here's something related, any thoughts on plate cameras? 9x12 is so BIG haha
If you are thinking glass plates like the old banquet cameras, they would be an epic pain in every way. Some people like pain.
Not I, and while I have not ever sworn off film, it has been a long time since I last shot a roll. I used an XL Graflex as my medium-format super-wide for many years until a writer dropped it into a 'gator-infested pool along the St. Johns River in Florida. The Graflex had a 47mm Schneider SuperAngulon and interchangeable backs of 6×6, 6×7 and 6×9 as well as Polariod packs that were roughly 3¼×4¼, where I used PN material providing an instant print and very fine grain negative.
The insurance money bought me a used Brooks VeriWide 100 which was about a 6×10—seven exposures on 120 film. It too had the same 47mm lens. It served me throughout my career from that point, with countless shots in newpapers and magazines, as well as shoots for some of North America's top developers and most prominent Dallas architects. It gives lie to the idea that you need the most up-to-date and stylish camera to attract big day-rates. It was made in the 1950s and looks it. I sold it to another working photographer for about what I paid for it, and I assume it is still at work. Fuji, Alpa, Linhof and Horseman had functionally identical models in production until recently, and to the best of my knowledge they may still be in production. I have not recently checked. Shown is a recent Horseman 6×12.
The Widelux 140 (lower left) is a true panoramic camera with a 6×2.4 format. It uses 35mm film which actually wraps around a curved film plane. The lens swivels. It too paid for itself many times over. I had a chance to bid on the Linhof 70—which is 6×7—in a bankruptcy sale. I bid very low and got it. It too has a SuperAngulon, but a 65mm in this case—wide, but not superwide on 6×7. Press and technical cameras of the time can be a very good deal due to their extreme flexibility and the fact that lenses are interchangeable. As you might expect, the Linhof is built like a tank and heavily over-engineered with "great precision".
Not to be ignored are Fuji's "Texas Leicas". Rangefinder cameras in 4.5×6, 6×7 and 6×9 with Fujinon lenses of astonishing quality. All self-contained with both wide angle and standard lens models. In many ways, they are much like film predecessors of the current gem, the digital X100. I also have a lovely little Zeiss SuperIconta BX, which was in essence a folding Rollei—same lens and shutter in a much smaller package. My favorite travel camera—also not superwide—is my Plaubel Makina 67. A crazy-great f/2.8 80mm Nikkor in a folding mount.
For superwide now, it is the much superior multiple exposures and stitching with the D700. With the X100 and its built in pano-mode, it is almost like having a digital WideLuxe as a bonus. With stitching, you get lenses much superior to medium-format and unlimited dimensions. One of the panos on this page is 75MP.
Panoramas and Macros via Zoom.It.com
