Topic: 4x5 Negatives results

[sapata]

This week I spent a day in my flat shooting and processing 4x5 negatives, they were taken using my Toyo view camera and an old victorian view camera which  I adapted the dark slide to take 4x5 negatives. My self portrait came out as if I was a ghost...!

The last two shots were taken with the victorian camera with diferent apertures.
All negs are Ilford Delta 100 processed with rodinal special 1:100 dilution

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[Skorj]

Something simple about the fourth which appeals to me. Nice.

[Ed Wenn]

Great stuff. Very interesting to see how you're getting on w/ these setups. The high quality of the larger neg is obvious to see from these scans; wonderful clarity. All of which makes me feel like a right d*ckhead for not having taken a single picture with my 5x4 Tachihara since buying it 6 months ago. Have promised myself to get going w/ it once August is over though...in the meantime too much music to make/learn/rehearse/perform.

Anyone have a spare lensboard for a Tachihara that I could buy/steal/liberate?
 

[hookstrapped]

Great stuff. Very interesting to see how you're getting on w/ these setups. The high quality of the larger neg is obvious to see from these scans; wonderful clarity.

My thoughts, too.  It's strange how that clarity comes across even on a computer screen, or maybe I just don't understand...  (that's probably it).

Very nice images.

[sapata]

Thanks for the comments ...

Great stuff. Very interesting to see how you're getting on w/ these setups. The high quality of the larger neg is obvious to see from these scans; wonderful clarity. All of which makes me feel like a right d*ckhead for not having taken a single picture with my 5x4 Tachihara since buying it 6 months ago. Have promised myself to get going w/ it once August is over though...in the meantime too much music to make/learn/rehearse/perform.

Anyone have a spare lensboard for a Tachihara that I could buy/steal/liberate?
 

ed.wenn,don't feel guilty about that... it also tooks me more than a year before I started shooting with my Toyo, and I've never taken the camera outside my flat since I bought it ! (and it's been over 3 years since I bought it...)
It's not an easy task specially if you don't have a car, the equipment it's quite heavy so everything needs to be planned before otherwise you might waste the day without a single shot. The camera itself it's a monster, added on the tripod makes even bigger so be prepare to be noticed on the streets. Depending on where you are you might get the police asking you questions...and if you're on your own,  you have to be carefull about leaving the equipment alone while you're getting the focus under the black fabric...

Anyway... I'm trying to get as much experience indoors before moving outdoors which I'll definetely do,  the negative quality is amazing as you guys can see and I have to say that did quick scan on those...

[Francois]

ed.wenn,don't feel guilty about that... it also tooks me more than a year before I started shooting with my Toyo, and I've never taken the camera outside my flat since I bought it ! (and it's been over 3 years since I bought it...)

Well... I've had a Graflex for over 10 years and never got to buy the film holders for it... All I did was shoot a few Polaroids with it when I first got it (it came with some expired film for the 545 back I had for it).

And as said, you do get the look from regular folks when you use it 

[Blaxton]

I love the range of tones in palaceflat2.  The separation is very smooth.  Not at all bad, considering I'm seeing it on a computer screen.  There's even a little detail in the bright light through the window.

These images inspired me to go to my backlog of exposed 4x5 films and slosh some through the tray.  (Here is one made on Fortepan 400 at Chase Farm almost 3 years ago.)  I have quite a few more negatives still to be developed from God only knows when and more being added to the pile all the time.  I like working with my view camera more than any other camera I have.  The pace suits me but I also like using the movements and I like being able to develop each negative according to its particular needs.

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[sapata]

Thanks for you comments blaxton ...
Great picture as well the location, and I agree with you regarding the 4x5 cameras. There's something "peaceful" about it that I compare to painting. You've got to select the location and set up everything and spend a reasonable amount of time for each shot, obviously all this romantic idea goes down the drain when you shooting comercialy...

[sheetshooter]

obviously all this romantic idea goes down the drain when you shooting comercialy...

That is not necessarily the case in my own experience Sapata ? although it CAN be, especially in these days of DSLRs being the economic cure-all to so much of commercial photography.

I have used most of the sheet film formats up to and including 8x10 .... and much of that has been for commercial as well as personal shooting.  There were clients and art directors who knew the value of the meditative and contemplative nature of shooting with the view camera and I can assure you it was sublimely euphoric working then.

Personal experience and characteristics have brought me to the conclusion that 4x5 is the best of all sheet film formats.  With 6x9 the ground glass is too small and loupes do not fit azll that easily, 8x10 is too big for my short arms.  I can't move far enough back under the horse blanket and still see the entire image while making adjustments.  And 5x7 has always been a bit difficult to maintain supplies in Australia.

It is great to see you loving this new exporation. 

[Blaxton]

Here are two more from my backlog of 4x5 films.  (It should take only one more soup session to catch up.)  These pictures were made on 320 Tri-x last winter during a crest of the Blackstone River.  I have paddled my canoe through this sluice but not, obviously, since I am here today to post this, when the water was running this high.

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[db]

It's strange how that clarity comes across even on a computer screen, or maybe I just don't understand...  (that's probably it).

Yup  I feel the same way, and my completely unscientific theory (ie- my gut tells me) is that  the subtlety and amount of information captured on sheet film goes way beyond how sharp the edges are. In fact I think that on pure resolution and contrast the old 5x4 lenses likely come up way short of the best dSLR lenses.. We sense the difference in an image, even in the empty spaces without detail.
er
oh well, I know what I mean!

[sheetshooter]

I know what you mean and I agree totally.

[Francois]

In fact I think that on pure resolution and contrast the old 5x4 lenses likely come up way short of the best dSLR lenses..

Totally true. If you ever played with f/calc, you'll notice that the circle of confusion for 4x5 is a lot bigger than for 35mm. This means that large format lenses need to be designed less precisely than for 35mm... or even APS for that matter.

As for me, I've stopped believing that the best images absolutely need top notch optics when I started playing on and off with toy cameras...

[sapata]

In fact I think that on pure resolution and contrast the old 5x4 lenses likely come up way short of the best dSLR lenses..

Totally true. If you ever played with f/calc, you'll notice that the circle of confusion for 4x5 is a lot bigger than for 35mm. This means that large format lenses need to be designed less precisely than for 35mm... or even APS for that matter.

As for me, I've stopped believing that the best images absolutely need top notch optics when I started playing on and off with toy cameras...
[/quote]
Very true...!
Regarding lens quality I thought that pictures would come out no so sharp to be honest, but maybe it's becasuse I haven't used the whole of the frame as the camera was designed to take a much bigger sheet so i guess that I must have missed the edges where normaly we would see that swirl tipycal from the victorian times

[Ken B: eyes, I just do eyes.]

what else can the marketing machines sell us as either pros or committed fanatics. They convince us of the need for a uber sharp lens made of mystery crystals grown in deep mountain steams by elfin virgins blah blah blah................... At some point the whole debate was hijacked by the competing camera companies and off they went.

Who are they to tell us that a 50 year old lens is good or bad, I use 30 yr old lenses on my D700 and am quite happy with them, maybe  I am easy pleased or self deluded, but I am happy.

I love the output of some of the cameras people are using. Simon Cardwell who is a Sydney based fine art photographer who shoots commercial work was one of my first lecturers and he used to always say that every camera has its own personality, and I think that is still a truism.

The 5x4 shots on this thread are bloody great and I look forward to seeing more of them.