Leaving 4x5 Photography || Opinion
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
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#nicosphotographyshow #filmphotography #film
I love my 4x5 system and it has served me well over the years. My home darkroom brings me peace of mind.
Thanks for sharing your decision and your reasons. I often find myself in “analysis’/paralysis” as I try to decide what film to shoot and what cameras to take when I go on trip. Sometimes I even envy those folks who just take a smartphone. Lol.
I’ve decided to stick with 4x5 sheet film. I’m phasing out 35mm and 120 film. I don’t want to deal with all the negatives and ALL the gear. I plan on shooting digital for the everyday/family snapshots. 4x5 will be for solo trips into the mountains or for more formal portraits. I dunno if it’s the right choice. I’m just trying to simplify as well.
a TLR camera will maybe be a delight- its just a small box, no lens choices, etc. meter built in on many. often I'll just take mine and love not having to carry all the other stuff. I love my Rollei- got it for free and put a bright screen in it- super great image quality!
Interesting and reiterating a thought process I had 6 or 7 years ago.
Large format photography is actually my main thing, but I don't do 4x5 - the only 4x5 camera I have is an old remodeled Polaroid 110A, which lives on a shelf. 4x5 as a format is to small for me, since I don't enlarge my pictures. I have a 11x14 in my little home studio, which I use to create 1:1 portraits (11x14 is the format, where you can take a picture of a head in its original size), and I have a 5x7, which I use to do street portraits. Both cameras are Stenopeikas, btw, Michele custom built the 11x14 for me.
I don't think that a plan just to do one sheet of film a week will work. You will end up doing at least two, more likely four per session, and if it will be just one session per week on average, well, time will tell. And with 8x10 (and even more with 11x14) this is will get quite expensive. That's part of the reason, why I shoot reverse positives on ordinary photographic paper (mostly decades old), which costs just a few cents per sheet (if bought new 2 € per shot). So I can do daily sessions with 4 sheets and rather worry about the costs of the chemistry than of the film (or paper in my case). When I'm going out with the 5x7 to do street portraits I have 10 double-holders on me and don't need to think about the costs of the material used.
The other reason why I do this is, that I want to take advantage of the possibility to create unique originals this way. With negatives you don't have this - and film positives in that format are even more expensive, and it is again expensive to hang those on a wall.
For everything else besides portraits I use medium format cameras.
I also decided to completely forgo a film format - in my case 35mm. I'm convinced, that nowadays digital can do everything what 35mm film can do, only in most cases better in all cases cheaper. So everything what others use a 35mm camera for, I use my digital camera. But that camera is actually the one I use least.
Give me a break. If you're doing 11x14 then you know that digital doesn't hold a candle to LF or even MF. I have a 45MP Nikon and a I can get better shots on my $200 Intrepid 4x5 -- and by better I mean 20x the resolution of one the best 35mm digital camera you can buy. No consumer or pro digital format compares to what you can do in LF. Period.
@@davefaulkner6302 I think you need to up your reading comprehension game. He said he's using 11x14 and 5x7 for portraits, medium format for all his other film work and only uses digital to replace 35mm.
Now which technology is "better" is another topic and one that I'm honestly not interested in at all, but personally, I happen to like the look I get with 35mm film, and although there are more and more improved digital simulations available for "film look", why use an emulation when you can have the original. Besides, I like the cameras and the all-analog process way more than sitting by the computer screen to edit my photos.
Anyway, no one said that digital beats large format or even medium format film resolution/quality-wise. Only that for some people, digital seems to make more sense nowadays than 35mm film. And yes, I agree, modern digital cameras have "more pixels" than 35mm film, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's "better". Not to me anyway.
I get it. Hording can be fun but making something is much more satisfying.
Nico, unlike you, I just immersed myself into large format photography and I'm trying to shoot every chance I get. But as a portrait photographer, I have not been in the studio with my Shen Hao TZ45 IIC much. I'm currently shooting the mundane just for practice at the moment.
Love your reason. Always so informative.
