Hi Wayne, Welcome to lensless photography! It is several universes in size and scope, plenty of stuff to explore and discover.
My preference is large-format photography for lensless work, with medium format a good second choice. The main reason is much the same as with lens photography: the image can be enlarged much more without degrading it or having it become too grainy. This is a personal preference, not a hard and fast rule. A good point of the Graphlex is that you can vary the focal length using the extending bellows. Pinholes or zone plates of various sizes can be mounted on lens boards and changed as needed. The down sides of large format are, of course, cost and less of convience (bigger stuff to lug around). If price is no object, Calumet sells the Finney pinhole turret with 3 zone plates and 4 pinholes for various focal lengths. The turret in on a 4-inch lensboard, which I think fits a Graphlex. Have fun exploring! Tom ----- Original Message ----- From: <waynerol...@aol.com> To: <pinhole-discussion@p at ???????> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 10:15 AM Subject: [pinhole-discussion] Small, Medium or Large? > Hello: > > I have been looking at pinhole pictures for the past two weeks and have been > reading Eric Renner's outstanding book, Pinhole Photography, and as a result > have resolved to explore pinhole and zone plate photography myself. I have > so many questions, but today I have been thinking about what format to focus > on. I have Crown Graphic 4x5, Mamiya Press 2x3 and Nikon 35mm cameras that > are > available for adaptation for zone plate and pinhole photography. > > 1) Aside the aesthetic attractiveness of creating pictures that are part > investigation and part meditation, etc., what are the practical benefits of > making zone plate and pinhole photographs with the medium and large format > cameras listed above over the 35mm? > > 2) What are the pitfalls in using zone plate bodycap and pinhole bodycap > apertures in small format cameras? And what are the workarounds and working > methods for small format zone plate/pinhole photography? > > > Thanks, > Wayne > > > _______________________________________________ > Pinhole-Discussion mailing list > Pinhole-Discussion@p at ??????? > unsubscribe or change your account at > http://www.p at ???????/discussion/
