P67 vs 4x5 and 35 mm for Travel Photography

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I am mostly a travel photographer and did an interesting comparison of formats on my trip to Fiji. Yes, the 35mm SLR is easiest to use especially with its great DOF. But, the film is just too small. The 4x5 that I used (Linhof)was so slow in setting up that I missed a number of scenes with changing light situations. And, the potential for errors must be three times that of the P67. Also, I could not take aerials with the 4x5, macros are a pain, candid street portraits are not possible and telephoto work is limited by the bellows draw. The P 67 is easily the choice here, especially with the TTL finder. The only drawback is the large tripod required for telephoto work. SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), June 26, 1999

Answers

Some good points Tom. I have used my 67 quite a bit hand held and you're right, faster film and not using the tripod works well. I've been using E100 VS pushed to 200. Try using the 45 and 90mm at 1/60 sec and try the 300mm at 1/125. If you are carefull, this can work.SR

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), July 08, 1999.

One aid to the 67 is to carry and use some high-speed film. The 67 II works smoothly enough that I have gotten several good-looking shots hand-holding it (with the AE prism) at shutter speeds of 1/250 and up with 45 and 90 mm lenses and 1/500 or 1/1000 with the 300mm lens. For prints I use Portra 400 VC. After slaving with the tripod, it's fun to walk around and take snapshops with the 67. It seems a reasonable compromise.

-- Tom Goodrick (tgoodrick@earthlink.net), July 08, 1999.

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