What is Large Format Photography?
A Large Format Primer
Most large format cameras are also called "view cameras". They
generally look like the old-time cameras where the photographer uses a
darkcloth to focus. In fact, the basic design hasn't changed much in the
last 150 years, though today's cameras offer some pretty sophisticated
updates to that basic design.
Large format cameras most often use "sheet film" which as the name
implies comes in individual sheets rather than in rolls. This allows the
photographer to process each negative individually to control the way it
looks. It also allows one to take a black and white photograph and then
a color photograph on the very next shot, or to use different speeds or
types of film such as negatives or transparencies (slides).
The most common film size, by far, for large format photography is four
by five inches. Many other sizes are available from 2 1/4 inches by 3
1/4 inches (6cm x 9cm) all the way up to 11x14 and even larger. There is
a camera made by view camera maker Ron Wisner which uses Polaroid film
in 20 by 24 inch size! The most common film sizes are 4x5, 5x7, 8x10 and
11x14. There are also panoramic or "banquet" film sizes such as 12x20
which are less common. Those sizes are in inches by the way.
Compare a typical large format 4x5 negative with a 35mm negative. The
35mm negative actually measures 24mm by 36mm or slightly less than an
inch by slightly less than one and a half inches. The 4x5 negative
measures about 3 7/8 inches by 4 7/8 inches. That gives a film area that
is about 13 times that of a 35mm negative!
That large size translates to a huge amount of detail that can be
captured by a view camera and just as important, a huge amount of
"tonality". Think of tonality as how smoothly a image can transition
from dark to light.
View cameras have other advantages over 35mm or most medium format
cameras. The most notable of which is that view cameras almost always
provide "movements". Movement refers to the ability to change the
relationship of the lens and the film. In a 35mm camera for instance the
lens is mounted rigidly to the front of the camera and the film is held
tightly against the back. With a view camera the lens is mounted on a
front standard which can be moved, up or down (rise/fall), left or right
(shift), pivoted left or right (swing) or pivoted up or down (tilt).
Often the rear standard of the camera where the film mounts provides the
same set of movements. Not all view cameras have all those movements but
most of them have most of the movements available.
What movements can be used for is enough for another article (or an
entire book) but the short explanation is that they allow the
photographer to control perspective and the area of sharp focus. If
you've ever seen (or made) a photograph of a building with a 35mm camera
and it seems that it is leaning over backward you know the issue of
perspective. View camera movements can correct those perspective
problems.
View cameras do not generally have shutters in them. (There are
exceptions.) With a view camera system each lens is mounted in its own
shutter. Shutters come in a variety of sizes to acomodate different
lenses. The most common shutter line is from Copal.
Another advantage of the view camera is that one can use lenses from
almost any manufacturer on almost any view camera. If you have a Nikon
35mm camera you are limited to using Nikon lenses (or those of 3rd
parties designed to fit). You can't use Canon lenses on your Nikon or
vice versa.
View camera lenses are generally mounted in shutters and they the
shutters are mounted on lensboards. A lensboard is usually a square or
rectangular piece of wood or metal with a hole drilled in it. The holes
vary in size depending on the shutter that is intended to fit in it.
While different camera manufacturers use different sized lensboards
moving a lens from one lensboard to another is usually a trivial matter.
If you upgrade your camera you can continue to use you lenses.
So, are there disadvantages to using a view camera? Well that depends on
your point of view! In general view cameras must be used on a tripod
which precludes using them for fast action sequences. View cameras take
much longer to set up, frame and focus than 35mm cameras or even medium
format cameras. For me the elapsed time between deciding to make a
photograph of a scene and actually pressing the shutter release probably
averages three minutes. If the scene requires using lots of movements to
control perspective and plane of focus it might take me five or ten
minutes.
View camera lenses are most often slower than lenses for 35mm or medium
format cameras. This means that slower shutter speeds tend to be normal.
I seldom use a shutter speed faster than 1/30 of a second and at least
one member of our group seems to think that exposures of 30 seconds to
several minutes are completely normal. Again, this makes capturing fast
action more of a problem with a view camera.
View cameras are also bigger, bulkier and in many cases heavier than
most other cameras. That makes carrying them around more difficult. For
field shooters there are special view cameras called field cameras that
can fold and take up less space. They are often much lighter in weight
than a studio camera but in the end, a view camera setup consisting of a
camera, two or three lenses, some film holders, a darkcloth, a light
meter and a tripod will end up weighing a substantial amount (my 4x5
three lens setup including some filters and a Polaroid holder along with
a few goodies like a small notebook weighs in at around forty pounds.
There you have it. A brief description of what a view camera is and what
it can do for you. You can find a lot more information at the large
format photography information site. http://largeformatphotography.infoI