Common Large Format Mistakes & How To Avoid Them

Check out this free resource to help you make less large format mistakes! workflow.4x5.xyz
What mistakes do you find yourself making? Share in the comments! 🖤
0:00 - Intro
0:22 - 1 | Close your lens shutter
1:20 - 2 | Setting your Shutter Speed and Aperture
2:18 - 3 | Properly Loading your film
4:21 - 4 | Forgetting your Dark Slide
5:52 - How to avoid making mistakes!
How to load large format Sheet Film: • How to load large form...
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[@AtlantaTerry]

12. In your notebook, mark down the number of the side you just exposed along with the exposure you used, filter used, bellows extension, details about the subject, etc.

[@tobiaskeyphotography3867]

It is always a good idea to test fire your shutter a few times before making an exposure. It exercises the springs and makes shutter times more consistent. If you make a habit of doing that just before you expose your film, you will know your shutter is closed and you will hear if your shutter speed is grossly out. If you are facing the camera you will see if the aperture is open too. It instantly guards against a lot of problems.

[@nate_0723]

I'm currently assembling a Standard 4x5 1.0 (hard mode) as my first ever large format camera. Great tips - I'll try and remember all of these!

[@drew_nikonowicz]

Thanks for the support and good luck with the build! :D

[@hakkun1]

Wow, what a great resource! Thanks for the tips, Standard Cameras’ Drew Nikonowicz!

[@andyvan5692]

another couple of mistakes, one: to not remember to take your watch off before loading film, as the luminous or led dials can fog film; two, not using a lens hood, as flare can wreck a piece of film, or using your hand, and not a cable release to set off the shutter, causing vibrations, or body parts in the shot.

[@steveclarkemedia]

I’ve just bought a monorail camera. It’s scaring me just looking at it - but this is super helpful. As ever don’t rush, something is bound to go wrong if you do. Great channel.

[@calvinfarrow1720]

Also if you’re loading your 4x5 in a dark change bag, and it’s hot! Your sweat and the moisture inside the bag, will give you a big headache. lol happened to me I was cussing like a sailor! lol

[@larsbunch]

I do enough large format that I hardly ever make these mistakes. The mistake that I DO keep making is pulling darkslides on film holders that I think are empty. I did this last week on an 11x14 holder (Luckily it had xray film which is relatively cheap) This problem usually occurs when I have a holder that I loaded weeks ago but did not end up using. I usually store “active” holders in plastic bags, but sometimes my brain doesn’t work so good and I go ahead and open them anyway. Another one that I almost never make, but did recently, was I loaded a holder and then put the dark slides in black side out (implying that the film was exposed). In this case I caught the error before it became an issue, but it’s another one of those simple mistakes that can cause a great deal of confusion in the field. The thing I do to prevent leaving the shutter open is I always test fire the shutter one or two times. An additional benefit in doing this is if my shutter is getting sticky, I’m more likely to notice the problem before I make the exposure.

[@drew_nikonowicz]

Ah thanks for sharing other mistakes you make! I think it's important to share - helps keep people motivated when they experience setbacks :) I've also definitely forgotten whether or not a film holder has film in it. I usually give it a little jiggle to hear if there's film in there. haha

[@larsbunch]

@@drew_nikonowicz Good idea. I hadn’t thought of shaking the holder to test if there is film inside.

[@AtlantaTerry]

Here is how I stop this from happening: After loading a sheet film holder, I immediately place a piece of blue painter's tape over the end partly covering both dark slides. The tape is removed *only* in the field when I am inserting the sheet film holder into a camera. An added plus is the tape keeps the dark slides from moving since many of my film holders are missing those little "L" shaped metal locks. I do this because I only shoot large format a couple times per year and at age 75, I can no longer rely on my memory.

