Very nicely presented. I shot my weddings with my crown graphic, same as yours, from 1955 to the mid 60’s until 6x6 was finally recognized as “big enough” I loved my 4x5. One thing I wanted say…if your rangefinder is well calibrated it will work 100% of the time. You also have a wonderful feature…with one or two batteries in it you can project your rangefinder image on the groom’s suit for instance and be right on. There is that little red button onn the side
Maybe this has already been pointed out in comments but I was surprised to see you making a fundamental error with the dark slide sheath. When removing the sheath to make the exposure you should remove totally and then, when reinserting following the exposure, reverse it such that the indicator strip at the head of the sheath shows black to indicate that the sheet has been exposed. The sheath has a white and a black header for this purpose. White for Virgin film, black for exposed film. You should also re-engage the L shaped wire lock to prevent accidental sheath extraction. Another good habit, when using one of those stiff metal cable releases is to bend it to form a U shape before depressing the plunger. This will further reduce the chance of lens panel movement. I have the same Graflex and spot meter and look forward to following your example and giving them some exercise soon. Thanks for the video. Now, where is my 40% grey card. 😉
I just bought my first 4x5 two weeks ago. I have had hell ever since. Still working on it but man has it been a process. Found a Cambo sc in not great condition but it turned out to be just dusty and it had a few light leaks. Lens that were sold as is and needed to be cleaned. It has been some work. Lost a few shots so I went for paper negatives and I finally got something I could scan. Waiting on new bellows to fix my light leaks. All in all I got into large format for less then $450 USD.
I modified my speed graphic and removed the front nuts so I have full access to front tilt. coupled with bedrop, it's almost more front tilt than is needed for a majority of front tilt work, and it has surprisingly a lot of swing shift as well. Press cameras get a bad rap, when they can do 90% of a field camera. I should also note, speed graphics and super speed graphics DO have a rotating back :D for anyone interested. Also, you should make a good video on the zone system and how to achieve that with a spot meter, for those who may not know how to use it.
Just watched your super informative video but I want to add 2 points about the film backs . You say you use rubber bands to keep the darkslides into place, most if not all film backs come with little metal hooks that can rotate and stop the slides from accidental movement. Secondly you forgot to mention that the dark slides are color coded black on top and white on top on the other side , that way by rotating the slide (after you have taken your shot )and sliding it back into places you can tell if the film has been exposed ( white side for exposed and black side for unexposed or the other way around)
21:57 "I really enjoy the convenience of it," that made me chuckle quite a bit after you explained one of the most inconvenient ways of doing photography ever 😄 It's all relative, I suppose! I'm only shooting 35mm and thinking of trying camera scanning soon, so large format is not on the horizon for me just yet. Being able to scan myself might make medium format more viable, though. Thanks for the video, super fascinating stuff and well-presented as always!
Great vid! I started 4x5 last year and am loving it. For developing I use the Stearman SP-445 and HIGHLY recommend it. Easy to load, it only uses 475mL of chemistry, and you can use it in daylight (unlike tray processing.) And one other kind of photography you can do with a modified film holder is wet plate. I took a tintype seminar last winter and got some great results. I also shelled out for the Intrepid enlarger kit so I can use my camera as the enlarger to print from my 4x5 negatives. Keep up the good work Noah!
I've got a Horseman 970 which is really a 2x3 camera. But i use it with 120, so I have the ability to use all the movements of the large format system on a more cost effective way! This was a good refresher of the major info for LF photography, thanks Noah!
I got a calumet monorail so cheap and pretty much only use it with the lomograflok to save money. The amount of extra equipment you need for 4x5 will start to cost a lot so being able to shoot portraits on something as flexible and cheap as instax wide is nice
I use an MPP Micropress 4x5 which is a British made camera similar to a Graflex Speed Graphic. I have a Schneider 135mm f4.7 Xenar lens. I use Fomapan 200 black and white film which I develop in Rodinal. I use the camera on a Slik 88 tripod with a Linhof ball and socket head.
