when it comes to sharp-as-a-tack images, we have not improved much in the past 70 years

[DrDan]

http://pavel-kosenko.livejournal.com/303194.html?thread=22669914

[Auggie]

1. 4 x 5 film produced great images

We used it in advertising all the time, mostly for table top when we didn't use 8 x 10.

These are terrific.

[DrDan]

4. I can certainly see why it would be used in advertising - when you would have nearly total control

of the shot and could produce results like this

[Auggie]

6. We never used 4 x 5 for people though...

that was reserved for 2 1/4 inch or 35 mm. We wanted quantity. I would sort through dozens of rolls or hundreds of slides looking for the "perfect" shot -- varying poses, expressions, etc. Plus, the photographer would bracket exposure, so that added even more film to sort through.

This was way before Photoshop, of course. Now we assemble the perfect photo from as many source images as we need. From an advertising perpective, this is invaluable -- a million time better than the "old" days!

[Major Nikon]

2. Most of the improvements have been with enhanced capabilities and cost

These images were posed with the models holding still. They were taken with normal lenses for the format used (the easiest lenses to make) and were almost certainly taken at optimum apertures. 4x5 is large format which means the cameras were quite large. Ansel Adams used mules to haul his camera gear around. These are almost certainly 2nd generation images scanned with very expensive drum scanners.

The sharpness of these images would be in the same ballpark as the best 35mm digital and medium format digital would be at least as good if not better and you're still talking about a smaller format than 4x5. For 35mm you can resolve about the same as the best film emulsions at about 16 megapixels. The newest cameras do far better. If you've ever seen gallery sized prints made from modern digital cameras, the level of detail will blow you away. Improvements like better lens designs, better shutters, better media, image stabilization, digital post processing, and so forth give capabilities photographers 70 years ago couldn't have dreamed about. In terms of resolving power, film emulsions were quite good for their day, and modernization has really only produced marginal gains, at least so far. However, the idea that an amateur with relatively modest outlays can produce images just as good if not better, is quite amazing.

[sir pball]

7. 35mm for sure, MF is still about a dead heat

My lowly D5100 with the 35/1.8 is absolutely neck-and-neck with my Nikkormat EL fed with Velvia 50 and wet-scanned on a good flatbed, at a tiny fraction of the cost and hassle. A D800 with good glass is absolutely going to spank any old-fashioned gear in the same size range. That being said, a Hasselblad with a 39MP back is a hair behind 4x5 Velvia; with the newer 60MP backs it would have the edge, though probably less than the raw resolution increase would suggest. Certainly not enough to be clearly superior. The cost ratio might actually be tilting back in favor of film; the 4x5 price is unchanged from '06 while the latest Hassy is forty-four thousand dollars without glass - I'm sure that a high-volume fine-art photographer could easily make up the difference over 3 years but that's a not-insignificant initial hit.

No way modern lens design is "better", though...yes, my 18-270 hyperzoom is a pinnacle of modern computer-aided optical design, but that cheap little 35 prime runs rings around it, and any of the 70s-era Nikon glass I bolt to the Nikkormat is even better. My Micro-Nikkor 35 is so perfect that I literally can't sharpen digital images off it.

And those Symmars...

[Major Nikon]

8. I'm still amazed by my Nikkor 55/2.8 AIS that I bought back in the 80's

This web page does a pretty good review of the lens and shows its resolving power and sharpness. There may be some 35mm SLR lenses that are better, but I don't know of any and I can't imagine any being much better and the design is now 35 yrs old, yet Nikon still makes them today. What's really cool about this lens is that it really doesn't have any weak points other than a maximum aperture of 2.8 (which isn't bad). Even if you forget that it's a macro lens, it still performs incredibly.

http://coinimaging.com/nikon_55microais.html

[sir pball]

9. Yeah, I keep my Micro in my DSLR bag

Only ancient lens I regularly carry. Sure, it's manual focus, manual aperture and the 5100 can't meter with it so it's a matter of either bracketing or using a G lens to meter first, but the benefits far outweigh any of those fiddling details. With the extension ring it goes all the way to 1:1 to boot, I've gotten some amazing pictures in the garden with that rig.

(Typo in my first post, I meant 55 not 35)

[Stevenmarc]

3. Thinking about picking up one of these

http://m.dpreview.com/news/2014/04/21/a-travel-sized-large-format-4x5-camera

https://wanderlustcameras.com

[flamin lib]

5. Much better off with a Speed or Crown graphic.

Without rising front, swings and tilts a 4x5 is just an anchor.

[sir pball]

10. Not to mention, that "cheap" Wanderlust doesn't come with the lens..

I'm not going to say it's totally useless without movements; a good 4x5 film scan is almost unbeatable and I'd cheerfully pick one up at the bargain price of $150 even barring film costs - but it's glassless, "Designed for the Schneider Angulon 90mm ƒ/6.8"...which B&H lists for a cool $1611.95.

Bit excessive for something that's ultimately a toy. A very nice toy, no doubt, but still. I have no idea what market this is targeting.

[Stevenmarc]

12. You can find them significantly cheaper on Ebay

I happen to already have one but my primary use for it was going to be pinhole work.

As for the market, probably anyone that shops at Lomography, drinks PBR and listens to obscure bands.

[Stevenmarc]

11. Well

if I was going for tack sharp probably so but the primary use was going to be for 4x5 pinhole work which it does right out of the box the bonus is that I happen to have the recommended lens. I saw it on Kickstarter when I was looking at the 4x5 pinhole camera that Illford made however I missed out on the sweeter Kickstarter deals and figured I'd just wait till it started shipping.