Advantages of 35mm over MF/LF

[baachitraka]

i have seen plenty of crap LF images, ULF images PT/PD images, Metal Images, Glass Images &c
... just like i have seen crap images from every other format and process.
nothing is superior, format size has nothing to do with the quality of images made by it ...
all it has to do with is the ego and superiority complex of the person using the format + process they hope will exhume their lack of talent into the halls of history.

equipment is a distraction.

True. I am amazed by looking at the photographs posted by Wolfgang Moersch on Facebook since most of them were shot with Holga 120N.

[Thomas Bertilsson]

i have seen plenty of crap LF images, ULF images PT/PD images, Metal Images, Glass Images &c
... just like i have seen crap images from every other format and process.
nothing is superior, format size has nothing to do with the quality of images made by it ...
all it has to do with is the ego and superiority complex of the person using the format + process they hope will exhume their lack of talent into the halls of history.

equipment is a distraction.

Thank you.

[PentaxBronica]

Pentax made a couple of 110 SLRs with interchangeable lenses, flashguns and an optional motor winder. The lenses were pretty good (apparently the 24mm standard lens wasn't particularly wonderful, but the others don't embarrass themselves even now). The main problem with 110 seems to have been that the film wasn't held as flat as it needed to be for the best results, so you tended to get images which weren't evenly sharp across the frame.

Sure, if you put anything in the hands of someone with a good eye for an image you'll get great results. But equally there's a reason why the big names don't use a cheap fixed-everything toy compact for their serious work. There's a balance between your skill and the abilities of the kit.

The wonderful thing with 35mm SLRs is that providing the body is light-tight, the shutter speeds accurate, and either the light meter is accurate or you have a handheld one, you can get the same results whether that body is a £250 pro-grade classic model or a £10 consumer-level model which someone found in Grandad's wardrobe and stuck on ebay. Put a good lens on the front of either and you've essentially got the same tool, it's up to you to make the best of it after that. That's why I'm always telling newbies to film to get hold of a Pentax P30, P30n or P30t - they're cheap, solid, simple cameras which can use any K mount lens. Stick a Pentax 50mm on the front and you won't find better for twice the price.

[E. von Hoegh]

i have seen plenty of crap LF images, ULF images PT/PD images, Metal Images, Glass Images &c
... just like i have seen crap images from every other format and process.
nothing is superior, format size has nothing to do with the quality of images made by it ...
all it has to do with is the ego and superiority complex of the person using the format + process they hope will exhume their lack of talent into the halls of history.

equipment is a distraction.

Well put!

If the equipment is a distraction, you're doing something wrong.
Ideally the equipment will be transparent, you won't even be thinking about it when composing an image. Equipment should not intrude.

[Slixtiesix]

The wonderful thing with 35mm SLRs is that providing the body is light-tight, the shutter speeds accurate, and either the light meter is accurate or you have a handheld one, you can get the same results whether that body is a £250 pro-grade classic model or a £10 consumer-level model which someone found in Grandad's wardrobe and stuck on ebay. Put a good lens on the front of either and you've essentially got the same tool, it's up to you to make the best of it after that.

Isn´t that the case with LF as well? ;-)

[PentaxBronica]

Well yes, but you tend to have to spend rather more for larger formats (and there's no such thing as a consumer grade MF body - they're all pro-grade!)

[fmajor]

i have seen plenty of crap LF images, ULF images PT/PD images, Metal Images, Glass Images &c
... just like i have seen crap images from every other format and process.
nothing is superior, format size has nothing to do with the quality of images made by it ...
all it has to do with is the ego and superiority complex of the person using the format + process they hope will exhume their lack of talent into the halls of history.

equipment is a distraction.

Well said!!!! Probably one of the most accurate statements ever made in regard to photography or, dare i say, most *all* pursuits!!!

[TheFlyingCamera]

Well yes, but you tend to have to spend rather more for larger formats (and there's no such thing as a consumer grade MF body - they're all pro-grade!)

You're forgetting all those mid-century folders (and box brownies!) that shoot 120/620 in 645 and 6x6 (and even some 6x9) formats. An Agfa Isolette, Billy or Clack was NEVER a pro camera And even the more complex ones like the Voigtlander Bessa II, Zeiss Ikon, and the Soviet equivalents like the Moskva were not aimed higher than serious amateurs when they were new.

[zenrhino]

i have seen plenty of crap LF images, ULF images PT/PD images, Metal Images, Glass Images &c
... just like i have seen crap images from every other format and process.
nothing is superior, format size has nothing to do with the quality of images made by it ...
all it has to do with is the ego and superiority complex of the person using the format + process they hope will exhume their lack of talent into the halls of history.

equipment is a distraction.

Preach on.

I don't give a rat's ass what the format is -- it's just part of the tool you use to get the image in yr head into someone else's line of sight (be it on a monitor, in a print, etc).

Plus, each format (and tool in that format) has some very distinct advantages/disadvantages. Learn these, and you will be the master of every format.

So objectively, if you want portability and lots of auto-everything (and don't get me wrong, I use an F5 precisely for the excellent metering and autofocus at the speed of thought), use 35mm. But don't expect the sort of detail you'll get from 8x10 or even 6x6.

[zenrhino]

Well yes, but you tend to have to spend rather more for larger formats (and there's no such thing as a consumer grade MF body - they're all pro-grade!)

I might point out the Holga, Diana, etc.

Except that they're not even good enough to be consumer grade.