I have a fotokor 9x12 cm plate camera that is slightly smaller than 4x5 but foma still makes sheet film and I’ve coated glass with emulsion and made glass negatives with varying levels of success
I just picked up a Graflex Century a few weeks ago without realizing that it's actually a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4" camera instead of a 4x5. It's a little bit of a bummer that I got it mixed up like that, but I'm still pretty stoked! I got a film roll adapter back, and I've gotten through a roll of Gold 200 with it so far on a 6x9 cm negative, which is very very close to the original film sheet size. That all said, I do still plan on eventually actually getting a Graflex Speed Graphic or another within the family so be able to actually shoot on 4x5 before the format goes away.
Another great presentation. I only shot and developed b&w 4x5 and did not have a 4x5 enlarger but could enlarge 2 1/4 sections. I did modify a 4x5 film holder to use the new Poloroid Film. It worked and was fun. The camera was a Graflex Speed Graphic from the US Army Signal Corp circa WW2 and worked perfectly. I fixed the original bellows by spray coating it with flex vinyl spray paint.
Hey, crown graphic buddies! 😁 I do love a nice 4x5 graflex, I don't know why but especially the older graflex cameras are so fascinating to me. Shooting slide film in an ancient graflex SLR is a surreal experience hahaha! Also large format reflex cameras feel like a total paradox, that fuckin mirror slap damn Oh, edit as well, but I will recommend some fpp frankenstein 200 if anyone's looking for some decently cheap 4x5 b&w that looks super sharp. I've been shooting it at 400 and pushing a stop in D76 and it's been fantastic. Like 35 bucks for 25 sheets ain't bad at all
I love my Crown. It is really cool to bring it out at parties and set it up Weegee style F-16 and 1/100 and set the distance at 10 feet with flash. Everyone gets the 10 minute blue spot in their eyes. really gets the conversation going.
Busch Pressman D is a 4x5 press camera that has a rotating back. Very nicely built, all metal construction. Nicer than a Graflex, but not a Linhoff. Lens board is a bit small, which can limit lens choice.
Terrific presentation! I just bought a Linhof Kardan Color monorail and a Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar 180mm f/5.6 lens, and am really looking forward to getting into this type of photography.
Awesome video!!! A great intro for folks!!! I do miss Type 55 Polaroid film!!! I have a few Speed Graphics that i have used since the early 90s!!! I loved using it as a point and shoot Polaroid camera!!!
Just a note on scanning with stupid resolution, and being limited by scanning tech I have used 2 scanning methods to get scans over 100s of megapixels with very clearly visible grain 1, industrial linescan camera... Really expensive and not as good as 2 2, DSLR with a 1:1 macro lens. Take a lot of very close macro photos of the film in a grid pattern making sure there is overlap Then use hugin stitcher to stitch the photos together After that export at the desired resolution and invert the image with your favorite software This is a slow process but it works very very well
I'm also able to get good scans off of my v600. I line up the 4x5 against a ~1.5 inch strip of card stock that outlines the left and right extent of the 120 scan areas. Pre-Scan the left half first, adjusting exposure and setting on this first part, scan for real. Then, don't touch any controls, move the 4x5 to the right half and immediately hit the scan button again, being careful to not trigger Epson's auto-settings. Then I use Microsoft's Image Composite Editor to stitch the planar panorama together. I've only had it fail once.
Another option for doing she film for the first time is doing to buy 3 on amemiya press. And what's nice about it as if you decide you don't like the process you can simply switch to using 120 film and it works just fine. It's actually a really brilliant medium format camera.
Been looking for good video about 4x5 large format camera basics and I finally found it here. Added bonus. I thought I recognized some of the locations in video and finally realized you are based in my 2nd hometown of Toronto. Cool 👍
I highly recommend using the stearmanpress sp-445 development tank, even if it seems (and probably is) a bit on the expensive side. But after fumbling with the (not cheaper) Jobo "system" (who ever constructed this?!) it saves me so much time and chemicals! -- And 4x5 is actually cheaper when calculated by the film area, compared to 120 or 35mm film (not by the number of picutres, but then you smartphone would be probably the cheapeste option.)
I've always wanted to acquire a 4x5 camera that I could use handheld, like those press photographers, without needing to set up a tripod and using extra stuff. But I keep finding it hard to learn what to acquire...