I certainly didn't see this one coming...For those of us who don't work at a camera facility and don't have the money or time for 8x10 format, 4x5 is the larger format of choice. You have access to so much gear and opportunities to buy big gear at a reasonable price that I believe the majority of users here do not so 4x5 it is. I at least, am not a pro and don't depend on photography for money. It's a hobby. I do mainly landscape photos and 4x5 works just fine for me. Good luck on going big...I vastly appreciate the input you give us crazies.
your 4x5 cameras humming “You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave” 🙂
You seem to be going through the " time poor" 30 to 50 stage of life where most people abandon photography altogether. Relinquishing a lot of gear will probably be a relief when completed and free you up to move on, hopefully to explore LF a bit deeper. I had lots of cameras over the years and when I returned to it after a hiatus of twenty years I settled on three cameras, three formats three lenses. Leica 3G 50mm collapsable, 6x9 century graphic 100mm stripped down as a view camera only, and 5x7 a 210mm. All essentially give the same standard lens look. I could have done without the 6x9 use it with 3200 film for dark industrial stuff. At 70 10x8 is too heavy and cumbersome for me and the feather weight of the 5x7 intrepid makes it the perfect one for me since I did a few mods to it. I also am a contact print man, 4x5 is a bit small 5x7 gives me nice size prints, my only size. They are easy to look at in the hand or are big enough for a frame on the wall. As a B&W shooter 5x7 could easily be my only camera as it does 90% of my shooting. Hope you can keep finding the time for the news. Regards Paul .
As I was watching this I was thinking it was just the end of large format and I didn't really see the part about 4x5 until you mentioned it. Makes sense if thats what you want to do.
If you do 4x5 right now , don’t move to 8x10 unless you are going to do wet plate . 4x5 100MAX , 400TMY , Delta 100 are about the same with resolution ,
Grain and look . I have made the tests ! 120 Hasselblad is convenient and handle great but no camera perspective moves !
8x10 moves you to money pit status . I personally know what pluses and minuses . Unless you have a specific plan for your work , save money to the bank until you have a clear plan . Test an idea or direction with rented or borrowed equipment . You will develop a list of what you need if you pursue
In that direction . I am just sharing . I love ultra large image making . I love digital images .
I found your rationale extremely interesting, and will certainly pass this on for friends to see. Me personally I’m always subject led, and what the project requires. I certainly value your take on your approach. Keep us in the loop !
I sold my 4x5 and 5x7 cameras too and only keep 8x10 and 11x14.
Still keeping just keep a 9x12 mentor reflex slr for the smaller format as its like huge medium for at camera and different opportunities for portraits.
My use case for 4x5 is 6x12. I was going to move away from 4x5, but kept it for that:) Same story - no time. I gave up hope of making time for loading film holders, etc. I think if I were darkroom printing 8x10 I'd have maybe stuck with it. Even then, just loading the sheets takes time. I shot Ilford Ortho to make loading/processing easier, which helped a lot. In the end, roll film ftw!
Good for you Nico, I think I'm about to do the same for 5x7. I guess 8x10 will be the next step. 🙂
I'm with you. Sold my Chamonix 4x5 outfit back in early summer, though I did get a 4x5 pinhole for some fast and light hiking trips as I love LF pinhole landscapes. I had planned to use the 8x10 more, but in the end, that is collecting dust too right now. Can't bring myself to part with it though. For me these days I found myself returning to my roots of just a Rolleiflex and some HP5. 10 years ago that was all I shot, but got away from it due the limitations of a fixed focal length. Funny how things come full circle.
Totally agree regarding the beauty of an 8x10 contact print! After 40 years of my own 8x10 photography, and I know this is going to sound crazy, but I swear that something "strange" happens to my brain when viewing the image on my ground glass at actual print size. I love 8x10 and will continue to shoot it even given the current ever rising prices of film.
Paralysis of Choice. Paradox of Choice. It sounds like you have really thought this out, you have a plan, your reasoning. May you be strong in completing your goal!
Thanks for sharing Nico. My reason for shooting 8x10 is also the contact printing options you have afterwards. Carbon printing on glass is my favourite, but Cyanotype, and Albumen I do as well and with the 4x5 that was just unsatisfactory.
Listing to you today I actually think you are getting ready to start talking and thinking about art more than gear. Becoming and artist is a process and sounds to me like you are on your way.
Looking forward to see some of your macro work with the Sinar setup.
I share your view . Back in 1973 , when I started photography seriously and when I was studying it , I really wanted a Sinar . I asked my photography teacher and he told me that at the time , very few photographers used view cameras , only those in the architectural and very high quality mags such as National Geographic etc tended to use these and he suggested that I wait until such time as I had decided on which branch or branches of photography I would be pursuing . I did this and found that landscape and portraiture were the two which really interested me . As such , I got a couple of decent quality 35mm and 6X6 cameras and have been very happy with them . I knew several of professional photographers who gave me a great deal of help , and not one of them had a view camera and none were remotely interested in buying one , for exactly the same reason as my teacher had told me years previously ! Large format was only used for architecture and critical landscapes , portraits etc which required any great deal of enlargement .. So I give this same advice to beginners in film photography these days . Large format is expensive , time consuming and the only real advantage of it is the ability to accurately retouch the negatives , which of course , is no longer done anyway .
