After using a high end Canon DSLR for the last 8 years it was beginning to feel boring for me to always be in the same 'digital box' and to see so much software whose purpose was to make digital files look like film. I love the flexibility and speed of digital imaging so there is nothing that could ever make me go back to shooting film again - exclusively that is. But my sense of it is - if you want to make something 'look like film' then just make the image with film.....and very high quality at that.....something that will produce quality 40"x50" prints. Like this large format view camera - either 4x5 or 8x10.
Several gallery hopping trips to New York City this year, one to see the massive AIPAD photography fair, confirmed for me just how much contemporary work is still being made with large format film cameras. In some circles it seems that work produced with film and printed in a darkroom is quite coveted and comprises a niche in the art world. It very much a happening thing. Perhaps the $40,000 - 60,000 price tag on some digital medium format systems adds to that imperative. Not sure.
So on my last trip to NYC I picked up a Wista SP 4"x5" field camera from B&H Photo....I had the rest of the system from when I last used a view camera - that's right, I held onto my lenses, film backs, etc for 20 years. Now I share this camera with a good friend; it is for a specific series that I want this system, so now I'll start running my tests and getting ready to dive back into large format film photography. Despite it's massive appearance it only weighs 6 lbs. and sits quite nicely on my carbon fibre tripod.
In the near future I'll be posting my experiences with this camera as well as some of the work made with it.
Several gallery hopping trips to New York City this year, one to see the massive AIPAD photography fair, confirmed for me just how much contemporary work is still being made with large format film cameras. In some circles it seems that work produced with film and printed in a darkroom is quite coveted and comprises a niche in the art world. It very much a happening thing. Perhaps the $40,000 - 60,000 price tag on some digital medium format systems adds to that imperative. Not sure.
In fact image making with a large format camera represents, to me and to many others, another way of seeing.
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| Wista SP 4x5 field camera |
So on my last trip to NYC I picked up a Wista SP 4"x5" field camera from B&H Photo....I had the rest of the system from when I last used a view camera - that's right, I held onto my lenses, film backs, etc for 20 years. Now I share this camera with a good friend; it is for a specific series that I want this system, so now I'll start running my tests and getting ready to dive back into large format film photography. Despite it's massive appearance it only weighs 6 lbs. and sits quite nicely on my carbon fibre tripod.
In the near future I'll be posting my experiences with this camera as well as some of the work made with it.