2:20 When I shot 4x5 for the first time (around 2013, 2014 I think) I read of course, that the notch should be on the top right corner. But coming from small format (and mostly digital) of course I considered the horizontal landscape orientation the standard orientation of images, with my 3:2 small format cameras I always made 20 landscape images for every portrait image. And I am quite certain that 99% of all snapshot photographers do this. So it never occured to me, that actually most really artistic pictures starting from the great painters, are actually in the portrait orientation. Mona Lisa in landscape? So I assumed, that of course the normal orientation in large format photography would be landscape and since I am right handed like most people, it was quite natural for me to put the film holder in landscape position with the loading opening to the right (meaning turned 90° clockwise from the correct position shown here), so that I can put the film in with my right hand, notch of course top right. Which, when you turn it by 90° counterclockwise of course means, that the notch is now on the top left. I shot 8 or 10 sheets of Velvia 50, brought them to a specialists lab a few km from home and way reasonably annoyed, when I was called by a laughing technician the next day, telling me that my quite expensive (not nearly as expensive as nowadays, but still expensive) slide films have all been exposed backwards.
Very awesome video. I’m getting a Late model Speed Graphics for Xmas. I have & wanna use my Metz 46 $ it already has that special pin plug for the rear shifter flash sync. But how did u mount yours ? I think I can use the bottom base flash bracket but I want the sturdy handle control. Besides the loop I already have, what it the Graflex or equivalent finder hood for a sort of right angle top view into ground glass?
Correction for 10:05 : Large format lenses don't have small apertures. They have *slow* apertures, which is to say they have large f-numbers. Large format aperture diameters are about the same as on lenses for 35 mm cameras. Your 4x5 camera's f=135 mm f/4.7 lens, for example has an aperture diameter of 28 mm, which is the same as an f=45 mm f/1.6 mm lens for 35 mm cameras. The math is right there in how aperture sizes are expressed: f/4.7 means you take the focal length, 135 mm, and divide it by the f-number, 4.7, to get the aperture diameter.
I think you didn't say, that after exposing you can flip around the dark slide after exposing. This changes the white side on the darkslide handle to the black side, marking that film as exposed, without using tape and stuff like that
Very nice, but technically large format began historically with 2 1/4” x 3 1/4” and larger, not 4 x 5 and larger. Yes, you can shoot 6x9 on medium format will film, but large format really starts there and larger. Thus the baby crown graphics, etc…
I'm just curious where you bought this Graflex in such good condition. I have been looking for 2 months on eBay and all that I saw is just trash. The body is mostly destroyed, the 99% of lenses are in unusable condition. Where did you suggest looking for the Graflex or a similar camera 4x5 in the same price range and type?
I'm not going to get into large format photography... I'm not going to get into large format photography...I'm not going to get into large format photography... I'm NOT....... UGGHHH...
![Kodak Black - Versatile 4 [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VcP_1Ua__vY/mqdefault.jpg)
Very nicely presented. I shot my weddings with my crown graphic, same as yours, from 1955 to the mid 60’s until 6x6 was finally recognized as “big enough” I loved my 4x5. One thing I wanted say…if your rangefinder is well calibrated it will work 100% of the time. You also have a wonderful feature…with one or two batteries in it you can project your rangefinder image on the groom’s suit for instance and be right on. There is that little red button onn the side
Maybe this has already been pointed out in comments but I was surprised to see you making a fundamental error with the dark slide sheath. When removing the sheath to make the exposure you should remove totally and then, when reinserting following the exposure, reverse it such that the indicator strip at the head of the sheath shows black to indicate that the sheet has been exposed. The sheath has a white and a black header for this purpose. White for Virgin film, black for exposed film. You should also re-engage the L shaped wire lock to prevent accidental sheath extraction. Another good habit, when using one of those stiff metal cable releases is to bend it to form a U shape before depressing the plunger. This will further reduce the chance of lens panel movement. I have the same Graflex and spot meter and look forward to following your example and giving them some exercise soon. Thanks for the video. Now, where is my 40% grey card. 😉
I just bought my first 4x5 two weeks ago. I have had hell ever since. Still working on it but man has it been a process. Found a Cambo sc in not great condition but it turned out to be just dusty and it had a few light leaks. Lens that were sold as is and needed to be cleaned. It has been some work. Lost a few shots so I went for paper negatives and I finally got something I could scan. Waiting on new bellows to fix my light leaks. All in all I got into large format for less then $450 USD.
