The 4 x 5 camera is what helps makes great photographic originals.

Advantages of large format photography over digital:

• Sharper images edge to edge
• Full color spectrum reproduction
• Originals can be greatly enlarged without loss of clarity
• In-camera distortion of architectural features

Digital (no matter how costly the camera, or how many megapixels) still cannot compare to the quality of large format (4x5 or 8x10) in terms of detail as well as color range.

Larger format, far greater image clarity - grain vs pixels.

With its large 4" x 5" film, there is less grain and far more detail than smaller format film or digital.

Film is made of grain, digital images are made of pixels. In a 4 x 5 original, the size of the grain in relation to the image is infinitesimal. This means that every aspect of the image from edge to edge can be perfectly sharp and accurate.

In terms of color range and accuracy, though digital has tried its best to match the quality of film, digital falls far short from the range and accuracy of large format film photographs.

The 4x5 camera has tilts and swings that enable it to distort images inside the camera.

We can straighten tall office buildings from the ground up.

With a 4x5 camera, the photographer can stand on the ground in front of a tall building (or other structure), adjust the 4 x 5 camera's tilts and swings, and 'straighten' the image inside the camera resulting in a perfectly 'distorted' image.

Subject matter that is enhanced with large format photography:

• Architectural exterior photography
• Architectural interior photography
• Resort hotel photography

The ability to perfectly 'distort' images means that the original image can be distorted yet perfectly sharp in every respect - in the original. The tilts and swings of a large format camera enable it to distort images inside the camera and directly to the original film.

Though you could distort an image in Photoshop from a digital original, the distortion would not be nearly as sharp or accurate as with a 4 x 5 image.

With 4 x 5 film, you can still scan the film and 'make it digital', however, the original you are scanning from is much better than any digital image - and it can be greatly enlarged since it contains so much detail and the grain is so fine.

4 x 5 film and large format cameras remain far better than digital for:

• 'correcting' the vanishing point in architectural photography - interior and exterior
• walls and other features can be perfectly 'straightened'
• a tall building shot from the ground can appear to be perfectly square
• much more

The only reason that 4x5 (or 8x10) large film format photography is not used for every photographic application is due to the logistics.

With large format, the photographer needs to carry and load film backs, and use a tripod for the large format camera.

A 4x5 sheet of film shown at actual size (above).

Unlike the 35mm or 120mm film formats, each piece of film is a separate 4 x 5 (or 8 x 10) sheet. Since the film is not on a roll, each film back must be placed over the back of the camera and exposed for each photograph.

When the photographer shoots 4 x 5 large format, the photographer uses a film back to take Polaroids before exposing the 4 x 5 film. The 4 x 5 Polaroids let the photographer and the client see and adjust the composition, the lighting, and the color - directly through the camera.

Once the large format photographer determines that the Polaroid is as the image should be, the film is exposed and 'bracketed'. Bracketing means that various combinations of exposure time and aperture are used to obtain optimum results.

With large format film you can enlarge and print at any size with virtually no loss of resolution or quality. 

You can scan and manipulate large format any way you wish digitally, but it's the quality original you're able to work with that makes the difference.

The only reason that there are few remaining 4x5 or 8x10 photographers (Ansel Adams was one) is that the large format 4x5 or 8x10 photographer needs a great deal of knowledge about film, lighting, light metering, processing, and other aspects related to large format photography.

Contact us for details.