Buying my first film camera

[Helen B]

You can always get someone to do the scan for you if you want large prints from 35 mm. As long as you know that it isn't as easy to get good, large prints from 35 mm as it is from large format then you are going into it with your eyes open.

Even medium format isn't easy at 32 x 40, depending on your standards. That's about a 14x enlargement - over twice the size I would be happy enlarging film scanned on a consumer scanner like the Epson V-750 to, for example. Everyone has different standards, of course. If you wanted to stick to consumer scanners, and print to 32 x 40, then 4x5 is probably the minimum film size - though I think that even an 8x enlargement is pushing the limit of what you can do with a consumer flatbed.

There's a strange trade-off in scanning - the smaller the film the easier it is to get high quality, high res scans. This is partly because of the 'Imacon effect' - the availablity of rentable Imacon scanners (and scanning bureaux that use Imacons) that have a fixed number of samples across the film width - you can scan 35 mm at 8000 spi, 120 at 3200 spi and 4x5 at 2040 spi.

 

[Mike_E]

For 'Fine Arts' I would start with a 4x5 and a roll film back. I have yet to see anything done in Photo Shop (on a good size print) that could match the real thing using tilt/shifts. The selective focus will add another dimension to your work. Also hyper-enlarging a 35mm print (beyond 16x20) is doable but if you are going to offer prints for sale why not err on the side of quality ie larger format film?

You didn't mention a budget but a working Graflex rig with a 120 roll back should start around $350. (the Speed Graphic has an internal shutter along with the normal shutter on the lens which means that you can use lenses without a shutter -Barrel lenses- The Crown Graphic does not and is a pound or so lighter) These are highly portable though somewhat limited as far as the movements go. But to start you could do a lot worse.

After getting comfortable in 120 you can switch to 4x5 with ease.