[HN Gopher] Getting started with large format film photography
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Getting started with large format film photography
Author : azalemeth
Score : 38 points
Date : 2021-08-28 11:30 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (shootitwithfilm.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (shootitwithfilm.com)
| aaaaaaaaaaab wrote:
| Ah, I see you also went down the rabbit hole from yesterday's
| yaw-free view camera post :]
| null_object wrote:
| One other thing not mentioned in the article: _new_ large format
| cameras are being produced all over the world right now (so no
| need to hunt down 'antique' models if you don't want to have the
| hassle of maintaining older equipment).
|
| These include Chroma cameras in the UK, Arca Swiss in France,
| Chamonix from China and _very_ many more.
|
| The experience of shooting large format is massively immersive: I
| take way longer over each image than the writer in the article,
| easily stretching to a half hour until I finally take a single
| image. It's rare that I have more than 3 or 4 images at the end
| of a whole day - but the whole experience is really satisfying
| and meditative: my partner likens it to a day's fishing
| anfractuosity wrote:
| Arca Swiss, isn't related to Alpa Swiss is it? -
| https://www.alpa.swiss/ I think I recall hearing they use
| extremely fine metal shims that you add to get the image focus
| spot on.
|
| It definitely sounds a fascinating hobby. I've been looking at
| some of the cheap plastic belowless large format cameras, I'm
| not sure how good they'd be though?
|
| Do you develop the film yourself btw? I assume sending off dark
| slides might be expensive?
| throw0101a wrote:
| > _Arca Swiss, isn 't related to Alpa Swiss is it?_
|
| * https://www.arca-shop.de/en/
| i_am_proteus wrote:
| The focusing mechanisms on the bellowless tend to be dodgy or
| nonexistent, and the good ones cost as much as a bellows
| camera.
|
| Ultimately, the lenses for these cameras are still not _that_
| cheap, so the overall savings on a low-quality body may not
| be worth it.
| codpiece wrote:
| I would like to do more of this, I have camera and processing
| equipment, but it's extremely hard to dispose of the chemistry.
| Some of the ingredients are highly toxic to fish.
|
| Lots of discussions on waste disposal on forums, but unless your
| town recycles chemistry or you have a college with a film lab
| nearby, your (my) options are limited.
| i_am_proteus wrote:
| Pour the used chemistry into cat litter and let it dry out,
| then dispose of the litter in a plastic trash bag.
| woodruffw wrote:
| I haven't tried it myself, but caffenol[1] might be an
| alternative if you're shooting B&W.
|
| [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffenol
| glup wrote:
| I took up large format film two years ago and I've found it to be
| extremely rewarding. Film has a different response to light than
| digital sensors, the size of the negative lets you do things you
| can't with digital, and then there are camera movements (tilt and
| shift). Developing film and printing are also very fun, and feel
| a lot more like cooking.
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