Baker's Dozen: Sheet Film (Call for Work)

This Toyo-Field 45AII is currently for sale on eBay.
Seventy-one people are "watching" the auction!

Do you, or does anyone you know, still shoot 4x5" or larger sheet film and make contact prints the old-fashioned way?

If so, send me a JPEG or a digital snapshot of a recent print, or of yourself holding a print, and I'll post a sampling of them at the end of next week. Please mention your name, age, and location when you send it, as well as the size of your negative. My email address is m c j o h n s t o n a t m a c d o t c o m. (I don't know why I bother to disguise that, as I'm so awash in spam email already I can barely use email for its intended purpose. But I guess every precaution helps.)

Interested in seeing what people are up to!

Mike

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
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Comments

[HABS HAER Photographer Stephen Schafer]

71 people are watching because 71 people have a Toyo View 45AII (a great camera) to sell and are hoping that the price is waaay up.

I’m still using 4x5 and 5x7 every week to make a living as a HABS/HAER photographer in California. I’ll send you a print.

-Schaf

[John Krill]

In the late 60s I spent 4 years in the Marines. The first 3 1/2 years I spent luging around a 4x5 Speed Graphic. I didn't mind it too much but then again I was in my early 20s and stupid. Using a 4x5 did speed up everything once you took the photo.

My last 6 months was in Vietnam and I carried two Nikons. Today I probably couldn't carry one. Like I said I was in my early 20s and stupid.

[David Brown]

I know (and know of) many large format photographers in the North Texas area. I've passed this on. I, alas, shoot only roll film, so I will not be able to participate.

[Richard Man]

I shoot 200+ sheets of 4x5 every year for personal projects, but do not make contact prints though.

[Paul De Zan]

Can't help with sheet film shooters; the last one I knew was a pro I used for product glamor shots in the 90s, but Spamdrain is simply amazing for getting spam under control on Mac/iPhone. Best IT money I spend all year: https://spamdrain.com/en/index.html

[cdembrey]

But I guess every precaution helps.

Not really. That hasn't fooled spambots or the NSA for years—just look at your in-box 8-)

[Tim Bradshaw]

I use a 4x5 camera. I have tried making contact prints but I find them too small: I decided that you really need a slightly larger neg to make contact prints. I tried to buy a whole-plate camera (which you know about) but shipping was impractical. I've also since decided that an important consideration for me is to be able to carry the camera, tripod & bits for several hours, and while this might be marginally possible for whole plate it is not likely to be for 8x10. So I am going to stick with my (extremely lovely, and very light) Chamonix 45n2.

I'm fortunate in that I have access to enlargers which can do 4x5 (and in fact up to 8x10 or a bit bigger), so I make enlargements.

[Rob de Loe]

Re Stephen Schafer's post... I didn't know "HABS/HAER Photography" was a thing! And now I do. Another nugget of wisdom from TOP!

[Phil Martin]

I've seen them for around £450 on eBay in the UK, that's around $590 but if anyone wants to buy my Toyo for around $2000, drop me a line. I have 67 and 69 backs for it as well.

[Phil Martin]

But I'm afraid I've only shot medium format on mine, after an accident with my RB67

[Bill Bresler]

Dang. Doing some 4X5 street work with a Crown Graphic, but I scan the negs and print on an elderly Epson R2400.

[Joseph Brunjes]

I shoot 4x5 and 8x10. I enlarge both up to 16x20. 4x5 contact prints are too small for me but 8x10 contact prints look really amazing.

[Arne Croell]

I do use 4x5 regularly, but apart from contact sheets, no contact prints in that size (I do contacts of my 8x10" negs, but I haven't used 8x10" in a while). My standard print size from 4x5" is 11x14", followed by 16x20". A year ago I finished my new larger darkroom and now can make 20x24" prints, but haven't done so yet.

[Russ Young]

Like some others (above), I shoot 4x5 and 5x7 but scan and make inkjet prints, not wet contact prints... now if real AZO was still available, my answer would be different. I used to make platinotypes but when the price of the metal soared, that ended my usage.

[John Shillaw]

I regularly take photographs (mostly B&W) on a Wista N field camera or Wista M-450 studio rig. However, like some others who have commented earlier, I don't contact print because I don't have the space or facilities (I live in Japan in a small house). I scan the negatives using an Epson V850 and mostly print @ 16x20.

[John Shillaw]

P.S I forgot to add that I have recently begun to print digital negatives from my 4x5s to create cyanotype of van dyke images. Some of them are as good as anything I've ever done, mostly because of the level of detail in the original capture.

[Chris]

I checked with my LF colleagues on Talk Photography, and the general consensus was, no, they didn't make 4*5 contact prints. Too small to be useful, too large to be a "proof sheet" several make contact prints of 120 films, and at least one makes contact prints of 10*8. (Now, why do those numbers work opposite ways round?)