Large format equipment

As I mentioned in my opening blog, I have chosen large format for the quality it gives to the final print and it’s monumental aesthetic. Images from large format film can be blown up far beyond images from normal film or digital cameras, while maintaining their sharpness and without degrading due to film grain or digital noise. Prints from large format film offer sharpness, detail and texture unachievable with other means.

Large format photography is slow (up to 20 minutes per shot), expensive, and contemplative. It does, however, offer the ultimate in image quality.

The Sinar F2 is a monorail view camera, with the image viewed upside down at full size on a piece of ground glass under a dark cloth. The lens is on a separate board at the front of the camera. Focusing is achieved by racking the lens in and out from the ground glass. Unlike modern cameras, the lens is not always fixed parallel to the film plane. By allowing the lens to tilt and swing off the axis of the film plane, significant gains in quality of the final image can be made.

The Sinar F2 provides a full range of movements and lens focal lengths, while also offering excellent rigidity and a very low weight for this type of camera (around 3.3 kg without lens). One of the considerations for using the monorail over a field camera was the almost architectural nature of photographing within a forest. In some ways it can be compared to photographing a cathedral where the ability to maximise the front rise and shift for perspective control is more critical than in conventional landscape photography where there is a planar foreground and a distant mountain range on the horizon.

So far I have only one lens for the camera, a Sinar Symmar-S 150mm. The 150mm is considered a normal lens for 4x5 cameras, equivalent to a 50mm in a conventional 35mm format. Because I am photographing along the river within the Barmah Forest, it is in fact an ideal focal length. Normal to longer focal lengths are favoured by landscape photographers from forested regions as it allows them to isolate details or sections of the scene, emphasizing the "closed-in" feeling under the forest canopy. However there will be times when I will require a wide angle lens (75mm/90mm) for photographing areas such as the Gulf. where the river bends around an open point. I also propose to add a 210/240mm lens for when I want to emphasize the background by compressing the forest against the river in layers of warm sunlight and cool shadows.

In addition to the Sinar F2 I also carry a Nikon D200. The D200 fulfils a dual purpose as a light meter for the Sinar and as a camera to capture rapidly changing lighting situations and wildlife shots that the view camera cannot handle. In the absence of the Polaroid 55 print, the Nikon is also useful for checking exposure and composition. The Nikon D200 offers excellent image quality, high build quality, and flexibility. I currently use a general purpose Nikkor 18-200mm zoom lens and a manual Nikkor 55mm macro lens.

At this stage I am still experimenting with different film for the project. In January I tested Polaroid 55 Black and White film. The beauty of Type 55 is that it produces both a print and a negative. This means that you can expose for the print in the field and check for composition, sharpness and exposure and then expose for the negative (1 stop more exposure) and develop it at home. Here is a photo I took of Kilometer 1804 on Australia Day:

Kilometer 1804. Murray River, Barmah State Park, Victoria, 28/01/2008
Toyo 45G, Nikkor-W 150mm, f16, 1/15, Polaroid Type 55
This is an image from my first foray into large format photography. The Kilometer 1804 sign is visible on the lower right of the river bank. A Cockatoo perching on the top of a Red River Gum is also visible at the original size.

Sadly Type 55 is been discontinued by Polaroid and has limited availability. Last weekend I tested Fuji Velvia 100 Quickloads. I chose ISO 100 over ISO 50 as I was concerned about the slow shutter speeds required to expose ISO 50 might lead to blurring both the water and wind blown tree tops. At f22 the aperture I've selected for maximising depth of field even ISO 100 requires a 1/30 second of exposure on a sunny day. I'm still undecided about using colour or black and white for the images. The advantage of colour transparency is that after scanning as a digital file I will be able to produce either a colour or black and white image using Photoshop. Using colour transparency for black and white also means that I can select the filter in post-production. By using a digital post-production workflow, the only filter I may have to carry is a Polarizer to counter the glare of the river and to darken the blue sky.

Additional equipment includes a Manfrotto 190PROB tripod with a 141RC head. This is a relatively lightweight setup and I may upgrade to a heavier tripod at a later stage if the conditions including wind require a sturdier platform. I'm also looking at adding a N2 di-GPS mini to the Nikon for recording precise longitude and latitude information and linking the images to Google maps. I'm yet to decide what I will be using to carry all this kit around. As eighty percent of the locations are within a short walk of the car, portability and weight are not an overriding concern. However there is a limited section in the Narrows where access to locations is only possible by canoe and portability will be an issue.