Landscape Photography Magazine

One Response

1. Chas says:

   February 25, 2012 at 18:03

   It is interesting to see a modern piece about the larger format. It brings back memories for me as it was my main camera use for so many years.

   I had said on other occasions that the skills in the use of such cameras should not be lost as not all features can be reproduced using Photoshop as many believe.

   While applauding the effort some of the explanations left me wanting more detail.

   Admittedly It would not be an easy thing to do in such a short presentation as the meat of the subject can become quite complex. Only the devotee would be enthusiastic enough to take the matter further, which is a pity because we need more and younger photographers to understand these principles before they are lost.

   In my time the book if memory serves was View camera Technique by Leslie stroble. It was the bible complete with illustrations.

   One camera movement was missing and that is swing which allows the standard to turn sideways, ‘swinging’ on the lens axis. It can be very useful for focus control on angled walls.

   The importance of lenses was similarly overlooked. Although mentioned almost in passing no explanation was offered why the circle of coverage should be much larger than the actual film format being used. For instance when using 4×5 it might be desirable to use a lens that will cover 8×10 so that the lens movement remains within the lens coverage for the format.

   This is not easy to explain in words and needs a simple illustration.

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