There’s no real upper limit to how large a camera sensor or film can be. Full frame cameras are smaller than medium format digital, which itself falls behind most medium format film – and so on. At the high end of the scale are Ultra-Large Format (ULF) film cameras.
What is an ultra-large format camera? It’s any camera with an imaging area larger than 8×10 inches. In other words, each individual sheet of film – and it is film rather than digital, unless you’re NASA – is substantially larger than a standard sheet of printer paper. Even a basic 1200 PPI scan of ultra-large format film is going to be hundreds of megapixels… not that most scanners can fit such large sheets of film in the first place.
As the name implies, ultra-large format is massive compared to typical 35mm full-frame sensors or even medium format. Relative to the sensors in a phone, the difference is astronomical.
I chose that term – “astronomical” – because comparisons to astronomy are easy to make with cameras this large. For example, here’s the relative size of the Earth versus the Sun:
And here’s the largest sensor on the iPhone 13 Pro Max versus ultra-large format film (16×20, not even the largest standard ULF size):
Many digital photographers have at least heard of 4×5 or 8×10 film cameras, which are large cameras in their own right. But those aren’t ultra-large format. They’re not big enough. Instead, the usual classification goes like this:
- Typical digital cameras through 6×9 cm film: Medium format and smaller
- 4×5 through 8×10 inch film: Large format
- Anything larger: Ultra-large format (ULF)
These days, the most popular formats of ULF cameras are 11×14, 14×17, 16×20, and 20×24. There are also more panoramic sizes like 7×17, 8×20, and 12×20. (All of those dimensions are the inch measurements of the film for the camera; by comparison, a full-frame sensor is about 1×1.5 inches.)
For many ULF photographers, shooting with this sort of camera is a hobby in and of itself. Think of the differences between off-road Jeepers, vintage car restorationists, and minivan parents. All of them can technically get you from Point A to Point B, but they’re not really after the same things. That said, these cameras all involve photography at the end of the day, and you can get some stunning images from ULF cameras with enough effort.
Here’s what a particularly big ultra-large format camera looks like:
This one, admittedly, is a bit extreme. It’s a 4.5×8 foot camera that was the largest camera in the world in the early 1900s. No surprise, that’s large enough that you’d have to build one from scratch today rather than buying from an established company. But it goes to show that these cameras can be as big as you can build them.
If you’re wondering, there are some working professional photographers who use ultra-large format cameras today (generally not quite 4.5×8 feet) and even a few companies that still make them new. So, I want to push back on the idea that ultra-large format cameras are nothing but antiquated collectibles. Nor are they just “let’s test my woodworking skills” builds. Here and there, a few photographers still put in the extraordinary effort required to use these cameras because the results can be impossible to achieve any other way.
And what results are those? For most photographers, it’s all about contact printing – placing the negative directly on a sheet of light-sensitive paper and getting a one-to-one print. Contact prints are remarkably faithful to the original negative (if you want them to be) and are capable of more detail than just about any other type of print. However, it’s an all-analog process with a lot of hoops to jump through before it turns out right.
Challenges of Ultra-Large Format Cameras
I know that by writing about ultra-large format cameras on a popular site like Photography Life, I may be tempting some photographers who never even knew such cameras existed to get that twinkle of GAS in their eyes. But to most photographers, I urge against buying one. They’re remarkable cameras, but they’re also impractical in almost every way.
If you’re feeling adventurous, there’s a better solution: Go for a large format 4×5 or 8×10 camera instead. Those formats are already slow and difficult to use – easily enough to fill your daily quota of tribulation. But at least they’re nearly reasonable. With 4×5 or 8×10 cameras, you have a good selection of lenses, film, spare parts, and accessories, and you should be able to troubleshoot any problems pretty easily. By comparison, the ultra-large format realm is like pulling teeth from a chicken while simultaneously herding cats.
An unavoidable fact of ultra-large format cameras is that they are large and heavy. Take the smaller end of things, for example: 11×14. Typical 11×14 cameras weigh about 20 pounds, not counting at least an additional 3-5 pounds of weight for a lens and a two-shot film holder. Even the lightest 11×14 cameras on the market (aside from rare custom builds) weigh about 13 or 14 pounds, body only.
If you plan to carry such a camera beyond view of your car, good luck finding a backpack that can hold it comfortably – or even fit the camera in the first place. I’ve seen some photographers repurpose cumbersome kayaking backpacks for the job because at least those bags are big enough. Other photographers, even today, carry these cameras on a horse or mule.
What ultra-large format lacks in practicality, it makes up for by being fiendishly expensive. Some “alternative” films aren’t so bad – like repurposing x-ray film from the medical industry – but a single 11×14 sheet of a standard B&W film like Ilford FP4+ is about $12. The cost of developing the negative is another few dollars for the chemicals if you do it at home, or $10 at one of the few remaining labs which still develops 11×14. That’s $15-20 per photo! It better be good. (Color film at this size does exist, but only via special order from Kodak or an intermediary, and the minimum order costs about as much as a new car.)
