Large Format Cameras: How They Are Made

Photography Tips

Despite the incredible advances in digital photography over the last ten years, if you want the ultimate in quality, the large format film camera still rules. For sheer definition and tonal range, large format film is unbeatable and as such there is still demand for large format cameras today. In this film we see how a Walker Titan SF 4×5 camera is made.

The start of the video explains why large format cameras produce such quality, factors such as the large image size, requiring significantly less enlargement than 35mm and medium format film for the same size print and the built in tilt and shift abilities of the camera.

We are then shown how these cameras are built, predominately by hand but with a very high precision. From the video, we can not only get a sense of how these old fashioned yet highly relevant cameras work and are made, but also how they are meant to be operated. The video also shows how up to date digital technology can also be used on large format cameras with the use of dedicated digital backs.