lf-photo.org.uk

So where do I find a nice online idiots guide you large format. I have a camera on the way (Cambo 45 monorail) I'll be starting with a 120film back just to get my head round accurate focus and exposure without burning through sheet film. Then I'll start on the bigger stuff once I have a bit more confidence.

I'm looking for a nice basic guide I can read on my phone when I'm out with the camera thinking 'what the hell do I do next?'

Hi here is a little verse that I used when I first started - I don't remember where I found it so am not claiming any authorship etc...

Before you take out that slide
Check the light meter has not lied
Set the f stop
And shutter too
Close the lens
Cock shutter anew
Take the slide out gently and look around a lot
The scene's still good? Then take the shot
Replace the slide the other way
Should you bracket it today?

I have a few pdf's for beginners that I have to find, if they have links to the original download page I will try an post them in the next couple of days.

Hope this help

nn

This very basic outline may be of help. I used it when I first started using a LF camera.....

http://www.toyoview.com/LargeFrmtTech/lgformat.html

Bill

When I first started I found quite a lot of info here http://www.largeformatphotography.info/

Paul

Hello from France !

Before starting to use a view camera, I had read several books in English. Most references are actually American, sorry if I do not provide any British authors here ...

The most complete _technical_ book is probably Stroebel's
Leslie D. Stroebel, ``View Camera Technique'', 7-th Ed.,
ISBN 0240803450, (Focal Press, 1999)

A simpler technical book, can be recommended to those with no prior experience
about LF cameras:

Using the View Camera by Steve Simmons
Amphoto Books; 1st edition (October 1, 1992) ISBN-10: 0817463534

but those are technical, not artistic books !

May be the most inspiring for me who love the classical American landscape in B&W are Ansel Adams' "Trilogy" : the camera, the negative, the print. and the making of : "Examples"

The Camera (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 1) (Paperback)
by Ansel Adams and Robert Baker
Bulfinch; Tenth edition (June 1, 1995) ISBN-10: 0821221841

Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs (Paperback)
by Ansel Adams, Bulfinch (May 30, 1989) ISBN-10: 082121750X

------------------------------------------------------------

There is a series of book by the Swiss Sinar view camera manufacturer named "creative large format".
Basics and Applications (Creative Large Format Photography)
Sinar Publications AG ISBN-10: 3723100309

Other references:
Harvey Shaman, The View Camera: Operations and Techniques, Amphoto
Books, 2nd Revised edition edition (Feb 1992), ISBN 0817463755

A small but very complete technical book by Kodak. I have always found Kodak litterature very-well written, precise, and not too much "self-advertising" for Kodak products.
The Large-Format Photography (Kodak Publication, No. O-18e.)
by Eastman Kodak Company, James A. McDonald, Roger Vail
Silver Pixel Press; 2nd edition (March 1996) ISBN-10: 0879857714

Some of, if not all, books listed above might be out of print, but they are extremely easy to find from retailers selling second-hand books worlwide.

My recent pride regarding second-hand books is the purchase of a 1950-series Ansel Adams book at 0.73 euro (=$1), plus 5 euros of postage, coming from the Far West of America to Besançon, France ! It worked ! Yes, the amount of Carbon Dioxide generated to bring this invaluable book by Saint Ansel across one continent plus one ocean is a shame !

Bill,

I started by using B&W photo paper as negatives as it works out very cheap per shot, plus it is quick to develop just a single sheet to check what happened (I think of paper negatives as a manually developed Polaroid). The down side is that the dynamic range is not huge so you have to meter carefully, which is no bad thing. The exposures are also slow as the paper needs to be rated at about ASA 6 to 20 depending on the paper and how you process it.

Over time, I got a bit too used to shooting onto paper and I tend to still use paper negatives more often than B&W film! For colour I generally use film, but RA4 colour paper can work out even cheaper than B&W paper but is really tricky to get a good exposure as you need to filter to balance the colours.

Best regards,

Evan

EDIT: Ok, like a muppet, I forgot the links I intended to add!

A check list with a really good guide for focussing:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/ ... klist.html

A bit more technical depth on focussing:
http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/HMbook18.html

Hmmm. Can you do a develop-bleach-expose-develop-fix reversal with paper? I have vague memories of trying something along those lines, years ago, but I don't think it was terribly successful...