For crying out loud, the Wikipedia page on ultra-large format photography has a dedicated section called “encumbrances.” Beware, beware, when ULF is in the air.
Why I Got One Anyway
How could I resist something like that? Meet my new 11×14:
I’ve been saving for this camera since I first learned about ultra-large format photography several years ago, and it arrived not long ago. Yes, it’s difficult to use (to put it mildly) and yes, digital cameras have a million advantages over it. But for a number of reasons I couldn’t be happier with this for my landscape photography.
The biggest benefit for me is the experimentation of doing large contact prints in the darkroom, but I’ve also been scanning the prints I make and getting digital images with hundreds of megapixels of real resolution.
Cumbersome though the 11×14 format is, I’ve done as much as possible to keep my 11×14 setup in the “backpackable” weight range. I sacrificed a bit of stability to go with a lighter 13-pound camera and a few relatively compact lenses. I’ll be developing each sheet of black and white film myself to keep costs down.
It’s tricky to find lenses that cover such a large format, especially if you want them to be lightweight and inexpensive. I chose a 305mm lens for my wide-angle, equivalent to about 28mm on a full-frame system. I have longer lenses stretching out to 1200mm (about 115mm equivalent), but I’ll mainly be sticking to a 600mm (58mm equivalent) when I want a slightly longer perspective.
Below is a photo of my 11×14 camera compared to a Nikon Z7 for scale. Next to both of them is the 4×5 camera that I’ve been using as my main landscape photography setup in recent months:
You read that right – I’ve moved to large-format 4×5 for my dedicated landscape kit and have been using the Nikon Z7 for all other travel photography needs. The 11×14 camera is for special occasions when I have time to set everything up and wait for the right shot.
I know that Photography Life has an almost exclusively digital audience, which is why I’ve avoided talking about my experiences with large- and ultra-large format film so far. But it’s become such an important part of my photography that I’ll surely write about it some in the future.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with some sample photos from the 11×14 and 4×5 cameras. These are the sorts of landscapes that I’m planning to capture with my film kits over the next few years – assuming I spend enough time in the gym that I can carry the 11×14 beyond my car.
I am sorry, can’t help it…this reminds me of high school days in the late-60’s in Indianapolis when I got involved with the school newspaper and yearbook. Whoever designed the darkroom painted the walls black and ordered two Omega D2V enlargers with 4×5 negative carriers, along with 4×5 film holders and hard-rubber dip tanks, and boxes of Kodak Super-XX 4×5 film, DK-50 film developer, stop bath, fixer and hypo-clear; boxes of Kodak 8×10 and 5×7 glossy multigrade paper along with a set of filters to change the paper grade from 0 to 4, dodging and burning tools, a noisy drum dryer, and film-developing clock. Nobody had used this stuff, preferring their own 35mm cameras and Tri-X film (which we bulk-loaded… Read more »
That’s brilliant! Even the newest 4×5 cameras follow the same design inspiration as cameras from 100 years ago. It’s just the fundamentals: a light-proof box, a light-sensitive sheet, and light.
Great stories!
I once designed darkrooms and studios for a college where I was teaching and battled for ages with the college and the architects, trying to explain that the darkrooms should be painted white and the studios black.
Eventually, I managed to persuade them that the darkrooms should be white but failed miserably with the studios! They refused to paint then black and they ended up white! For the rest of my time there, I struggled with the white studios. They simply could not understand why a studio should be black!
I used to live near an Ilford factory in the U.K. Good to know the FP4 is still in demand. I remember using it my old Spotmatic. Lovely camera that …
Wistful sighs …
FP4 is going strong! I’m also using Ilford Delta 100 and FP5+ 400 on the 11×14. Ilford is the biggest company that offers custom film sizes this large without a big minimum order. I’m a fan.
I have noticed the remarkable amount of detail that can be extracted from my grandad’s Kodak Vestpocket contact prints (127). All slow finegrain emuldions in those days… I now get occasional urges to dig out the ancestral 120 folder, but I don’t think I’m likely to be buying or carrying anything larger, any time soon!
I’d like to wish you well in your new endeavour. Do you think it will be possible to display a few images on line somewhere at a worthwhile size and quality?
At the same time, I selfishly hope that you will not be leaving the digital world completely! Your ability to demistify and explain would be a significant loss to many of us strugglers.
It is pretty incredible! Contact prints are something else. Displaying them online without losing something will be impossible, unfortunately. But I’m going to scan them at high resolution and publish those results here, so it will at least be a taste of how they look in person.
I’m still shooting a lot of digital. Especially for travel photography – just not realistic to shoot anything handheld or fast with the 4×5. And my pace of (digital) reviews is only going to speed up.
Thanks for your article, and I look forward to living vicariously through your adventures into film and the larger formats.
