I think the thing I'm getting out of watching you shoot these "old-timey" cameras is the contrast between the "point my iPhone at any-and-everything and shoot" mentality (me), and taking the time to compose a shot before even setting up the camera. One might get lucky with enough iPhone (or whatever) shots, but it seems there is something very satisfying about doing it "the hard way," as it were. Great video, as usual, Mike.
Thanks for the comment. Definitely, doing it the old-fashioned way requires you to really think about what you're doing. It's such a huge investment in time, effort, and money-per-shot that it would be silly to plop the camera down and fire away (not that you could). It is definitely satisfying because you are controlling every single thing, and it rubs my brain the right way for some reason.
It was my dream/grail camera, too, since I started LF earlier this year. I just couldn't get myself to pay the big bucks early on. Now, I've spent well more than what one of these costs on the used market experimenting with my other three cameras. At least the experimentation led me to feel strongly that this is the "goldilocks" setup for me. I have decided to sell at least two other 4x5 cameras. I just need to figure out which two. Are you still in the market for a 45FA or have you moved on?
one tip Mike, with LF lenses, they go to f 35 ,54 or 64 so at f 22 you are well safe from diffraction, a MF or 35 mm camera, on the other hand, Yes you would be in the diffraction zone at f 22 as this is the most common full closed down aperture, except for macro lenses, which go to f32; where a safe f stop would be f 11/ f 8 .
I forgot my light meter the other day and used my little pEN F to base my exposures on. I was really surprised how good that worked. So much so that I am seriously think about using it all the time and leaving the light meter home.
steeple?, mike, these can also be catagorised as belfry's ( a bells' audio chamber in a clock tower or chirch catheadral), it controls the resonance, tone and direction of the bell's tune, so the whole community can hear it!, Steeple's on the other hand only describe the pyramid on the top, to which antena's, flag poles or wind "cocks" \weather vanes are affixed. ( as what you show at 2:25 is a wide shot, not sure which part you are wanting to photograph).
I was thinking of also getting a Arca-Swiss M-Line 2, or Universalis, DLSR model, with a Nikon adapter, if I could fine one. It would give me the option of getting an digital image right away, albeit it would be just the 20 MB. I could do the medium format model, but the adapters seem pricey. Thoughts?
Sorry, I don’t really have much of an opinion on that stuff. Looks cool, but wasn’t in the direction I was moving at the time. Who knows, in the future? :-)
Good overall video! You should look into some filters (I often use a Yellow #15 and Orange #21). I have a Lee Big Stopper ND filter that is 10 stops. I don't use it that much but when I need to it works great. Obviously you researched 4x5 cameras a lot before you began acquiring/shooting them, so I am certain you came across Field 4x5 cameras. What are the reasons you chose monorail cameras over Field, just curious?
Thanks, Craig. I can't tell you how many times I've loaded my B&H or Adorama cart with a Lee or Hitech filter holder, adapter rings, and yellow, red, ND and grad filters. Just haven't pulled the trigger yet. It's amazing how quickly that gear adds up, and it's very hard to find used. I'm possibly going to the Grand Canyon this fall, and I'll definitely neeed to pull the trigger before then. Re field cameras, oh yeah I'm well aware of them, and own two of them: a Horseman 45FA (metal) and a Chamonix F1. The Horseman is nice, and was my first 4x5, but has some well-known constrants that led me to try the Arca Swiss F-Line Basic monorail, which I love very much. The AS F-Line is pretty portable, but not fun to carry, so I thought I'd try the Chamonix field 4x5, to get past the constraints of the Horseman. Well, I don't love the lack of detents and the overall fiddly-ness of the Chamonix. So I thought (as I'd always suspected), the AS F-Field would be the perfect combo. And for me, it really is. Very compact, relatively light, and has the exact same controls as my larger F-Line. I guess I have a thing for machined metal and precision. Plus, the AS cameras just get out of the way in use -- they are extremely well designed, IMO. I guess, in the end, I don't mind carrying a bit more weight to have the precision and ease of setup of a monorail. That said, I'll be keeping one of the folding field cameras. Just haven't decided which one yet.
