P3D 5x7, 8x10" antique cameras

[John Toeppen <toeppen@xxxxxxxx>]

Contact printing large format negatives reveals that todays paper is
rarely as good as yesterdays negatives or prints.  Enlarging lenses then
were neither good nor cheap.  While bellows cameras were designed to be
used as enlargers, few people actually did this. Contact prints were
easier and commonly done. Stereo cards were commonly made using twin
lenses on a 5x7" view camera.

The lenses of the time were not color corrected.  The negative was
actually positioned slightly closer to the lens than the viewing
screen.  This was because the deep blue image was the only light that
the film was sensitive to, and that image was closer to the lens (as
blue light is more refracted).  After 1910 bellows changed from red to
black to prevent red light from exposing the film. The poor color
correction of the old lenses resulted in blurred image detail when using
"panchromatic" rather than "ortho" films.

Anyway, large cameras achieve fantastic resolution across the entire
field of view offering intense fovial satisfaction.  They also offered 
large prints.  Photographers traveled from town to town and took photos
of the interior of stores and places of work.  You can read the prices
and contents of the cans on the shelves of the general store, read the
date on the calender on the wall. The photos were sold to the
storekeeper, workers, whoever.

Advertising photos and professionally taken studio shots in full color
in "Art and Antiques" etc. are shot in 8x10 today. This is a technically
challenging and expensive undertaking.  Doing this well in stereo is
more than twice and hard and expensive.  It is difficult to display and
market effectively.

A 1910 Burlington RR photo of the Pioneer five car set and locomotive
12" x 20" photo reveals every bolt in every piece of steel that faces
the camera.  Each barb in the barbed wire fence along the entire length
of the train is sharp.  You would recognize the engineer if you knew
him. The peaks in the Rockies behind the train were recognizable to
those familiar with the region.

Large format film will always be better than medium or smaller films. 
High quality B&W films achieve better than 600 lp/mm today. This is to
say that the equivilent of a megapixel sensor exists in one square/mm of
TechPan film: a gigapexel sensor in a 35mm frame!   Or 50 gigapixel on
an 8x10", each pixel ten bits deep. 

Digitial is wonderful, but film is fantastic, and size always
counts...in film and lenses.


John Toeppen

http://members.home.net/toeppen/index2.htm


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End of PHOTO-3D Digest 3308
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