Why I Shoot Large Format

In this video I'll explore the seemingly contradictory reasons why I shoot large format cameras.

Filmed on the Canon R5C.

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Camera Gear I use in my videos:

[robindeepsingh]

Your videos, especially on drum scanning, have been some of the only few resources I could find out there. They’ve seriously been a great help and improved my photography tremendously:) always great to see you upload

[alanhuntley]

What a great video! I've owned my 8x10 Deardorff for over 40 years and, at 70 years young, still pack that outfit into the field! Though I own other formats and one Canon digital outfit, the 8x10 has remained my favorite format. Honestly, many times when out shooting with MF I get frustrated with the lack of image control. Oh, and some of us LF shooters add more "fun" to the process by shooting glass plates! 😃

[ChrisDarnell]

I think I have PTSD from the first half of this video... 😝 Thanks for the chuckles and another great video Tony!

[Nat.ImagesLarge.F.Photographer]

Excellent video Tony, large format photography for me is a spiritual necessity, the approach, the atmosphere, photography begins within you, it must not be in a hurry, it must study, think, connect with the object, because when you look through the groundglass of this camera (8x10) large, heavy, slow, discovers a fantastic world that makes you appreciate every shot, infinite love!

[ericmathisen]

Great video! I've been shooting large format for a while but get extra inspiration when I hear someone enthusiastically describe their experience. Thanks! Always looking for new challenges I recently bought an 8"x10" pinhole camera. At F/316 the process is very slow but the benefit is no focusing, no knobs and infinite depth of field. Can't be simpler. Contact printed in a darkroom the result is so sharp it's hard to believe it's a lensless photo! Still love my Intrepid 4x5 though.

[MrFlyby]

Hahaha yeah as a LF and MF photographer and my love for Velvia50, I fully understand what you mean. Even now that the sheets are discontinued I still cary on! However I feel blessed that I have a freezer with some lsheets left. Great video cheers!

[thomaspopple]

I agree with the love/frustration aspect of shooting LF. For me, one of the best things about shooting LF is the slowing down and the intentionality. That and I feel more connected to the scene. I am in the environment, not just looking at the environment on a digital screen. Makes me feel more present.

[andyvan]

yes, a great hobby, but one other point, you can be happy in the fact that if you are shooting architecture, portraits, etc. and you need to use movements, other people (digital) are reaching for their t/s lenses, YOU are just shifting/swinging away, with ANY lens, so you can't forget the t\s lens in your bag at home, You always have it with you!!

[PictureSizeDoesMatter]

I felt your frustrations and found 5x7 too expensive and limiting (film stocks), so I happily am now shooting a Chamonix 4x5 camera. I rarely will not use it unless movements are required. I shoot outdoor architecture so at times I need rise.

I do enjoy shooting portraits with my Nikon D800 which has a lovely 4x5 aspect ratio built in. To me, avoiding keystoning, aspect ratios, and chiaroscuro are of the utmost importance.

If one regularly shoots a large format camera, mistakes should be minimal.

[Thebluedevils]

I miss the days of printing my own prints on cibachrome paper. Kodachrome 25/64 35mm film.and the heir of the fallen Kodak empire - Fuji chrome film. On the train track enlarger of the mural darkroom. 220 6*9 on my old Calumet 4*5. Long gone are the days of a case of sheet film for $70. Hoping to find plans for a 4*5 to replace my view camera. make 3, 1 for me and the others to the next photographer in the family. Great video 📸

[rockhound]

Timely video. I have a Wista 45 SP with a 90mm, 135mm and 210mm lens. Now that I am semi-retired, I have time to use it. I have used a Crown Graphic before and had a nice Mamiya medium format film setup, but I donated them to the Fine Arts Institute here in KCMO and got the Wista because I wanted the movements. When I go out to take pictures, I like the slower process of film cameras. I never was the photographer that went out and burned up a lot of film. I really don't take a lot of pictures with my Nikon digital bodies when I go out. Can't do that with large format! Thanks for mild kick in the backside to go out and shoot.

[c.augustin]

Hmm, the Chamonix 8x10 has a similar price to a used Fuji GFX 100, and every shot is expensive, too, but not with the GFX. Lenses for 8x10 are expensive too, but not as much as for the GFX system. 40 MP, 60 MP, 80 MP – coupled with some modern AI tools (Topaz Gigapixel AI comes to mind), it can give all the resolution I could wish for. Still, at least 4x5 has some properties that make it my go-to choice: Quite affordable compared to a 100 MP MF digital camera, relatively cheap lenses (e.g. a Schneider Super Angulon instead of a Super Angulon XL ;-)), less weight than 8x10, more compact. But the main point why I love large format? Movements. They are addictive! You can't get them on an FF digital camera, or only a few (tilt/shift) with Canon, and you need a bunch of specialized and quite expensive lenses; you can have them with Cambo Actus, but then it becomes really expensive, bulky and heavy. The rather "low-tech" approach is another factor for me "in the field" (Sunny 16 comes to the rescue if the light meter – my iPhone – would fail, what it never did so far ;-)).

[tonysantophotography]

Thank you for sharing your story Tony! I appreciate you taking the time to watch. 😎

[wdb]

I relate to all of that. Yep, all of it. Where's the 8x10 digital back? I would then shoot both. Just can't turn loose of the film.

[gavinjenkins]

4x5 cut down medical xray film, which was still far too sharp for my Canon 6D to "scan" sufficiently in one go (was about right with a 2x2 grid of photos), is TEN CENTS a sheet. Why people spend like $4 each even for 4x5 boggles my mind. You don't even need to while shooting large format...

[Austinite]

I have given this subject a bit of thought and including all film on top of large format. 25 years ago it was all about film. Most sent their film out for processing and hoped for the best. When digital came along it gave the average Joe or Josephine ( and a lot of professionals) more control over the process with instant review abilities. One problem. Those who never shot and developed B&W film missed out on an amazing, rewarding and sometimes frustrating process. That process can be done simply or one can become an alchemical zone system wizard. That can be a craft and passion always looking for the perfect results and often coming up short.

Personally I love digital too but let us admit something. Isn’t modern digital despite its fine quality a bit more like painting by numbers than the process described above? Sure you get to play around with exposure and a well composed shot is a feather in the cap no matter what the capture medium but digital has become a very ai, controlled behind the scenes way of capturing images? We are the very few people left practicing the craft of film. Besides my old Toyo 45 field is near perfect as is. Never needs updating and for me the original firmware was spot on from the get go.😉

[VannApragal]

You are wrong, just about everything you spoke in this video. Well, the answer to your own question lies in the first minute. "H O B B Y". SMH!

[wojciechneprostipotocki]

Ja używam 4 X5 dlatego że jakość cyfrowego aparatu nawet nawet ułamek nie ma jakości tego co na wielki format