Cities and Parks - View camera

I proudly use a view camera to achieve the results seen on this website. While this technology is old, it is not out of date. No, it doesn’t come with a digital chip; yes, it does come with bellows. The advantages of this type of camera to my clients are several.

Because it uses film rather than a sensor, the size of the light-sensitive area can be vastly larger without great cost or complication. In our case, the film is 4” by 5”. The larger area records far more detail than any digital SLR cameras, even of the medium format variety. This is all the more true in this era of high-quality scanning. Scanning at 2,400 dpi, the picture will contain over 115 megapixels. This technology will deliver crisp pictures with a full range of tones, even when printed to 4’ by 5’ (1.2m by 1.5m). The picture bottom right shows the magnification which can be achieved. What’s more, because the technology is old, it is much cheaper than the nearest digital equivalent, which means our clients benefit from the high quality and our low overheads.

View cameras also have the particularity of being mechanically flexible. The front and back are connected by bellows so that the lens can move independently of the film. Unlike most smaller cameras, the lens plane and the film plane don’t have to be parallel. These relative movements allow two levels of control which are immediately relevant to your needs – obtaining a striking picture:

(i) Control over perspective banishes converging verticals, which mean buildings remain true to the architect’s vision, without any distortion.

(ii) Control over the focal plane which no longer must be parallel to the film plane. The focal plane is no longer static: it now runs from foreground to background, up or down the picture, adding dynamics to the image. Using smaller apertures, will result in much greater apparent depth of field (ie a clearer image); conversely, using larger apertures, will leave large parts of the picture out of focus. We can then selectively choose what we wish to emphasise and what we wish to down-play in the field of view (see picture bottom left). These results are far more natural and striking than digital trickery in the computer.

The possibilities offered by the view camera are many. I look forward to talking through the creative options with you.

Charles Twist - Photography

View camera technology