that you people shooting large format are a differ'nt group of people. It seems I must ignore some of the people that have told me that there's little reason to buy a medium or a large format camera system with all the advanced scanners and printers that are comming out on the market. It seems all of you are all very compationate about this format and that it puts your medium format systems to shame. If that's true (even though all good tools have thier time and place) then it seems that I have no choice but to invest in a 4 X 5 system! After shooting 35mm all my life (currently with an F5 system) and even though I plan to invest in medium format, it seems that I must budget myself into having a quality 4 X 5. I'm not the type of person to zig zag up the mountain. After researching my options, I will make up my mind and get what I feel is the best for what money I will be willing to spend. I have never owned studio lighting equipment before, nor have I ever used any! I just purchased (2) of the newly released PROFOTO ACUTE "II" 2400's with (4) heads, (2) PROFOTO COMPACT 600 SPECIALS, (1) PROFOTO PRO 7B portable battery system with (2) heads, POCKETWIZARD "MAX" 32 channel digital radio slaves (2) transmiters (4) recievers, SEKONIC L-508 light meter and a bunch other accessories. I still need to buy a bunch more equipment to go with all this lighting equipment. Why am I telling you people all of this crap? To drive a point home, that I've never used lighting equipment before, but it's something I've wanted and needed for years and when I was going to do it, I wanted to do it right! My other point is that I am willing to learn how to use this lighting equipment from scratch, and after spending a bank load of money on it with out knowing anything about how to use it, it also seems a little scarry. Getting a high end 4 X 5 camera and at least three high quality lenses seems a little scarry too, but just like the lighting system, with a little effort and time, I will master them both and be very happy with the results! Even though I will still get my medium format system (for fashion photography, etc,) it seems that I must have a large format system for my true love of landscape photography up in the Pacific Northwest. I'm woundering how great my results will be shooting 4 X 5 in "some" fashion photography? I was looking at getting 3 of the SCHNEIDER lenses to start out with. Maybe the 72mm 5.6 XL SUPER ANGULON, 150 5.6 XL SUPER-SYMMAR HM and the 300 5.6 APO- SYMMAR. What do you think? Would this be a good lens spread to start off with? Would I need a "CENTER FILTER" for each one of them? ...or can I just buy one for the largest filter thread and buy step down rings for the rest of them? Thanks again to all of you nice people who have replyed and all of you who will reply.

[Daniel Taylor]

well David, I think you just punched some holes in your credibility. it's clear that LF is a tangential pursuit for you. save your money and shoot medium format. there is a much better resale market. LF is more than equipment, it is a way of thinking.

rent

[John H. Henderson]

To David at JSC (the place my friends up at Kennedy call "the place where they watch the space program on TV):

I thought I checked this board yesterday, and your message wasn't there, and today there are a zillion responses. That's impressive.

I started Large Format in September. I use a Toyo 45A. For an experienced photographer, most of it is the same. Set the correct aperture and shutter speed, and BAM! You have a gorgeous picture. The main difference is remembering to close the shutter after composing and before removing the dark slide. I hadn't had a problem with that until recently. I'd like to say that it's just because I have a superior ability to imagine geometric relationships or something, but it's probably just the grace of God. My first several outings gave great pictures. I haven't tried any push processing, or fancy developers, but I still get pictures I think are fantastic, and the detail is stunning.

Forget the movements at first. For landscapes, you may not use them at all. Lock the camera into its detents and learn to take pictures. But I think the WYSIWYG idea has some credibility - if you read books on LF photography and can't figure out the movement descriptions, set up the camera and look at the glass while you're making the movements and SEE what they do.

I see that you got a new Sekonic L-508. I just got one a few weeks ago, but for the benefit of other beginners, I had been using the meter in my Minolta SLR....and the sunny 16 rule works just as well for LF. If you have a camera with a meter, no need to go out and buy a dedicated meter. (I eventually bought the meter because I wanted to do some available light photography and the longest exposure that can be indicated in the Minolta display was 1s.)

I don't understand the criticism that people give about LF vs. digital. A DCS 660 may just barely be approaching the resolution of 35mm film. Try to add a photo-quality output device, and you drop a good portion of a $100,000 bill. The resolution of a 4x5 negative blows that way away!

One question: will the 72mm Schneider cover 4x5?

[Fender]

One thing I didn't see in any of these excellent responses was the little issue of getting used to looking at everything upside down and backwards in the ground glass. This one took me a while to get used to, notice I didn't say master <grin>. I think that it has forced me to study the imagine I am making much more carefully and has resulted in negatives which I didn't need to crop nearly as much as I do in 35mm.

I usually leave myself about a 1/2 hour to setup my gear, and then start shooting from there. As others have said, I consider it a good outing if I come back with one or two good negatives. ( I am still developing my Zone methodology so I tend to expose several pieces of film for each shot, and then develop them one at a time experimenting with expansion and contraction.

Hope this helps, -harry

[jeff moag]

I'm just getting in to LF and have approached it from an entirely different perspective than David. I picked up an old Speed Graphic with a pre-war Kodak anastigmat lens and three film holders. I'm into it for $150, counting my first 25 sheets of film. I'm going to use my 35 mm system as a light meter and shoot B&W that I can process myself at a community darkroom. A huge benefit to that is the core of accomplished photographers who are always ready with critique or advice if asked. I'm looking forward to the learning process _almost_ as much as the photos I'll end up with. I'm putting this out there so other readers won't think large format will have to cost them a few grand brfore they expose their first sheet of film. (But if you've got it, there's nothing wrong with spending it. . . .)