Large Format Photography - I - Introduction
19/08/11 22:00
Technical cameras were a logical development from large format cameras of the late 19th and early 20th century. Carl Hans Koch was a precision engineer who inherited a photographic studio from his father at Schaffhausen, in Switzerland. With his experience, he started working on a new camera: instead of a traditional wooden chassis, he used extruded, cast and machined aluminium, and the main assemblies were supported by a large diameter tubular rail. The new “SINAR”, which stood for Studio, Industry, Nature, Architecture and Reproduction, was released on the market in 1947.
The Sinar "Norma" was produced from 1947-1970 (see above). Manufacturing consistency ensured parts were instantly interchangeable without rework or fettling, the supporting rail could be extended for long focal lengths or extreme close-up photography, and there was a range of accessories: hoods, viewers, clamps, copy stands, shutters, meters and rear standards for film up to 10x8 inches. It was a true system camera. They were beautifully made, lasted well (many are still at work) and, like so many systems that have been in production for a long time, there is a vast wealth of compatible parts and accessories both new and second hand.
In 1970, Sinar produced a new camera called the Sinar “P”. Instead of a bottom-hinge for the standards, which meant the photographer always had to re-focus after adjusting tilt, it had curved tracks so that movements pivoted about the centre of the lens or the film plane. All other movements were geared and self-arresting — no need for them to be locked-off with a separate screw. The changes significantly reduced the amount of time to set up the camera. It was fantastic, but so heavy it became more of a studio camera than the Norma. Other manufacturers made cameras that were very much smaller, lighter, easier to stow away and less painful to carry, like the Arca-Swiss F-Line (1980) and Linhof Technikardan (1984).
A Sinar P2. Robust, accurate and flexible, but extremely heavy. What
you see weighs 6.8 Kg without lens, bellows, film magazine, or tripod.
Technical cameras are designed to maximise the range of possible movements. The brackets, or “standards”, slide and pivot, shifting laterally, rising vertically, tilting about a horizontal pivot or swinging around a vertical one. Sinars are examples of “monorails”. They are also "view cameras" because the ground-glass focusing screen is placed directly in the image path, not via a reflex mirror or external viewfinder. Traditionally, they use large format cut-sheet film, but they can also take roll-film magazines and digital backs.
“Field cameras” are designed to fold up, with a carrying handle. Movements are more restricted, often only the front standard, the lens carrier, moves at all, but the cameras are lighter, far more portable, and can even be used hand-held. The definitive field camera was the Graflex Speed Graphic, produced in America from 1912-1973. It was ubiquitous with the press until the Leica revolutionised journalism. Although it could be used as a view camera, it had external wire-frame scopes or optical viewfinders for rapid composition. The legacy of the Speed Graphic is the Graflok universal fitting for film (and digital) backs. Field cameras are popular with landscape photographers who want the resolution and arresting beauty of large format film, but in a neater, lighter package. The Linhof Technika was Europe’s answer to the Speed Graphic, and is still in production, also Ebony, Wista and others.
Do these vast cameras still have a role in the digital age? Yes - absolutely. Three reasons:
1. Resolution:
Cut sheet film is available in sizes up to 20x24" — so large that the digital equivalent is 40 billion pixels. While digital photography has surpassed film in almost all aspects up to medium format, at the absolute extremes of photography, film is still king.
2. Control:
Technical cameras movements make it possible to adjust the plane of focus and control perspective. Objects on a table can be made perfectly sharp from inches to infinity. Tall buildings with their sides tapering skywards can be pulled straight. Perspective can also be corrected with computers, but software manipulation involves stretching or losing pixels, reducing resolution and sharpness. A technical camera can deliver an optically corrected image to a modern digital sensor with no loss of quality.
3. Flexibility:
It is easier to keep a 1947 Sinar up to date with cutting edge technology than any other kind of camera.
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© Guy Montagu-Pollock, 19-08-2011.
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| Sinar Norma (1947): the original technical camera, designed by Swiss engineer Carl Koch. This is my own camera, which, while not perfect, is still in regular use as part of my “light” kit. The pictures show the basic camera, camera with bellows attached, a 5x4” film holder and focus screen, and with a lens. | ||
The Sinar "Norma" was produced from 1947-1970 (see above). Manufacturing consistency ensured parts were instantly interchangeable without rework or fettling, the supporting rail could be extended for long focal lengths or extreme close-up photography, and there was a range of accessories: hoods, viewers, clamps, copy stands, shutters, meters and rear standards for film up to 10x8 inches. It was a true system camera. They were beautifully made, lasted well (many are still at work) and, like so many systems that have been in production for a long time, there is a vast wealth of compatible parts and accessories both new and second hand.
In 1970, Sinar produced a new camera called the Sinar “P”. Instead of a bottom-hinge for the standards, which meant the photographer always had to re-focus after adjusting tilt, it had curved tracks so that movements pivoted about the centre of the lens or the film plane. All other movements were geared and self-arresting — no need for them to be locked-off with a separate screw. The changes significantly reduced the amount of time to set up the camera. It was fantastic, but so heavy it became more of a studio camera than the Norma. Other manufacturers made cameras that were very much smaller, lighter, easier to stow away and less painful to carry, like the Arca-Swiss F-Line (1980) and Linhof Technikardan (1984).
A Sinar P2. Robust, accurate and flexible, but extremely heavy. What
you see weighs 6.8 Kg without lens, bellows, film magazine, or tripod.
Technical cameras are designed to maximise the range of possible movements. The brackets, or “standards”, slide and pivot, shifting laterally, rising vertically, tilting about a horizontal pivot or swinging around a vertical one. Sinars are examples of “monorails”. They are also "view cameras" because the ground-glass focusing screen is placed directly in the image path, not via a reflex mirror or external viewfinder. Traditionally, they use large format cut-sheet film, but they can also take roll-film magazines and digital backs.
“Field cameras” are designed to fold up, with a carrying handle. Movements are more restricted, often only the front standard, the lens carrier, moves at all, but the cameras are lighter, far more portable, and can even be used hand-held. The definitive field camera was the Graflex Speed Graphic, produced in America from 1912-1973. It was ubiquitous with the press until the Leica revolutionised journalism. Although it could be used as a view camera, it had external wire-frame scopes or optical viewfinders for rapid composition. The legacy of the Speed Graphic is the Graflok universal fitting for film (and digital) backs. Field cameras are popular with landscape photographers who want the resolution and arresting beauty of large format film, but in a neater, lighter package. The Linhof Technika was Europe’s answer to the Speed Graphic, and is still in production, also Ebony, Wista and others.
Do these vast cameras still have a role in the digital age? Yes - absolutely. Three reasons:
1. Resolution:
Cut sheet film is available in sizes up to 20x24" — so large that the digital equivalent is 40 billion pixels. While digital photography has surpassed film in almost all aspects up to medium format, at the absolute extremes of photography, film is still king.
2. Control:
Technical cameras movements make it possible to adjust the plane of focus and control perspective. Objects on a table can be made perfectly sharp from inches to infinity. Tall buildings with their sides tapering skywards can be pulled straight. Perspective can also be corrected with computers, but software manipulation involves stretching or losing pixels, reducing resolution and sharpness. A technical camera can deliver an optically corrected image to a modern digital sensor with no loss of quality.
3. Flexibility:
It is easier to keep a 1947 Sinar up to date with cutting edge technology than any other kind of camera.
--
© Guy Montagu-Pollock, 19-08-2011.