I modified my speed graphic and removed the front nuts so I have full access to front tilt. coupled with bedrop, it's almost more front tilt than is needed for a majority of front tilt work, and it has surprisingly a lot of swing shift as well. Press cameras get a bad rap, when they can do 90% of a field camera.
I should also note, speed graphics and super speed graphics DO have a rotating back :D for anyone interested.
Also, you should make a good video on the zone system and how to achieve that with a spot meter, for those who may not know how to use it.
Just watched your super informative video but I want to add 2 points about the film backs .
You say you use rubber bands to keep the darkslides into place, most if not all film backs come with little metal hooks that can rotate and stop the slides from accidental movement. Secondly you forgot to mention that the dark slides are color coded black on top and white on top on the other side , that way by rotating the slide (after you have taken your shot )and sliding it back into places you can tell if the film has been exposed ( white side for exposed and black side for unexposed or the other way around)
21:57 "I really enjoy the convenience of it," that made me chuckle quite a bit after you explained one of the most inconvenient ways of doing photography ever 😄 It's all relative, I suppose!
I'm only shooting 35mm and thinking of trying camera scanning soon, so large format is not on the horizon for me just yet. Being able to scan myself might make medium format more viable, though.
Thanks for the video, super fascinating stuff and well-presented as always!
Great vid! I started 4x5 last year and am loving it. For developing I use the Stearman SP-445 and HIGHLY recommend it. Easy to load, it only uses 475mL of chemistry, and you can use it in daylight (unlike tray processing.) And one other kind of photography you can do with a modified film holder is wet plate. I took a tintype seminar last winter and got some great results. I also shelled out for the Intrepid enlarger kit so I can use my camera as the enlarger to print from my 4x5 negatives. Keep up the good work Noah!
I've got a Horseman 970 which is really a 2x3 camera. But i use it with 120, so I have the ability to use all the movements of the large format system on a more cost effective way!
This was a good refresher of the major info for LF photography, thanks Noah!
loved that down to earth Squarespace ad XD
I got a calumet monorail so cheap and pretty much only use it with the lomograflok to save money. The amount of extra equipment you need for 4x5 will start to cost a lot so being able to shoot portraits on something as flexible and cheap as instax wide is nice
I use an MPP Micropress 4x5 which is a British made camera similar to a Graflex Speed Graphic.
I have a Schneider 135mm f4.7 Xenar lens. I use Fomapan 200 black and white film which I develop in Rodinal.
I use the camera on a Slik 88 tripod with a Linhof ball and socket head.
I have a fotokor 9x12 cm plate camera that is slightly smaller than 4x5 but foma still makes sheet film and I’ve coated glass with emulsion and made glass negatives with varying levels of success
I just picked up a Graflex Century a few weeks ago without realizing that it's actually a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4" camera instead of a 4x5. It's a little bit of a bummer that I got it mixed up like that, but I'm still pretty stoked! I got a film roll adapter back, and I've gotten through a roll of Gold 200 with it so far on a 6x9 cm negative, which is very very close to the original film sheet size.
That all said, I do still plan on eventually actually getting a Graflex Speed Graphic or another within the family so be able to actually shoot on 4x5 before the format goes away.
Another great presentation. I only shot and developed b&w 4x5 and did not have a 4x5 enlarger but could enlarge 2 1/4 sections. I did modify a 4x5 film holder to use the new Poloroid Film. It worked and was fun. The camera was a Graflex Speed Graphic from the US Army Signal Corp circa WW2 and worked perfectly. I fixed the original bellows by spray coating it with flex vinyl spray paint.
so helpful for my second hear photography class I'm doing in university right now.. thank you so much
Thank you for taking the time to put this together for us. Stay inspired and keep shooting!
