filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk <> wrote:
> The subject of 35 vs. MF or LF has reared it's ugly head on several
> lists upon which I participate. You have finally got me to respond.
>
> I understand that looking at raw numbers, 35 may have all that's
> needed for Architectural Digest, or any other above average
> publication. For those of you that look at numbers only, go to the
> next post.
>
> I contend that anyone that is a reader of this list is sufficiently
> sophisticated to be able to tell the difference. A 4x5 neg or chrome
> in AD will be obviously different than a 35, no matter how many megs
> the scanned file is. There is a difference, and, to the discerning
> eye, it is obvious.
>
> This discussion is, I think, driven by the digital vs. film debate
> that is overwhelming our business/hobby today. I can't total the
> number of times that, as a working photographer, I've heard people
> say, "Are you shooting that with a digital?" I'm inclined to say,
> "Sure, if that's all you want, fine." The truth is, for lots of
> people, it is, indeed, fine. That doesn't mean it's better.
>
> There is something about a bigger negative that can be seen in a
> simple halftone. Do the folks that shoot for AD use 4x5 just to
> increase their gross? Perhaps, but sometimes we just have to please
> ourselves!
>
> WOW! I may have just had too much of a good time at a xmas party, but
> time would have only have made me more socially acceptable, and a bit
> more sober.
>
> Bill Pearce
Of course, you do realize that your contention is as subjective as those
made by those who may disagree with you. The out which you have left
yourself is equally subjective - namely, "There is a difference, and, to the
discerning eye, it is obvious." Who is the arbiter of who has a discerning
enough eye and who does not should an argument ensue about if there is a
difference or not? You are entitled to your opinion and evaluation as well
as to your preferences; but as with all of us, there are personal
preferences. The most that can be said about them is that they are yours -
not that they are better than any other preferences.
> Do the folks that shoot for AD use 4x5 just to
> increase their gross? Perhaps, but sometimes we just have to please
> ourselves!
As I argued elswhere in another post on this list, the use of large format
is driven as much by the various controls that are available on monorail
view camera that are not available to any great extent on smaller format
fixed lens roll film cameras as it is by the film format size per se. The
pursuit of large format sheet film over smaller format films is typically
due to the availability of specialty films available in 4x5 and 8x10 sheet
film but not in smaller format roll films or by the final size of the
enlargement that will be produced of the entire frame or some cropped
segment of that frame. A further reason that would incline one toward
selecting the large format film would be if capturing small fine details or
textures without loosing sharpness which may happen if one were to use a
smaller format film.
For non-technical reasons that folks shoot for AD using large format may be,
in addition to increasing their gross, (1) the fact that many clients take
the large camera and film as a mark of professionalism giving the
photographer some credibility among the clients who may be hiring them, (2)
traditional beliefs and assumptions tend to prevail generating an inertia
among those shooting in fields that traditionally have insisted on large
format based on what use to be the limitations of older films and
technologies which may or may not still be the case, or (3) the use of large
format tends to be impressive and command attention and respect when
presented to the client as opposed to smaller format film.
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