largeformat

LargeSense LS911 Hands-On: The First Digital Large Format Camera

The LargeSense LS911 is definitely a camera that is not for everyone. It is well-suited to individuals who want to thoroughly explore large format photography or who already have experience working with large format camera systems. Either way, the venture depends on having a large budget.

Behind the Scenes: Shooting 8×10 Polaroids of Strangers

Film photographer and YouTuber Willem Verbeeck recently set out on a fun project that will appeal to portrait photographers, film lovers, Polaroid fans, and large format shooters alike. He teamed up with a camera store to shoot 8x10 polaroid portraits of strangers in Brooklyn.

The Problem with Using Large Format Lenses on a Digital Camera

Large format photography still enjoys the status of a noble branch in image-making. Legendary names like Planar, Dagor, Heliar, Symmar, and Angulon -- to mention just a few milestones in lens’ history -- bear an almost supernatural aura of excellence.

8×10 Film vs 150MP Digital: Can 150 Megapixels Compete?

Over 8 years ago, we over at On Landscape performed a mammoth “Big Camera Comparison.” We compared medium format and large format film against various digital cameras including the then cutting edge Phase One IQ280, an 80MP CCD sensor which we used on a Linhof Techno, an Alpa, and a Cambo technical camera (we also tested a D800 and a 5D Mark II).

Bringing a Giant 160-Year-Old Petzval Lens Back to Life

It was a normal Saturday afternoon in November when I walked into a flea marked. I met some friends there, looked around a little bit, and in the end I bought this Gasc and Charconnet 500mm Petzval lens in the hopes that I could bring it back to life.

How to Make a Ground Glass Focusing Screen at Home

Did you know that you can make your own ground glass focusing screen? In his latest video, wet plate photographer Markus Hofstätter shows you exactly how by making a ground glass screen for one of his large format cameras.

Full-Frame Digital vs Large Format Film: A Side-by-Side Comparison

Photographer Usman Dawood of Sonder Creative recently teamed up with film photographer Adam French to put together an intriguing portrait comparison: high-resolution full-frame digital vs 4x5 large format film. They shot both cameras at about the same FF equivalent focal length, and then compared the resulting images side by side for your viewing pleasure.

Turn a Broken Laptop’s Screen Into a View Camera Ground Glass

Iranian photographer Alireza Rostami loves experimenting with camera equipment, from flipping a lens element for "magic bokeh" to creating a working analog watch camera. His latest experiment is also off the beaten path: he found that a display from a broken laptop works perfectly as a view camera's ground glass.

Pixel-Peeping a 709-Megapixel Photo Scanned from 8×10 Slide Film

How much sharpness and detail can you extract out of 8x10 large format slide film? Photographer Ben Horne was able to explore this question recently after he had one of his landscape photos digitized using a drum scanner. In the 10-minute video above, Horne pixel-peeps the massive 709-megapixel photo at 100% to analyze the sharpness.

Building an 8×10 Large Format Camera Entirely By Hand

Photographer Dieter Schneider started building cameras about five years ago, and last year he fashioned a 4x5 camera using a CNC Machine. This year he took things to yet another level, creating an 8x10 large format camera entirely by hand without using computer-aided machinery. You can watch the entire build process in the 35-minute video above.

A Shaded Path: A Large Format Portrait of Kyrgyzstan

My name is Elliott Verdier, and I'm a French photographer who recently returned home from Kyrgyzstan. I spent four months making a portrait of the country with a 4x5 analog large format camera.

This Underwater 8×10 Camera Can Be Yours for Just $5,800

Have you always wanted to try your hand at 8x10 large format film photography... underwater? If you have $5,800 to spend, now's your chance to jump in. An underwater 8x10 camera has just popped up on eBay that purports to be the "first successful underwater 8x10 ever made."

A Spine Injury Left Me Immobile… So I Built a Giant 20×24 Camera

I recently found myself with a spine injury, which proved to kinda be a big road block to my photography. My photo projects usually involved lots of driving and walking, two things that proved to be extremely painful due to my crappy health. One day, sitting around bored, I decided to create a camera that was as immobile as I was. Armed with a rough sketch, and a misguided sense of self-confidence, I built a 20x24 camera over a weekend.

Black Dots: Exploring the British Isles with a Large Format Camera

As the winds charge through the mountain pass it takes every effort to forge onwards as your feet slip and your ankles twist. Rivulets soak the track ahead and the sodden-peat moulds itself around your boots. You trudge on under the watchful eyes of a Stag who appears un-phased by this sudden arrival of foul weather.

Negative Feedback: Shooting Large Format for the Very First Time

Many (if not most) of the people reading this have shot 35mm film, and a chunk of those people have shot 120 medium format film, but only a fraction of that fraction has ever touched a large format camera. Here's your chance to see what it's like to shoot 4x5 film for the very first time.

A Selfie Stick for a 4×5″ Camera

When the selfie-stick craze began happening a couple of years ago, photographer and educator Russell Squires decided that he wanted to go beyond using "a lightweight flimsy stick" and a smartphone, so he decided to try shooting selfies with his 4x5" large format camera.