Neil

Neil,

Yes you can reverse process both B&W and RA4 paper. It is not something I do often, but have had some success. If I remember correctly, you need to expose for longer than you expect so that after the first develop, the image is rather dark; when it is bleached out, the second development is an image that has a thinner and more appropriate quantity of silver. For B&W I find it easier to expose a negative as normal, and then contact print through (place the papers emulsion-to-emulsion, Ilford paper is good for the negatives as it has no writing on the back). If you are careful, it is possible to squeegee the wet negative to a sheet of unexposed paper and contact print immediately after washing the negative; you do not even need a contact frame as the suction of the wet paper keeps the two sheets together.

With RA4, the filtering you put on the lens is crucial to getting a usable colour balance, but some people do seem to manage it. I generally just scan the negatives and post process in photoshop.

Best regards,

Evan

Bill Backhouse wrote:So where do I find a nice online idiots guide you large format. I have a camera on the way (Cambo 45 monorail) I'll be starting with a 120film back just to get my head round accurate focus and exposure without burning through sheet film. Then I'll start on the bigger stuff once I have a bit more confidence.

I'm looking for a nice basic guide I can read on my phone when I'm out with the camera thinking 'what the hell do I do next?'

Hi Bill

I hope that you've managed to get started? As Emmanuel rightly said, the books that he listed are pretty well the comprehensive hard copies of what's available, although the Stroebel book is a touch heavy - post on here again if you're still looking for assistance etc etc

regards

andrew

I had a good read, went out and took some piccies (got a freebie part box of Ilford FP4 from a member of another forum) and |I'm not too happy with the result, insane DOF so need lots of practice struggling to stop down beyond f16 as i just don't do it with 35mm.

Decided I don't like the roll film back I bought so that will be up for sale shortly, if I'm being cheap I'll shoot paper negs or buy foma/adox film.

need to practice though, this could be fun

Bill Backhouse wrote:I had a good read, went out and took some piccies (got a freebie part box of Ilford FP4 from a member of another forum) and |I'm not too happy with the result, insane DOF so need lots of practice struggling to stop down beyond f16 as i just don't do it with 35mm.

Decided I don't like the roll film back I bought so that will be up for sale shortly, if I'm being cheap I'll shoot paper negs or buy foma/adox film.

need to practice though, this could be fun

Hi Bill

thx for posting etc etc

it takes time, it doesn't happen overnight, it's enough initially to contend with the fact that one is seeing 'upside down and back to front' owing to the absence of a mirror between the fim plane and the lens etc, then one has to get used to metering which isn't generally an issue with 35mm

when I started, I bought some gear from Robert White and Robert said to me then words to the effect that "....you will make mistakes when you start.....[and you have to accept that etc]....' and I've always believed that that was entirely spot on

I suggest that you do not get shot of the rf back at this stage

imho what you may well need is to spend sometime with a LF enthusiast who can help you more than all of the over hype and twaddle that can be too paramount in some of these guides - often it's better to 'think outside of the box etc etc' - if it helps, I've plenty of spare time at the moment and are more than happy to help, so send me a pm if interested

regards

andrew

Thanks for the offer Andrew

I think your probably right, I need to learn with someone who knows enough to ask 'why' I'm doing the things I am, its because I know no better, then show me how to improve. I just don't have the time at the moment though as I'm about to become a daddy so I'll be relying of 35mm and my squidgital canon for the baby pics, but it would be rude not to try the odd portrait while its sleeping (which hopefully it will do now and again!) though.

I could do to find an easy way to scan my negs to ask for advice really.

thanks Bill

to be frank, advice on what could and hasn't gone wrong on viewing 'scanned negs' isn't really what you need imho - it's a hands on few hours, no more really

regards

andrew

Andrew Plume wrote:thanks Bill

to be frank, advice on what could and hasn't gone wrong on viewing 'scanned negs' isn't really what you need imho - it's a hands on few hours, no more really

regards

andrew

just to add to this and if anyone is interested, I have too much spare time these days and I'm always happy to help anyone new to LF, so send me a pm if interested etc etc

Bill,
Came across this on my LFfile; it may be of interest. Dennis.

http://benneh.net/blog/tag/large-format/