I found a Pentax 6×7 to F mount adapter with some basic shift & tilt capabilities (it can rotate to also give rise/fall & swing), and have picked up a few P67 lenses to try out.
I appreciate that it has nothing compared to the movements possible with your cameras, but I am enjoying them, when I get the chance.
I occasionally look at the prices of P67 bodies too, but that’s just wishful thinking.
All the best, and good luck with the lunges and squats training to carry all the gear 😁
Cheers,
I’m a big fan of that. At the end of the day, I’m not coming anywhere close to exhausting the movements on these cameras anyway as a landscape photographer. The P67 adapter should give you some great creative options.
Love that crater lake shot.
Thank you, Andy! I’m glad that one turned out. It was very windy when I took it, and I didn’t know if it was sharp until I got back the developed negative. Probably my favorite 4×5 shot so far.
An interesting discussion! There is one other aspect that I think applies to large format photography, not just analogue either. As the film or sensor size increases, you get a subtle but absolutely tangible increase in the subtlety of tonal gradation. For instance, when going from 35mm film to medium format or 5X4′ film, you see this quite clearly. You obviously get an increase in sharpness as the silver particles (B&W) or dye particles (colour) are proportionately smaller with the same degree of image size but it is the difference in subtlety of tone that is most striking to me. I think the same will be true for digital sensors as well, although I have no experience of MF or… Read more »
Totally agree…it’s all (slight exaggeration) about the additional subtlety of tones. ;-)
There are a couple of other things also playing a role. For instance, no matter how hard you try to “get the details right” in modelling (= building models) of planes, cars, railways in smaller scales than 1:1. There’s a moment when a fine, rusty or brushed surface simply doesn’t appear the same way, when upscaling a 1:72 model to 1:1, when you see sort of natural looking materials can’t be upscaled without becoming an obvious fake. The same way of upscaling a certain sensor size, you’re also upscaling it’s flaws. They simply become visible, quicker than large scale transparencies. Next thing is the “ridden to death horse” equivalence. In theory it’s possible to downscale a lens for a smaller… Read more »
Congratulations, Spencer: 4×5 and 8×10 were my standard cameras for 30 years. I shot 4×5 hand held with Linhof and Graphics, 4×5 with Linhof view cameras, and 8×10 with Ansco and Kodak view cameras. I carried the 8×10 up rope ladders in Mesa Verde. Probably not allowed these days. Even shot a legislative session with a 10×20 once. You already found out that the wind really starts to blow when the camera goes up on the tripod. Get a big focusing cloth and do a spread your wings to try to block the wind. Old lenses are the way to go. I used brass barrel 8 1/4″ and 12″Goerz Dagors for b&w and the 300 Nikon-M for color on 8×10.… Read more »
Spencer, I’m delighted to see you venturing into the wonderful world of large format! I still have my Toyo 4×5 and one (very fine) lens, and have been thinking of reactivating it. Seeing the huge enlargements of Ansel Adams and his contemporaries inspired me to crawl under the dark cloth–there’s nothing like either the experience or the results. I hope you continue to post articles on LF.
Thank you, Art! I’m sure I’ll post more about it in the future. Large format is such a fun process and leads to some great results if done with care.
I would stick with 4×5 and get a really good scan. Ive never even shot a 8×10 but I have seen the output. 11×14 is more than twice a 4×5 its almost 3 times but is the resolution? I am curious to see the difference. Is it worth it? And can you really get color film that big? I have questions I can only get answers to if I see the output with my own eyes.
For the most part, that’s what I’m doing. The 4×5 is by far my primary system between the two. I’m scanning all the images I take with it and editing them in Lightroom. It’s actually similar to my digital workflow, just a bit slower.
I didn’t get the 11×14 for higher resolution (although that is nice – about eight times 4×5), but to make big contact prints using archival analog processes like pt/pd and carbon transfer. I do have a scanner big enough to digitize the results, but doing so is a secondary concern for me right now.
Color film is available at 11×14 but only via expensive custom order from Kodak, which I haven’t done. Maybe some day.
Hi Spencer, this is a really interesting subject. I have been an analog shooter for a long time before digital existed. I have always loved it more than digital and in my feeling it is still the “real thing¨ . Resolution is one but if I see old movies or photos shot on analog media I am always surprised by the beautifull and rich colors. I wonder if this is a reason for you to use this medium as well. I will follow your analog adventures with great interest. Thanks for sharing.
You’re right, the high resolution is nice, but it’s not my main reason for going with these cameras. The colors and tones (especially in the highlights) are bigger factors to me. Not to mention the flexibility of movements. Vertical and horizontal shift help with composition, and tilt and swing make a huge difference to depth of field.
The 4×5 already has enough resolution for any practical purpose. I didn’t get the 11×14 to gain more resolution, but to allow for big contact prints and work with different analog processes. It’s a very specialized tool that I won’t be using every day, compared to the surprisingly modern and easy-to-use 4×5 that has replaced a lot of my digital landscape gear.