Invest in 4x5 equipment?

[DREW WILEY]

Scanning, monitors ?? - I thought that is what steel-toed boots and bricks were designed for.

Gallery walls and Cibachromes? - mounted poorly and illuminated poorly more often than not. There are plenty of Mickey Mouse mentality galleries even in big cities, including expensive venues. I was up front with potential buyers that if they wanted a big print with a shiny surface, it would be more expensive to frame and trickier to display than a small one. But I've done plenty of both.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Over the years , I built a working set for 35mm MF and 4x5, but I have no intention of growing the 4x5 set. With 35mm and MF system cameras, I've got all I need for my photographic future. 4x5 is not better in image quality than MF. So why 4x5? What do others think?

I bought and used a 4"x5" Graflex Model D and 4"x5" Pacemaker Speed Graphic. I ended up using my Hasselblads much more.

 

[GregY]

Just remember, cat pictures are always exempt from this discussion.

Reykjavik

 

[chuckroast]

View attachment 418167

Yes, you must always have this claws in your contracts ...

 

[isaac7]

Why is the print the standard and not the web? Most photos we look at aren't prints.

If a screen is how you will look at and show images then it really doesn't make any difference how you shoot your pictures. Or if they got shot at all, they could just be generated these days. The vast majority of screens are smaller than 15", most fit in your hand. IMO all images are the same once they are on a screen and is why I no longer play any attention to them. Even my own pictures do not interest me once I have them on the screen. Pixels are pixels. <shrug>

But you're right, a print and its "quality" doesn't have to be the ultimate arbiter of what makes a format worth doing. The only sensible reasons to shoot film at all these days revolve around enjoying the process. Personally I only find it worthwhile if the end result is a print and/or a positive transparency. LF shooting is unlike any other kind of photography and as I've mentioned before I think that experience is its own justification. Even if the technical advantages of LF aren't exploited the experience can't be replicated any other way.