+Mike Thomas This is quite a valuable analysis for a would be LF photographer! What was the type of technical camera that Julius Schulman used in his documentary called Visual Accoustics?
Robert Bruce The camera you can see in the trailer here on UA-cam looks like a Horseman L-series of some variety. Nice camera very geared for the studio, or relatively short jaunts outdoors.
Looks like you'd asked why I have so many 4x5 cameras. Maybe you deleted the comment. It's a good question and I'll answer it anyway. It's a journey of discovering which features and handling characteristics I prefer. I'll definitely be selling a couple, unless I can convince myself I'll use only the F-Field camera I show here. I think, for me, the F-Field is probably the "goldilocks" camera for most of my purposes. I'll /probably/ keep the Chamonix, annoying as it is, for ultra-lightweight needs, if that's ever important.
+Mike Thomas I understood wrongly that you were planning in getting two more, which was the other way around! My apologies and that is the reason that I deleted the commentary!
nice video, a large format camera 'review' of a diferent kind. also a note: you tilt, rise the standards for your shoots, but you can also tilt the mono-rail up/down 20 to 40 deg. this can give extra rise/fall than you can get other wise and can give you extra room to play with (that is get the adjustments so that a larger movement does the effect, so you don't have to be so precise with tilts etc, especially if only 2 or 3 degrees are required!).
That's a beautiful instrument. I have a Linhof Master Tech, however with the extension rail and longer bellows with the F-field, I think I would rather own the Arca. Monorail, lightweight, and the extra movements are a huge plus.
The Linhof Master Technika is nothing to sneeze at. I handled an older Technika and it was like butter. I wanted it, but I have more than enough 4x5 cameras!
Yes, it basically works the same way, and with standard Graflex-style holders (Riteway, Fidelity, etc). Every camera I had was completely interchangeable in that way.
@@SD_Alias Indeed it will. It’s the biggest issue with Arca Swiss, even if you wanted a NEW one. It is a very small family operation. Anyway, probably the best place to score a new one is the largeformatphotography.info forum. You’ll have to “invest” a bit, because the buy/sell forum is closed for a while after you get access (at least it used to be IIRC). That’s where I got mine. You might also try GetDPI.com, which is a fun high-end photography forum, but which focuses more on digital technical cameras. You can pretty safely rely on sellers on that forum, but always check tenure. eBay can yield one now and then, but it’s really hit or miss, and oftentimes the auctions are questionable (in my opinion).
I haven’t done LF photography before, so this video pulled together different reading that I’ve done. Ive just bought a used Arca-Swiss F-Field C 4X5 camera, so I’m psyched to wade into this.
Kent Fraser Really glad you found it useful. Shooting LF is a very deliberate and meditative process, IMO. You have to really be engaged and present while shooting, or you won’t have success, IMO. I like that about it. There are a number of other LF vids here on the channel (I think I have a playlist), so please check them out. Any of them might have useful tidbits. Have fun!
I am camera complete I have my very mint Hasselblad 503 CXI and my beloved old work horse Nikon F3 hp and now the Chamonix f1 on its way. For digital I have my little Olympus PEN F. What is this Gas thing you speak of. :)
Yes, I consider myself in that boat, too. My Hasseblad quiver includes two of the focal-plane bodies and a number of F lenses. Sadly they sit in the fitted case unused since I've been doing the LF thing. My GAS has moved over to Eurorack Synthesizers, and it's even drying up a little bit there (since I've bought "everything" already).
Loving all your videos. I was wondering, when you focus your scene, do you have the lens wide open or do you stop the lens down and focus. I would think stopping it down would give you an accurate representation of what the final result will be, but I would think that it would be really dark. Thanks...
