Originally posted by tuco I'm not talking about the quality difference between 135 canister film and sheet film. I'm talking about the look that the longer focal length gives for approx. the equivalent FOV.
Making the casual consumer aware of the subtle nature of that difference is going to be much harder. In the classes I teach, even experienced photographers find the subtle differences between formats will often fly right over their heads*. I suppose it is something one has to experience for themselves, and with the price barrier lowering every decade the possibility that ideally, even amateur photographers will be able to afford to choose from a greater variety of formats and develop a discriminating eye in regard to format choice.
* Unless it is a rather extreme instance that makes obvious use of the one of the main advantages of large format cameras: camera movements. Years ago, Hasselblad made the arcbody/flexbody which gave 6X6 format cameras movements [though with considerably more constraints regarding the degree of movements afforded depending upon lens choice] in a similar fashion to large format cameras, During the film era the arcbody/flexbody never really took off as it was rather awkward to work with [manual focusing aids don't work well with tilts, also the camera was
completely manual]. With digital backs having come a long way, the arcbody/flexbody owners are able to use these cameras with greater freedom. Why it hasn't been modernized and re-introduced by Hasselblad
utterly mystifies me.
yep, that's right, large format camera movements in a medium format package.