The Branco Ottico team in Italy has showcased 'Bertha,' a giant large format camera that can be used to capture 1.1 x 1.1m (3.6ft) slides. A report about the camera's creation, as well as some images of the assembly process, were recently shared over at DIY Photography. The team explains that Berta is designed to 'create unique works' using the ROBA APPOSTA inversion kit chemical process created by Branco Ottico.
Bertha features a modular aluminum frame, a bellows draft measuring around 4m (13.12ft) in length and a 1000mm F6.3 lens. The camera can be used to capture portraits in macro mode, according to the team, which says they also have a mobile darkroom for capturing portraits outdoors. The team will tune the camera in early 2020, then take it and the mobile darkroom on a tour to capture portraits of people on the road.
When I first clicked on here I though it was a digital camera with a new "UHF" sensor the size of a ping-pong table. I checked the comments first to see if a miracle had occurred and anyone affiliated with DPR or any non-MF FF shooter would concede that "UHF" has more discernable res than FF. đ
No one called large format color positives slides. They are called color transparencies and only 35mm and medium format transparencies are called slides.
The link describes the intent of the project is to directly produce photographic paper positives , aka large prints, not transparencies. I'm guessing you could produce a very large transparency and backlight it like a duratrans, but for artistic purposes the direct to print approach seems more compelling. There have been a handful of studios in the U.S. that over the years have used an analog direct to print process , and years ago I recall a lab in Tampa that did this using a tweaked Cibachrome process.
It should be named Gorda, not Bertha :) I like the "DIY" in the title. Anyone can build it in their garage, in their spare time. A piece of cake ... :)
It's been quite a few years since I saw (or gave) a slide presentation, but I remember fondly that satisfying "kerchunk" sound every time you advanced to a new slide.
I would imagine that the slide projector for these 1.1m x 1.1m slides wouldn't so much "kerchunk" as they would make a rumble that would set off seismograph needles a few zip codes away!
An extreme case of the fallacy of thinking of IQ capabilities only in terms of the film or sensor, ignoring the limitations imposed by the lenses. Even if used with film that resolves 100 lp/mm or more, what is the MTF of the lens at that level?
Jochenis, what would be the point of using about 1000 times as much film to get only about the same "resolution" in the sense **line pairs per picture height** and so a similar final result? The implied promise of using a far large format is getting a far more detailed image; that is, getting similar resolution in the sense of **line pairs per mm** on the film to what one gets with a smaller format.
Well lets assume they have a mediocre lens which resolves only a third of a fullframe lens. It would produce an image with ten times the resolution. Btw i don't think this project is about resolution.
âOne thirdâ is unfortunately very optimistic when lens designs are scaled up. As far as aberrations are concerned (as opposed to diffraction) one cannot expect much change in angular resolution compared to a lens for a smaller format with the same angular FOV, which in this case would be a moderate wide like 24mm in 36x24mm format to match this 1000/5.6 in 1100x1100mm format. And same angular resolution would mean same output resolution in lines per picture height and equal detail in same-sized print. So it has to be a darned good lens to get significantly better than todayâs high end lenses and sensors give.
Even in 10âx8â format, lens resolution is below modern film resolution due to the optical limits.
Also, to get more than about 1mm of DOF, the lens would need to be stopped way down; f/5.6 would give DOF comparable to about f/0.2 with that 24mm âequivalentâ lens. The diffraction becomes a major limit on resolution
Diffraction should work comparable to digital fullframe if we use equivalent aperture. Maybe film even has the benefit of no bayer array here. I believe the diffraction limit for a 50mp/100mp digital sensor is about f5.6/f4 so there is plenty of room to stop down from f/0.2.
@jocjenls 1) The reason for stopping way down is DOF, as I said: to repeat, the DOF from this camera at f/5.6 would be as shallow as for an imaginary 24mm lens in 35mm format at f/0.2. Check out the aperture ratios used with 10"x8" view cameras to get an idea of how high they have to be as formats get large: f/16 is considered to give quite shallow DOF. Do not judge by the wide-open apertures of LF lenses; those are only used for focusing, not taking.
@jocjenls 2) The DOF vs diffraction trade-offs are the same for any format: equal as seen on equal sized prints when one uses equal effective aperture diameter, got by scaling f-stop in direct proportion to linear format size and focal length.
In this case, the aperture ratio giving equal DOF (as seen on equal sized prints) is about 40X larger for the 40X larger format (e.g f/0.14 vs f/5.6, or f/1.4 vs f/56) so the diffraction spots at the focal plane of the larger camera would be 40X larger, and then when enlarging to equal size prints (40X more from the smaller format) they would be the same size on the print. (Ditto for the circles of confusion from OOF effects).