You definitely want to have the lens wide open when doing your initial composition and focusing. It will generally be pretty dark once you stop down. Some folks always re-check focus after stopping down. I'm less anal about it. I figure if focus looks good wide-open after making any tilts or swings I might make, it can only get better when stopped down. Since you're shooting 8x10, deep DoF will be that much harder to get (if you want it), so you might find a focus/DoF check is more important for you.
In this video I'm using a Benro C2680 Travel Angel CF tripod and an Arca Swiss P0 head. I did an unboxing on the Benro here: ua-cam.com/video/WnSkbZLKxdA/v-deo.html This particular Benro might be a touch much for the C220 given the nature of TLRs, but if you were to have just one tripod, either this or the comparable Gitzo 2-series (or other comparable legs) would probably work for most purposes, including your TLR. I think they've changed up their product lineup, so you'll have to check the site for their mid-sized travel tripod, whatever that might be called these days. I'll note that I lost the weight hook at the bottom of the center column. I wrote the Benro USA email address and had a response the very next day with a link to the replacement part on B&H. Pretty good service, WRT responsiveness, IMO.
+Mike Thomas thanks for the in depth response! My current trípod is a Veblon but the legs seem to bend when I mount the Mamiya Press which is much massive than the tlr. The bushing that holds the head in position is now moving, so I guess that I might justify the new trípod and I already have the "paramender" which serves the purpose to correct for parallax error in the Mamiya. Should I consider a quick release plate for my C220?
I have an Arca Swiss compatible dovetail plate on *all* my cameras (well, except for the little Sony RX100). It's a good solid connection, and is an industry standard offering compatibility with many clamps that follow the standard.
But don't you have to level the image on the ground glass... by leveling the camera based on the bubbles you're making an assumption the building is on the same plane as the road, which is never is. Am I wrong here? Its like if I'm shooting a seascape I cant use the levels because the horizon line will always be off. Also, nice camera... nice lens, really sub par film. Time to step up the stock!
If you assume the levels are properly calibrated, then you always use them to square up because they are an indepenent source of "truth" WRT levelness, regardless of road/building/etc (assuming the building is sited square, anyway). Then you use the rise/fall/shift to change your composition. But you do have a point (for a different reason) because the levels are not necessarily installed *perfectly* level WRT the standards, etc. So the wise person (unlike me in the symmetrical shot) would double-check the levelness on the ground glass. Funny you think the film is sub-par. I was not expecting much from it, but was pleasantly surprised and am working my way through my second box (branded Foma 400) this time. I have a unopened box of Foma 100 in the fridge, too. I've gotten some great results from the 400 IMO, though not consistently so, and wanted to just hold pretty much the film/dev thing constant while I experiment with the other variables (which is actually very unlike me).
Ah, thanks for the lesson. You always learn something every day. In terms of the film, its about consistency. The folks over in Eastern Europe aren't as picky as Kodak and Ilford.
Agree totally, regarding consistency. I'm willing to take my chances for now, but I'll probably return to Tri-X before too long. I do have a ton of Tri-X sheets, but they are super-expired and the first couple of exposures I made didn't thrill me. I'll need to try some more of that batch at maybe EI 160 and see how that goes. But really, I need to buy a new box of film and see how that goes, too :-).
I think the thing I'm getting out of watching you shoot these "old-timey" cameras is the contrast between the "point my iPhone at any-and-everything and shoot" mentality (me), and taking the time to compose a shot before even setting up the camera. One might get lucky with enough iPhone (or whatever) shots, but it seems there is something very satisfying about doing it "the hard way," as it were. Great video, as usual, Mike.
Thanks for the comment. Definitely, doing it the old-fashioned way requires you to really think about what you're doing. It's such a huge investment in time, effort, and money-per-shot that it would be silly to plop the camera down and fire away (not that you could). It is definitely satisfying because you are controlling every single thing, and it rubs my brain the right way for some reason.
One person thumbs-downed because they like converging verticals.
