Large Format Is The KING Of Image Quality

I understand that 35mm resolution is roughly around 30mpx to 50mpx if you consider the film only. So if you adjust for the size, does that hold true for 120 through to LF? I would imagine so? In that case the 100mpx on 5x4 seems low - not related to the film. Probably more the lens or the scanning technique?

That picture of the bridge is insane. Who took it?

Shen Hao 12x20 right here, bitches. Suck it.

I find 35mm to be the bottom of the barrel, worse image quality than digital most of the time, expensive and not so fun at the dark room, the good stuff is at large format and digital. With large format you already said it plus I can make my own emulsions and plates from scratch and get tremendous satisfaction, with digital I enjoy going out and taking photos of wildlife equestrian events and many other things with the most accurate colors and almost grainless, a true snapshot of that reality never running out of film. The best is I can digitize the analog to share and print the photos taken with the digital camera to enjoy and preserve, each side of the spectrum can enjoy the advantages of each other!

I use an MPP Micropress 4x5 with a Schneider Xenar 135 f4.7 lens. It was made in England in the 1950s.
Similar to the American Speed Graphic. These two cameras are Press cameras.
Much quicker to set up than field cameras like the Intrepid.
I shoot Fomapan 200 at just over £1 a sheet in the UK.

This is why i still shoot my CHAMONIX 45F2 4X5 LF Camera, love the REZ and more IMPORTANTLY the ART! Great video here.

I love large format, and shoot 4x5 but find between work and life, it’s hard to find time to shoot large format. Large format produces great detail, however, it requires planning the shot, it’s slow and methodical process, film is not cheap, not all scanners can scan large format. I find that I probably shoot a box of 25 sheets per year, so in some ways it can be economical if one slows down plans, composes and meters each shot. I have noticed a lot of people started getting involved in large format back in 2021 with the cameras offered by Intrepid and others. However about a year later alot of people did sell off their large format cameras and lenses due to the size of the camera, slowed down approach and film costs, they realize that they use it once or twice and move on.

Love this. Not touching the stuff.

Resolution is not what large format is about (the resolution of a Sony A7 R IV is already far beyond what can be seen even with ultra large prints) – it is about what can be done with rise/fall, tilt and shift (there are modular digital cameras that can provide that, but they cost so much that large format looks cheap in comparison ;-)). And it opens up some alternative techniques (e.g. pinhole photography with good "resolution", or wet-plate). The main driver of cost is film (especially color) – and development, if not done at home (this can be a bit tricky with sheet film, my experience is mixed).

I've usually dealt with contrasty film with overexposure and pull processing... I guess, if you really, really had a great landscape, or architecture shot, you could do 2 or 3 bracketed shots, scan and stack... Stacking 3 gigapixels... In any case, an apo lens on 4x5 Velvia really lays down the details!
Thanks for cool video...btw, would be nice to do pixel-level zoom on your 4x5 microfilm images!

Very informative
Many thanks

Ansel Adams used giant plates!!! Crazy amounts of detail in very large images...

You might be able to find some old Kodak Tech Pan in 8x10 (discontinued in 2004.) Be sure to develop it in something like Technidol for lovely, lovely smooth tones. Beware, though: it's going to be expensive and you'll want to research developers as Technidol has almost certainly gone bad by now even if you can find some. To test it, try a portrait: the film's extended red sensitivity effectively eliminates blemishes. I loved that film back in the day, printed on Oriental Seagull or Forte paper. sob

Crud, I'm getting old...

large format is also sooooo much fun...

I have shot both 35mm and medium format film. I enjoy shooting film because it is a slow process and it makes me think about everything that has to go into a good image. I hope someday to shoot large format in 5x7 just to at least give it a go.

It should be mentioned that even TMAX 400 on 4x5 will deliver an incredible image quality and that large format cameras can do a lot more than taking high resolution images like perspective correction (tilt & shift & swing) or great bokeh pictures with a very small depth of field.

Imagine if they made large format film rolls.

The resolution and tonal range on large format is really impressive. I think you really need to be printing large to get the most out of it. I just printed two 6x6 negatives at 20"x20" and they came out really nicely. If I wanted to go bigger I'd need to be using sharper film and drum scanning and even then I think there's a limit. For me I just don't know if large format is worth it or not but there is something really intriguing to the images.

Check out that timing... I just bought a Crown Graphic Special