Hey, crown graphic buddies! 😁
I do love a nice 4x5 graflex, I don't know why but especially the older graflex cameras are so fascinating to me. Shooting slide film in an ancient graflex SLR is a surreal experience hahaha! Also large format reflex cameras feel like a total paradox, that fuckin mirror slap damn
Oh, edit as well, but I will recommend some fpp frankenstein 200 if anyone's looking for some decently cheap 4x5 b&w that looks super sharp. I've been shooting it at 400 and pushing a stop in D76 and it's been fantastic. Like 35 bucks for 25 sheets ain't bad at all
I love my Crown. It is really cool to bring it out at parties and set it up Weegee style F-16 and 1/100 and set the distance at 10 feet with flash. Everyone gets the 10 minute blue spot in their eyes. really gets the conversation going.
Love Graphic cameras! I have got one with rear shutter and I love it because I can mount any lens I want.
Busch Pressman D is a 4x5 press camera that has a rotating back. Very nicely built, all metal construction. Nicer than a Graflex, but not a Linhoff. Lens board is a bit small, which can limit lens choice.
Very informative. Would love to start shooting 4x5 one day
Very nice job explaining the 4 x 5 I myself shoot with a speed graphic
I have a b&j press camera it's one of the few press cameras I've seen that has a rotating back.
I can recommend switching to the sp-445, even just because it is so much easier to use than the mod45
Terrific presentation! I just bought a Linhof Kardan Color monorail and a Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar 180mm f/5.6 lens, and am really looking forward to getting into this type of photography.
Just got a Speed Graphic, and this was tremendously helpful! Subscribed!
Awesome video!!! A great intro for folks!!! I do miss Type 55 Polaroid film!!! I have a few Speed Graphics that i have used since the early 90s!!! I loved using it as a point and shoot Polaroid camera!!!
Very nicely laid out video.
I definitely misread that title as large format friday
Just a note on scanning with stupid resolution, and being limited by scanning tech
I have used 2 scanning methods to get scans over 100s of megapixels with very clearly visible grain
1, industrial linescan camera... Really expensive and not as good as 2
2, DSLR with a 1:1 macro lens.
Take a lot of very close macro photos of the film in a grid pattern making sure there is overlap
Then use hugin stitcher to stitch the photos together
After that export at the desired resolution and invert the image with your favorite software
This is a slow process but it works very very well
Thank you for the video! I think the most fun thing about the Graflex is actually shooting it with the rangefinder. It just makes it more fluid.
I love the shot of you doing the ad read LOL
Shooting with a bergheil is so satisfying.... 🤤 Sadly, the format 9x12 isnt supported anymore for colorfilm-sheets.
I'm also able to get good scans off of my v600. I line up the 4x5 against a ~1.5 inch strip of card stock that outlines the left and right extent of the 120 scan areas. Pre-Scan the left half first, adjusting exposure and setting on this first part, scan for real. Then, don't touch any controls, move the 4x5 to the right half and immediately hit the scan button again, being careful to not trigger Epson's auto-settings. Then I use Microsoft's Image Composite Editor to stitch the planar panorama together. I've only had it fail once.
I found an old speed graphic camera with a 2.25x3.75 back, so I ripped it apart and rebuilt it to use 120 roll film, still has one light leak tho
Thanks!
That is so crazy !!
I just got my first large format graflex speed graphic , was planning on shooting for the first time (: wish me luck !!
Loving your channel - just discovered it!
Thank you for this, I have recently found a crown graphic and am learning how to tinker with it.
This the last part of my photography class! Great information
This is an extremely well prepared and educational presentation. Thank you. RS. Toronto, Canada
I think a drug deal went down in the background at 13:37 lmao
Another option for doing she film for the first time is doing to buy 3 on amemiya press. And what's nice about it as if you decide you don't like the process you can simply switch to using 120 film and it works just fine. It's actually a really brilliant medium format camera.
love the video! very informative and actually learned a lot from this. thanks :)
Been looking for good video about 4x5 large format camera basics and I finally found it here. Added bonus. I thought I recognized some of the locations in video and finally realized you are based in my 2nd hometown of Toronto. Cool 👍
I highly recommend using the stearmanpress sp-445 development tank, even if it seems (and probably is) a bit on the expensive side. But after fumbling with the (not cheaper) Jobo "system" (who ever constructed this?!) it saves me so much time and chemicals! -- And 4x5 is actually cheaper when calculated by the film area, compared to 120 or 35mm film (not by the number of picutres, but then you smartphone would be probably the cheapeste option.)
