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The ultimate portrait bokeh shootout – Crop vs full frame vs large format

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When it comes to the discussion fo bokeh, we often hear of the “benefits of full frame”. There are many comparisons out there all over the web, extolling the virtues of a larger sensor, and how a full frame mirrorless or DSLR is the “ultimate”. It’s really not, though, if that’s your goal, which this video from photographer Bill Lawson sets out to prove.

In this side-by-side shootout, he compares a Nikon D7000 DX body, along with a Nikon D700 full frame DSLR and 4×5 large format. He uses 50mm, 85mm and 300mm lenses to achieve a similar field of view with each of the different cameras, and gets to work.

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This is what it’s like to shoot ultra large format wet plate macro in a cherry blossom tree

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Because the snowdrop shoot what so much fun, I wanted to do something like that again. After I saw the cherry blossoms on my tree, it was crystal clear what comes up next. I wanna shoot one of these with my wet plate camera, but this time I will shoot them on the tree.

When I was little, this tree was my climbing adventure. This tree has seen better days – the weather from the recent years started to ruin some parts of it. But it is still beautiful in the springtime.

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The world’s first single shot 8×10 large format digital camera can be yours for a mere $106,000

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Large format digital cameras aren’t an entirely new idea. They’ve been around for a little while now, and a number of people have built their own. But they’ve had one big drawback. Because it’s difficult and expensive to make sensors so large, they typically use scanning backs. In the case of DIY options, it’s often the internals of a flatbed scanner.

Now, though, an 8×10 large format camera which uses a 9×11 inch monochrome CMOS sensor to record a single shot all at once is available to buy. Created by Bill Charbonnet, who left his “real job” in 2014 to start LargeSense LLC, the LargeSense LS911 can be yours for only $106,000. Oh, and yes, it shoots 4K video, too.

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DIYP takes a look at the new Chroma 4×5 large format technical camera

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The Chroma 4×5 large format technical camera has intrigued me since it was announced last February. When I found out its creator, Steve Lloyd, was UK based, I got in touch to find out if he’d planned to visit The Photography Show this year. It turned out that he had, so I asked if he could bring along one of his Chroma cameras so I could see it for myself.

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Pixel peeping at an impressive 709MP drum scan of 8×10 slide film

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100 megapixels or 400 megapixels sounds like a whole lot, doesn’t it? Well, large format wilderness photographer Ben Horne takes it even further and gets a 709.6-megapixel file. With a little help from his friend Michael Strickland, Ben scans his large format 8×10 slide film with a very high-resolution drum scanner. Check out his video to see the result and how he managed to do it.

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This guy made a whole bunch of 3D printed cameras and put the plans online for free

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Regular DIYP readers will know that I’ve been researching 3D printing recently. My goal is to see how one might be able to help me with my photography and video tasks. Primarily  to keep things organised. There’s SD card cases, battery covers, lens cap clips, charging station doohickies and all kinds of goodies on sites like Thingiverse. But I also want to have some fun, too.

One photographic collection over on Thingiverse that’s particularly cool belongs to user Schlem. He’s created a whole bunch 3D printed pinhole cameras. Most of them are medium format but there are one or two large format ones, too. One of them is even stereoscopic. He’s put all the models up so you can download and print your own, and the results coming from some of these cameras are just amazing.

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Shooting steampunk style wet plates handheld

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Shooting wetplate is a bit of a feat all by itself. Sure, it’s getting a little more common than it was a decade or two ago, but it’s still not all that easy, especially if you want to do it well. Photographer Markus Hofstätter is no stranger to large format wet plate photography, but he’s had a burning desire to shoot it handheld. Obviously, the giant plate camera he uses in his studio is a little large for this type of thing, so he went on the hunt for something a little more manageable.

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The Chroma is a new and unique large format technical camera

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I find the rebirth of film to be absolutely fascinating to watch. No longer are they merely the tools we need to do our jobs. They’re something more than that now. They’re a passion. People are using them because they want to, and not because they have to. And that’s why I find it so interesting. That so many people still want to shoot with film. Not only that but now new film cameras are still being developed, too.

This one is called the Chroma, and it’s been developed by UK-based photographer Steve Lloyd and being funded through Kickstarter. Chroma is a 4×5 large format technical camera with all the front and rear standard movements one would expect from such a beast. What one doesn’t expect in a camera like this, though, is this kind of price. At only £250, it’s an absolute steal.

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How we built a mobile darkroom and a 16”x20” DIY camera

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PART 1 – The Camera

Starting back in May of 2014, I finally put my first foot forward in the making of a 16×20 inch bellows camera. The idea to build a camera was nothing new to me, but I was always hesitant to begin construction since I am the type of person that prefers to work off a set of blue prints and directions. Unfortunately, since my drawing skills aren’t amazing, it was pretty difficult to visualize and plan a solid blueprint of the project – which ultimately forced me to bite the bullet and simply begin construction of the camera and problem solve along the way.

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