[Leica] Shoot less... ?

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

I've never heard it stated as such I have my own little theory on this kind
of thing which I've not quite put out yet. I can't find it in Google or Wiki
but to me its rather obvious.
 I think there's such a thing as the 80 square inch equivalence rule. Which
is an 8x10 contact sheet and the film which fits on it. OF ANY FORMAT.
Its a roll by any other name.
One 8x10 sheet of film is a roll.
Two 5x7 sheets of film is a roll
Four 4x5 sheets of film is a roll.
Kodak will tell you this when they tell you about replenishment and how long
your Hypo fixer is going to last.
I've must not gotten around to writing it out yet. As if no one ever thought
of it. 
It's an equivalence thing.
Or Rabs photo six of one and half a dozen of the other rule.

If you have  4x5  sheet film shooting friend and he shoots 4 sheets of a
thing and you are a 35mm shooter then you'd shoot 36 exposures of the thing
to match him.
That's the rule.
Both of you have made an 8x10 contact proof sheet and have spent about the
same about of money on film and chemicals. And you both may have spent about
the same amount of time shooting it.
As the 4x5 shooter is shooting 4x5 sheet film every shot he makes is going
to look absolutely terrific in terms of richness and sharpness and no grain.
His shots are going to have the authority of sheet film.
His film gets blown up twice its size to make an 8x10 print. Yours have to
be blown up 8x.  
In my minds  eye I'm seeing him shoot with a Linhof 4x5 Master Technika hand
held but that's just me. You're shooting with a Leica M6 .
You have 9 changes at getting just the right moment and angle for his every
one. And more depth of field if you want it. And you are a bit more low key
if that's an issue.

He's shots are going to glow with the wonderfulness of 4x5 sheet film but
for every shot he makes you  have 9 chances to beat him just by getting 8
more angles and 8 more chances at a magic moment.  You can shoot faster and
looser and try all kinds of things. He's holding this big camera being way
more careful about everything. So even though his individual shot is all
rich and wonderful looking technically compared to your thinner looking
image your images can easily blow his out of the water because you just came
up with a better shot.
This is not unrealistic as its been proven as 35mm shooting certainly
dominated over sheet film in the last half of the century. Once in my life I
saw a guy shooting with a Master Technika. Another time with a Speed
Graphic. One of the times it was me.

Next day your other friend came back to the scene and shot a roll with his
Rolleiflex. He had 12 shots at beating both of you and probably did so with
his 80mm Zeiss Planar built in lens.
So this is Rabs rule of photo film equivalence.
You read it here first.
Otherwise known as the "a roll is a roll" rule.
If you made it this far good for you!




On 3/23/15 6:03 AM, "Frank Dernie" <Frank.Dernie at btinternet.com> wrote:

> I have never heard of photographers considering their work by the acreage 
> of
> film they use rather than the number of worthwhile results they get. Is 
> this
> common?
> 
>> On 21 Mar, 2015, at 20:14, Mark Rabiner <mark at rabinergroup.com> wrote:
>> 
>> A dozen sheets of 8x10 equal 144 shots with a Rolleiflex or Hasselblad.
>> 432 shots with in 35mm. Also par for the course. A very common occurrence.
>> 
>> I shot 10 rolls a pro pack of Delta 100 of one model once in a few hours.
>> So I had 360 chances to get it right.
>> That was the most concentrated I ever got.
>> My Balcars afterwards were quite warm. But they cooled down in time.
>> I needed a cold shower for sure.
> 
> 
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-- 
Mark William Rabiner
Photographer
http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/