[@andyvan5692]

one tip for the shutter issue, is a test fire in the sequence, this shows you the release does work normally, and also tests that the shutter speed set is what you expect, aka 1 sec. vs 1\100th, the one sec. will whirrr, click!, the 1\100th will only click!, as a way of ensuring you aligned the dial correctly, and the number was right, you didn't transpose a number, aka the eg above, or 1\250 for 1\125 or 1\25th ( all have the digits 25 in them)

[@drew_nikonowicz]

Great suggestions here and in your other comment! A quick test fire is something I always do at the start of my day if I'm out making photos.

[@andyvan5692]

one other mistake, is to forget to lock everything down, esp. with cameras like intrepid, or the field cameras like linhof technikas, or mono-rails, as any unintended movement, esp. of the rear standard, during film insertion can blow the focus too, or not adding bellows or filter or reciprocity factors to exposure, as these can affect image brightness too!

[@PhilTaylorPhotog]

Confession time: Just getting back into 4x5 & I just got my first films back...On one shot everything was fine, but I clearly forgot I was shooting my 6x7 back. Shot was perfectly framed for 4x5, well exposed, amazing tilt focus on some flowers leading the eye up to half an old barn :-D

[@davefaulkner6302]

Hey Drew. Thanks for the video. One tip -- some of the lens errors can be avoided by standing in front of your camera and performing a test shot looking into the lens before loading the film. You can see if your aperture is setup, hear the timing of the shutter, and know the safety is closed because the shutter triggered. Also want to say that I love the Standard. It's my backpacking 4x5 because of its sturdiness and incredible lightness and it uses standard lens boards. It's less than half the weight of my Toyo or Wista -- maybe a savings of four pounds. Not quite as capable as the others (no rear tilt -- all other movements are there) but it gets the job done at a quarter of the cost.

[@drew_nikonowicz]

Thanks for the kind words! And doing a test shot before removing the dark slide is a great suggestion - thanks for sharing 😁

[@ericflynn4524]

Handy tips! Would've loved some more b-roll shots to illustrate some of your points.

[@drew_nikonowicz]

Ah great suggestion! I'm not the best video editor 😅

[@draganbalzic4493]

The first two issues are the perfect reasons why you’d want to use a SINAR and compatible lenses.

[@anthonymiller8979]

A good suggestion I heard was to try and make these steps muscle memory or habit. Set up your camera indoors and with empty film holders go through the steps slowly and methodically 30 or 50 times until it becomes second nature rather than just heading out to make images with no practice. Nice to set up outside in your yard and play with movements so you get familair with what each does and how it affects the others.

[@drew_nikonowicz]

oh yeah for sure! Getting these things to be muscle memory is definitely the end goal, and going through the motions beforehand is a phenomenal idea.

[@film_friends]

Hey dude! Everything is out of stock on the website! would love to grab one! I would love to make some videos about it too!

[@drew_nikonowicz]

That's because I'm taking the summer off - it's on the banner at the top of the site 😉 Check back late July early August and there might be more cameras in stock! 😁

[@film_friends]

@@drew_nikonowicz Haha i did see that but I didn't want to believe it :D Im half tempted to build one from scratch but i feel like by the time im done and frustrated, you will be back and they will be in stock. haha. Thanks dude. Would love to land that green one. I would also love to make a few videos on the topic too. Hit me up @1willcobb on IG and we should colab.

[@marcdeckard6115]

I use the black side of the dark slide to indicate that the film has always been in the dark. The silver side indicates that the film has been bombarded with light. Just a matter of preference but I think my method makes more sense.

[@drew_nikonowicz]

I think they both do! I know folks who do both haha. I think about it in the negative - when a negative is exposed, it turns black from density (after developing, of course). When I teach students how to keep track, I tell them to pick an option and stick to it. 😁

[@marcdeckard6115]

@@drew_nikonowicz, I try not to indulge in Negative Thinking. What do you do when shooting reversal films? Just kidding. Consistency is the key. I love your programs!

[@twalker500_]

These tips are great, I'll never make these mistakes again!

[@jameslabeck6407]

Loading film sucks!