Muchas gracias, hermoso paseo tomando fotos...
Thank you very much for your contributions. I'm working lots of overtime and saving for an Arca Swiss.
Worth every penny!
Very nice mike! I'm envious, the F-Field is my "dream" 4x5.
It was my dream/grail camera, too, since I started LF earlier this year. I just couldn't get myself to pay the big bucks early on. Now, I've spent well more than what one of these costs on the used market experimenting with my other three cameras. At least the experimentation led me to feel strongly that this is the "goldilocks" setup for me. I have decided to sell at least two other 4x5 cameras. I just need to figure out which two. Are you still in the market for a 45FA or have you moved on?
I don't even shoot film, but I want this!
You are a man of taste and refinement :-)
one tip Mike, with LF lenses, they go to f 35 ,54 or 64 so at f 22 you are well safe from diffraction, a MF or 35 mm camera, on the other hand, Yes you would be in the diffraction zone at f 22 as this is the most common full closed down aperture, except for macro lenses, which go to f32; where a safe f stop would be f 11/ f 8 .
Nice shot on the tree and waterfall. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks. I realized later I'd shot in that spot before, with my Hasselblad. It's a nice little corner of the park.
I forgot my light meter the other day and used my little pEN F to base my exposures on. I was really surprised how good that worked. So much so that I am seriously think about using it all the time and leaving the light meter home.
steeple?, mike, these can also be catagorised as belfry's ( a bells' audio chamber in a clock tower or chirch catheadral), it controls the resonance, tone and direction of the bell's tune, so the whole community can hear it!, Steeple's on the other hand only describe the pyramid on the top, to which antena's, flag poles or wind "cocks" \weather vanes are affixed. ( as what you show at 2:25 is a wide shot, not sure which part you are wanting to photograph).
I was thinking of also getting a Arca-Swiss M-Line 2, or Universalis, DLSR model, with a Nikon adapter, if I could fine one. It would give me the option of getting an digital image right away, albeit it would be just the 20 MB. I could do the medium format model, but the adapters seem pricey. Thoughts?
Sorry, I don’t really have much of an opinion on that stuff. Looks cool, but wasn’t in the direction I was moving at the time. Who knows, in the future? :-)
Good overall video! You should look into some filters (I often use a Yellow #15 and Orange #21). I have a Lee Big Stopper ND filter that is 10 stops. I don't use it that much but when I need to it works great. Obviously you researched 4x5 cameras a lot before you began acquiring/shooting them, so I am certain you came across Field 4x5 cameras. What are the reasons you chose monorail cameras over Field, just curious?
Thanks, Craig. I can't tell you how many times I've loaded my B&H or Adorama cart with a Lee or Hitech filter holder, adapter rings, and yellow, red, ND and grad filters. Just haven't pulled the trigger yet. It's amazing how quickly that gear adds up, and it's very hard to find used. I'm possibly going to the Grand Canyon this fall, and I'll definitely neeed to pull the trigger before then.
Re field cameras, oh yeah I'm well aware of them, and own two of them: a Horseman 45FA (metal) and a Chamonix F1. The Horseman is nice, and was my first 4x5, but has some well-known constrants that led me to try the Arca Swiss F-Line Basic monorail, which I love very much. The AS F-Line is pretty portable, but not fun to carry, so I thought I'd try the Chamonix field 4x5, to get past the constraints of the Horseman. Well, I don't love the lack of detents and the overall fiddly-ness of the Chamonix. So I thought (as I'd always suspected), the AS F-Field would be the perfect combo. And for me, it really is. Very compact, relatively light, and has the exact same controls as my larger F-Line.
I guess I have a thing for machined metal and precision. Plus, the AS cameras just get out of the way in use -- they are extremely well designed, IMO. I guess, in the end, I don't mind carrying a bit more weight to have the precision and ease of setup of a monorail. That said, I'll be keeping one of the folding field cameras. Just haven't decided which one yet.