That makes a lot of sense, and simplifying your options is a great approach. Also, I do really enjoy my Sinar 210 on my Intrepid 8x10. The Fujinon 300 is another favorite, and those two are pretty much all I need in 8x10.
Thanks for sharing.
I sold everything 4x5, 8x10 and 14x17 and MF 1.5 yrs ago.
Now I only have 35mm with 2 lenses. Never looked back.
I shot for artistic reasons not for details nor to document beauty.
I'm kinda on the same path, though I've never even tried large format. Haven't sold all my MF gear either, yet... (still have an Autocord and a 6x9 Linhof). I practically never print larger than 8x10, and I actually like grain. I have no real use for the shallow DoF that comes with larger formats, either. Plus the logistics of 35mm make a lot more sense to me. And yes, I admit, the price. Besides, everything looks great on MF let alone LF, so sticking with 35mm keeps me honest about trying to improve my photography and not just be in love with "the look of a certain format" ;)
4x5 retains relatively good depth of field and is good for enlargement obviously. For me it's the perspective control of a view camera that's become important. I do like medium and 35mm formats too, and I use roll film in my 4x5 sometimes.
I feel that supporting film sales is vital if the holistic aspects of photography are to survive. Large format and darkroom being taught in university/college is still happening thank god, and Asia has continued to embrace film alongside digital.
It's going to be tough for film users for a while whilst the economic mess continues, however sticking with it may help us see film continue with a brighter future in years to come.
There's nothing like a hand print of any kind. Film is king..ling live film.
I think the most important thing in all of this is declaring your intentions. Large format in 2022 and beyond, due to the many circumstances, is almost entirely a personal and passionate thing to do unless you have some incredible means of support. I suppose what I mean by this is that if you make pictures for pure personal joy then 2-4-6 sheets a month is fine, but it comes at the sacrifice of your progress... IF you declare your intentions of being an artist and being a part of the conversation in contemporary art. If you study the legends of the medium, you quickly realize that these folks were impressively productive and shot thousands of sheets per year. Again though, if your intention is just to have a tool as a personal hobby then none of that matters and enjoy the hell out of the small volume of pictures you make.
I did exactly the same thing a few years back. Liquidated all my 4x5" gear and went 8x10". Never looked back, I love it. Funny thing is (apart from the carrying to location part) shooting 8x10 is more comfortable than 4x5 once you're set up because you're looking at a giant screen - it's sort of like having a full size laptop monitor with live preview. And contact printing is a joy.. you get a serious sized final print in perfect quality, instead of a miniature. You also have to opportunity to get into alternative printing processes like platinum palladium without having to make those inkjet faux negatives.
Wasn't expecting that direction...guess I'm basing it on my own lack of patience toward cameras with movements
52 pics is quite a lot, I'm with Ansel Adams who said, "Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop"
I believe even and especially Ansel Adams shot way more than twelve sheets per year to make twelve significant photographs :)
@@markuslarjomaa3122 But 52 8x10 equals 208 4x5 ;-) and he previsualised - just kiddin'
@@Martin_Siegel Shouldn't we all previsualize - at least to some degree - regardless of format :). But especially you, only exposing 12 4x5 sheets per year ;)
@@markuslarjomaa3122 Well that's more of a work in progress, TBH - getting up to 12 ;)
Thank You for your share. Understood your reasons. Seems to me that new path You are going to walk still have new learning curves You find promising , while for comparison 4x5 Is almost 'explored'
Contact printing is the most appropriate response to the modern world because, short of polaroids, it is the closest to raw photography with little to no manipulation. We live in a world where everything is on a whim. Why did you make it that shape? Why did you print it that size? Why did you include/exclude that? Even the viewer can enlarge and crop the image on their screen when you show it to them. In this environment it is very refreshing to make an object where you have selected what is recorded and controlled the tonal values but little else. It is what it is, not whatever someone would like it to be, a thing not a product or just more content for smashing together with everything else.
Needless to say I've had entirely your thoughts. I'm hoping to concentrate on 8x10 with my Intrepid and a 300mm lens and a handful of filters. Fomapan is OK, especially if you are contact printing, and half the price of Ilford, although reciprocity is a big issue.
I would love to have a 4x5
This was a decision I made a few years ago as well. Enlarging isn't that bad, keeping the glass clean is only a mild hassle.