Meanwhile, the 40X larger format needs to use 1600 times longer exposure time with film of equal ISO speed, or 1600 times higher ISO speed for equal exposure time. The former would be very tough for portraits of live humans, and the latter would be very tough with a film camera like this one.
I would think stopping down to f/47 which is about f/1.4-equivalent would result in a diffraction limit of about 400mp. In terms of exposure they will probably use some sort lighting setup to compensate for the 5 extra stops of light needed to expose the huge film.
True; or you could get that same â400MPâ equivalent far more easily and with far less lighting required by using an 8x10â or even 4x5â view camera (at f/11 or f/5.6 respectively). I see no point in pushing to the point where the diffraction limits resolution to far below what the film is capable of, at the cost of far higher film and processing costs (and the risk of dazzling portrait subjects with massive lighting!)
To repeat, these monster formats used to have a place in the 19th century, but only before enlarging was invented. This is a cute marketing stunt for their negative-to-positive processing technology, nothing more.
Where do they get such large film from? Or is it using paper, which they process in reversal with the chemistry they make, Roba Apposta B&W reversal kit?
I wish you could get the jokes contained in the names :D those people are hilarious as much as they are competent, as you can see from the video. Banco ottico = view camera. Branco = herd Branco ottico = kinda "optical herd" "Roba apposta" = "stuff just made for it" (very informal slang, may refer to anything, if you know Italian you can't avoid smiling seeing a product with that name)
Can you say: "Out of touch with reality?" Many here seem to think that this a real cameraâinstead of a PROP in-an-advertising-campaign.
Today many people take things too literally. They think that the absurd is trueâthey don't get-the-joke. This advertorial would sell ROBA APPOSTA on Japan Camera Hunter. Bellamy's readers are Film Fans, they would appreciate the humor of the chipmunk-voicesâand maybe buy some ROBA APPOSTA, to convert negative film to slides.
Large format is alive and well, but this camera makes my old 4x5 Graflex look mighty small. For everyone here that believes large format film cameras are dead, B&H sells 23 different 4x5 cameras, 5- 5x7 and 7- 8x10, but they only stock 2, both 4x5's. These cameras start at $2099. and sell for up to $12,929. without lens. The large format lenses B&H sells start at $585. and up to $10,000, though there is a f/256 with a 52° angle of view Pinhole camera for $90.
I think there was one producing something like 90x180 cm or so. Lab technicians wearing infrared goggles developed the giant polaroid sheet inside the camera housing. It was used to copy paintings, but also take giant "stitched" macro portraits of people's faces about 2x4 meters in size.
DPR posted info on this large film camera a few years ago. Gigantic 35-foot camera takes negatives larger than most people Negatives from the camera measure in at an astounding 6 x 4.5 feet, but also holds the electronic controls for things such as the camera's focus, scale, and lights. https://newatlas.com/35-foot-camera-vanishing-cultures/21178/
Whatâs wrong with chasing rainbows, probably having fun and even earning a buck or two on the way? While upsetting a few billion âweirdosâ wasting part of their boring lives chasing likes on Facebook. That effect alone makes it a commendable venture in my eyes ;-)
Now theyâve crated Bertha, Iâm beginning to wonder about âBig Berthaâ ;-)
Depends a lot on the emulsion quality and the resolution of the lens.
It's pretty easy to find mega-size images made with outdated film technologies like tintype or wet collodion, but the image quality will pale in comparison to modern negative or slide film shot with good 6x6 or 6x7 cm medium format cameras and lenses, let alone those same filmstocks shot on large format 4x5" or 8x10" sheet.
Bigger isn't always better unless you are able to scale up the the same ultra-high quality medium that you're using on the smaller scales.
Same way a modern smartphone camera will outresolve 35mm film, even though the digital sensor is 30x smaller.
it would be interesting to see. i've seen some 4x5 drum scanned files at about 300mp, nothing in a digital world can't come close. the photos looks almost magical and 3d, green is much better than any digital cam output... 8x10 camera loaded with velvia 50 and kodak ektar is my goal for 2020 regards
Is this relevant? Absolutely. Stories like this are meant to nudge you out of your rut, dare you to dream about what you could do with a tool like this. This camera has a distinguished heritage, it follows in the footsteps of Carlton Watkins and his custom-built view camera that shot 18x22 glass plate negatives and the 20x24 Polaroid camera.
There maybe a market for this. There is a photographer in Nashville TN that has been successful using an old process and somewhat smaller format 16x20 inch Ambrotype photos: https://gilesclement.com/people
Full Frame,Yeah,maybe. But I'm sure it will be a Frame Full of any kind of photography any other camera can do..so nothing to write home about. Fake News is the trend nowadays (which is not the case here) but I would stamp it as Fart News..
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