+Mike Thomas This is quite a valuable analysis for a would be LF photographer! What was the type of technical camera that Julius Schulman used in his documentary called Visual Accoustics?
Robert Bruce The camera you can see in the trailer here on UA-cam looks like a Horseman L-series of some variety. Nice camera very geared for the studio, or relatively short jaunts outdoors.
Looks like you'd asked why I have so many 4x5 cameras. Maybe you deleted the comment. It's a good question and I'll answer it anyway. It's a journey of discovering which features and handling characteristics I prefer. I'll definitely be selling a couple, unless I can convince myself I'll use only the F-Field camera I show here. I think, for me, the F-Field is probably the "goldilocks" camera for most of my purposes. I'll /probably/ keep the Chamonix, annoying as it is, for ultra-lightweight needs, if that's ever important.
+Mike Thomas I understood wrongly that you were planning in getting two more, which was the other way around! My apologies and that is the reason that I deleted the commentary!
nice video, a large format camera 'review' of a diferent kind.
also a note: you tilt, rise the standards for your shoots, but you can also tilt the mono-rail up/down 20 to 40 deg. this can give extra rise/fall than you can get other wise and can give you extra room to play with (that is get the adjustments so that a larger movement does the effect, so you don't have to be so precise with tilts etc, especially if only 2 or 3 degrees are required!).
andy van Yes, indirect movements. See my recent downtown Denver video where I demonstrate it to the extreme :-)
That's a beautiful instrument. I have a Linhof Master Tech, however with the extension rail and longer bellows with the F-field, I think I would rather own the Arca. Monorail, lightweight, and the extra movements are a huge plus.
The Linhof Master Technika is nothing to sneeze at. I handled an older Technika and it was like butter. I wanted it, but I have more than enough 4x5 cameras!
What about placing the film holder into the rear standard? I can't tell if the rear standard takes the film holder like other wooden field cameras.
Yes, it basically works the same way, and with standard Graflex-style holders (Riteway, Fidelity, etc). Every camera I had was completely interchangeable in that way.
Nice and compact for a monorail!
How is the weight of it?
Yes. To me it’s the best all-around camera WRT capability and size weight trade-offs. I think it is around 4 pounds or so (?)
@@mike.thomas Thank you… will be hard to get a used one…
@@SD_Alias Indeed it will. It’s the biggest issue with Arca Swiss, even if you wanted a NEW one. It is a very small family operation. Anyway, probably the best place to score a new one is the largeformatphotography.info forum. You’ll have to “invest” a bit, because the buy/sell forum is closed for a while after you get access (at least it used to be IIRC). That’s where I got mine. You might also try GetDPI.com, which is a fun high-end photography forum, but which focuses more on digital technical cameras. You can pretty safely rely on sellers on that forum, but always check tenure. eBay can yield one now and then, but it’s really hit or miss, and oftentimes the auctions are questionable (in my opinion).
Nice video!
I haven’t done LF photography before, so this video pulled together different reading that I’ve done. Ive just bought a used Arca-Swiss F-Field C 4X5 camera, so I’m psyched to wade into this.
Kent Fraser Really glad you found it useful. Shooting LF is a very deliberate and meditative process, IMO. You have to really be engaged and present while shooting, or you won’t have success, IMO. I like that about it. There are a number of other LF vids here on the channel (I think I have a playlist), so please check them out. Any of them might have useful tidbits. Have fun!
Enjoyed your video Mike!....just ignore ignorant those ignorant so and so's
I am camera complete I have my very mint Hasselblad 503 CXI and my beloved old work horse Nikon F3 hp and now the Chamonix f1 on its way. For digital I have my little Olympus PEN F. What is this Gas thing you speak of. :)
Yes, I consider myself in that boat, too. My Hasseblad quiver includes two of the focal-plane bodies and a number of F lenses. Sadly they sit in the fitted case unused since I've been doing the LF thing. My GAS has moved over to Eurorack Synthesizers, and it's even drying up a little bit there (since I've bought "everything" already).
