Looking for advice on large format

[E. von Hoegh]

Yes, by 3/4 inch on each side. It is also one inch larger than 2-1/4x3-1/4(medium format). So Quarter Plate (3-1/4x4-1/4) is too small to be Large Format and too big to be Medium Format, what exactly is it?

Apparently, "large format" means precisely what you wish it to mean, nothing more and nothing less. Just like Humpty-Dumpty.

 

[artonpaper]

At the risk of sounding like Grampa Simpson here, in my day (50s -60s) 3.25 x 4.25, was the intro to large format. (Remember film packs?) Being able to expose and develop one sheet of film at a time was one thing we liked about LF. (Yes there were 2.25 x 3.25 cameras that took sheet film of that size, but they were rare.) I always tell my students, if you find that some part of darkroom is too tedious, you need an attitude adjustment. I put put on the headphones, some some vintage Herbie Hancock, or more recently Stereo Lab, and go into the zone. There's nothing like total darkness to soothe the woes of the day. If your headphones have a blue light that comes on when you turn on sound canceling, don't forget to turn it off, or you see the film in the trays after a minute, as happened to me. Seek professional satori.

 

[Vaughn]

While I used it primarily for color film, I enjoyed using the Calumet 6x7 roll film adapter with my Gowland Pocket View. All the advantages of a view camera (movements -- image control), and for the weight of the Calumet holder, I had two cameras -- for both B&W 4x5 and color 120 film.

The Calumet holder is nice in that it slides in like a 4x5 holder. The only problem I have with it is that it bends the film around a roller the opposite direction of the film's natural tendency to roll. If I left the film in the holder mid-roll, I would have to unload the film in a darkbag as the film would no longer wind up tightly on the take-up reel due to the "memory" of the reversed roll.

If you want to hand-hold the camera, that will limit the type of cameras you would be interested in, otherwise I would suggest looking for a wood folder (Tachihara, or similar). Something one could carry on the tripod.

Vaughn