Thank you for the video. I am agree with you but, what do you do if you plan to go abroad by plane ? Sometimes I use 5x7 or 4x5 for such situation. Best R.
A good rationalisation, too much choice is not needed, good luck!
Excellent choice, I understand you, also I would like to do only 8x10 (currently I only do 4x5-Sinar P2) but the problems are the costs too high, can't wait to see the photos, thanks for the video and good work,Large Format Forever!
Other than the camera movements, I can make images with my D-850 that are comparable to a 4x5, 8x10 is another matter, however.
I'm moving to 8x10 and pyro 510 stand development.
Absolutely rock-solid reasoning! Very interesting to hear!
Bring back the moustache!
Its been discontinued by Fuji!
@@NicosPhotographyShow lmfao 🤣 ❤
@@NicosPhotographyShow Love the videos. Keep up the great content. You sir are a treasure for the community!
Thanks!! Much appreciated!
@@NicosPhotographyShow 😂 good one
I can see 8x10 in my future but I've just bought a Chamonix F2 as an upgrade from my Intrepid. I also have a Speed Graphic, a Croma Snapshot and a Harman Titan, so I've got a 5x4 collection already. One of my four lenses (Schneder 300/5.6) is really an 8x10 lens rather than 5x4, so I've started the path. I costed up a new Intrepid 8x10, a Stearman 8x10 tank and a 8x10 film holder (would I ever need more than one?) and I could do it., but not yet.
Nico, I have to say that I rarely use my 4x5 kit because I enjoy the 8x10 so much more. I feel that if the subject matter is large format worthy, then why not 8x10 since you are already taking the time to setup and shoot. Selling all those cameras and lenses frees up cash for more film! 😂 Cheers!
Is there a noticeable improvement in IQ by using dedicated macro lenses for 8x10 macro photography?
Interesting rational. I thought about 8x10 for exactly the ability to do contact prints (and better resolution with pinhole photography), but on the other hand - 4x5 is already on the heavy side for me to lug around (shoulder problems of a 60+ years old guy)! And even though using pinhole "lenses" saves weight (and money ;-)), I do want to have the option of using real lenses, and there 4x5 again has the advantage of smaller/lighter lenses. And the sheet film holders are also much lighter with 4x5. So, no large contact prints for me … 😁
I want your Chamonix camera, would love to buy that from you.
I don't shoot large format at all, but if I will (never say never, I've been thinking of it) I'll get probably 5x7 at least: so I can make contact prints and don't need an hour enlarger. I think 4x5 prints are too small.
I really understand!
Hey Nico, si vas a vender alguna que no se vaya de madre… acabo de conseguir una ampliadora 4x5 hecha polvo y la he podido restaurar..y estoy deseando empezar a sacarle partido a un negativo tan grande… para mi.😊 un abrazo!
I hope that at least some part of your treasure hoard ends up on kamerastore. I'd be interested ;)
I am going other way, moving from 4x5 to 120, getting too old now, not so easy to focus 4x5 any more and I am not fond of developing 4x5, 120 is so much easier to handle.
Congratulations. A difficult and brave decision.
8x10 to 4x5 reducing back?
Yeah...choices are tough for some people. All those lenses and cameras and films to choose from. Life is tough with all those choices. Wanna sell some lenses? Have a spare Sinar camera around?
Did he say 40 lenses?
Yeah, used to teach workshops where everyone had a camera and three lenses. So that made it quite a collection.
Got you. I thought maybe you took GAS to an all new level.
@@JMC0704 maybe a bit of that too…
Apart from contact printing... i dont hear any other reason from you really. Just my opinion :) a lot of what you said are self created issues... esp buying so many 4x5 etc.. and mean... why do you need to do that??! lol
I’ve been thinking about getting into large format photography by means on 5x7 for kinda sorta similar reasons: large enough to contact print but not as cumbersome as 8x10 and there are 4x5 reducing backs for bulk shooting.
Same for me, 5x7 sound like an ideal format
You talk like if 4x5 is small :D. I would love to own a 4x5, but no money right now so I’ll have to wait
Where will you sell the 4x5 cameras? kamerastore?
Probably, or on some Facebook group. I could theoretically sell them via my website
@@NicosPhotographyShow I see, please feel free to mention where you have posted them. I've been looking to get into 4x5 and the chamonix f-2 has my preference so I can have a look at the ones you are selling :D
" i wont enlarge 8 x 10" even though i have an enlarger, lost me here but whatever you wanna do..