Loving all your videos. I was wondering, when you focus your scene, do you have the lens wide open or do you stop the lens down and focus. I would think stopping it down would give you an accurate representation of what the final result will be, but I would think that it would be really dark. Thanks...
You definitely want to have the lens wide open when doing your initial composition and focusing. It will generally be pretty dark once you stop down. Some folks always re-check focus after stopping down. I'm less anal about it. I figure if focus looks good wide-open after making any tilts or swings I might make, it can only get better when stopped down.
Since you're shooting 8x10, deep DoF will be that much harder to get (if you want it), so you might find a focus/DoF check is more important for you.
Cool camera,! What make and model of trípod do you use? Is it too much for a Mamiya C220?
In this video I'm using a Benro C2680 Travel Angel CF tripod and an Arca Swiss P0 head. I did an unboxing on the Benro here: ua-cam.com/video/WnSkbZLKxdA/v-deo.html
This particular Benro might be a touch much for the C220 given the nature of TLRs, but if you were to have just one tripod, either this or the comparable Gitzo 2-series (or other comparable legs) would probably work for most purposes, including your TLR.
I think they've changed up their product lineup, so you'll have to check the site for their mid-sized travel tripod, whatever that might be called these days.
I'll note that I lost the weight hook at the bottom of the center column. I wrote the Benro USA email address and had a response the very next day with a link to the replacement part on B&H. Pretty good service, WRT responsiveness, IMO.
+Mike Thomas thanks for the in depth response! My current trípod is a Veblon but the legs seem to bend when I mount the Mamiya Press which is much massive than the tlr. The bushing that holds the head in position is now moving, so I guess that I might justify the new trípod and I already have the "paramender" which serves the purpose to correct for parallax error in the Mamiya. Should I consider a quick release plate for my C220?
I have an Arca Swiss compatible dovetail plate on *all* my cameras (well, except for the little Sony RX100). It's a good solid connection, and is an industry standard offering compatibility with many clamps that follow the standard.
What backpack are you using for your setup? and how much does it weight when full loaded?
Nevermind. found your video, thanks!
But don't you have to level the image on the ground glass... by leveling the camera based on the bubbles you're making an assumption the building is on the same plane as the road, which is never is. Am I wrong here? Its like if I'm shooting a seascape I cant use the levels because the horizon line will always be off. Also, nice camera... nice lens, really sub par film. Time to step up the stock!
If you assume the levels are properly calibrated, then you always use them to square up because they are an indepenent source of "truth" WRT levelness, regardless of road/building/etc (assuming the building is sited square, anyway). Then you use the rise/fall/shift to change your composition. But you do have a point (for a different reason) because the levels are not necessarily installed *perfectly* level WRT the standards, etc. So the wise person (unlike me in the symmetrical shot) would double-check the levelness on the ground glass.
Funny you think the film is sub-par. I was not expecting much from it, but was pleasantly surprised and am working my way through my second box (branded Foma 400) this time. I have a unopened box of Foma 100 in the fridge, too. I've gotten some great results from the 400 IMO, though not consistently so, and wanted to just hold pretty much the film/dev thing constant while I experiment with the other variables (which is actually very unlike me).
Ah, thanks for the lesson. You always learn something every day.
In terms of the film, its about consistency. The folks over in Eastern Europe aren't as picky as Kodak and Ilford.
Agree totally, regarding consistency. I'm willing to take my chances for now, but I'll probably return to Tri-X before too long. I do have a ton of Tri-X sheets, but they are super-expired and the first couple of exposures I made didn't thrill me. I'll need to try some more of that batch at maybe EI 160 and see how that goes. But really, I need to buy a new box of film and see how that goes, too :-).
Hey Mike what backpack is this?
Mindshift Gear Backlight 26L. I did a couple of vids on it. Here’s one … ua-cam.com/video/kqyTsMWm6Cg/v-deo.html