I've always wanted to acquire a 4x5 camera that I could use handheld, like those press photographers, without needing to set up a tripod and using extra stuff. But I keep finding it hard to learn what to acquire...
This seems perfect for me. I am about to pull the trigger on a 4x5 zone vi at a great price and with a nice Schneider APO lens. God help me!
Well done. I want to resume shooting my Toyo 4x5
Excellent presentation and explanation. 👍🏼👍🏼
2:20 When I shot 4x5 for the first time (around 2013, 2014 I think) I read of course, that the notch should be on the top right corner. But coming from small format (and mostly digital) of course I considered the horizontal landscape orientation the standard orientation of images, with my 3:2 small format cameras I always made 20 landscape images for every portrait image. And I am quite certain that 99% of all snapshot photographers do this.
So it never occured to me, that actually most really artistic pictures starting from the great painters, are actually in the portrait orientation. Mona Lisa in landscape? So I assumed, that of course the normal orientation in large format photography would be landscape and since I am right handed like most people, it was quite natural for me to put the film holder in landscape position with the loading opening to the right (meaning turned 90° clockwise from the correct position shown here), so that I can put the film in with my right hand, notch of course top right. Which, when you turn it by 90° counterclockwise of course means, that the notch is now on the top left.
I shot 8 or 10 sheets of Velvia 50, brought them to a specialists lab a few km from home and way reasonably annoyed, when I was called by a laughing technician the next day, telling me that my quite expensive (not nearly as expensive as nowadays, but still expensive) slide films have all been exposed backwards.
Great video! Thank you
Very awesome video. I’m getting a Late model Speed Graphics for Xmas. I have & wanna use my Metz 46 $ it already has that special pin plug for the rear shifter flash sync. But how did u mount yours ? I think I can use the bottom base flash bracket but I want the sturdy handle control.
Besides the loop I already have, what it the Graflex or equivalent finder hood for a sort of right angle top view into ground glass?
Fine camera I have one and a sinar also nice video.
Great video! Would’ve saved at least ten sheets of film if I watched this before started my 4x5 journey.
FYI though it’s pronounced Cha-Mon-Ee
I don't know how you got intermediate shutter speeds; that speed setting ring has a stepped cam that only gives the marked speeds.
Would Scanning an Enlarment of a film provide with a good result to get more detail?
is this pretty close to how they took photos in 1883
awesome vid, ty
Correction for 10:05 : Large format lenses don't have small apertures. They have *slow* apertures, which is to say they have large f-numbers. Large format aperture diameters are about the same as on lenses for 35 mm cameras. Your 4x5 camera's f=135 mm f/4.7 lens, for example has an aperture diameter of 28 mm, which is the same as an f=45 mm f/1.6 mm lens for 35 mm cameras. The math is right there in how aperture sizes are expressed: f/4.7 means you take the focal length, 135 mm, and divide it by the f-number, 4.7, to get the aperture diameter.
I think you didn't say, that after exposing you can flip around the dark slide after exposing. This changes the white side on the darkslide handle to the black side, marking that film as exposed, without using tape and stuff like that
At 22:30, what flash/flash-bracket is that?
Very nice, but technically large format began historically with 2 1/4” x 3 1/4” and larger, not 4 x 5 and larger. Yes, you can shoot 6x9 on medium format will film, but large format really starts there and larger. Thus the baby crown graphics, etc…
I'm just curious where you bought this Graflex in such good condition. I have been looking for 2 months on eBay and all that I saw is just trash. The body is mostly destroyed, the 99% of lenses are in unusable condition. Where did you suggest looking for the Graflex or a similar camera 4x5 in the same price range and type?
I was lucky to pick this one up at a camera show in Toronto, every few months we have some where people have tons of film gear that they're selling.
@@AnalogResurgence you are very lucky!
“slow process”
Press Photographers back then:
haha, Grafmatic go
shck shck shck shck shck shck
Props to the guy who made a 4x5 loaf of bread 😂
I'm not going to get into large format photography... I'm not going to get into large format photography...I'm not going to get into large format photography... I'm NOT....... UGGHHH...
That’s not how you hold and load sheet film.
Always well done.
Thanks!