Using the View Camera: A Creative Guide to Large Format Photography

No major flaws or shortcomings. But the book is limited in information, skimming over some rather complex concepts in a breezy manner. If one is considering or thinking about LF photography, but not invested yet, this might be a good choice. It's an easy read, and the photos do illustrate some of the technical aspects of LF. But if one has a LF camera and is looking for a book to instruct on the "how to" aspect, one may find this book (as I did) really limiting.

This book is sometimes difficult and technical - but that's why you buy it. Steve does a great job of explaining the details of using a view camera, including different types and and why you would use them, film processing and even a section on the Zone System. He backs it all up with examples from his own work and those of others, and explains how the camera was used in each.Great book!

Great book. A must-have for anyone starting out with a view camera. It covers everything you need to get you going and understanding the basics of operating this type of camera. The only downside is that there not a lot of information on using camera movements to achieve certain creative effects, and no discussion of digital backs.

I used this to get me started using my first view camera. I've also read several others, including Ansel Adam's "The Camera" and Jack Dykinga's "Large Format Nature Photography." While the others are outstanding, they have different a focus than this one, which in my opinion, homes right in on the meat of what you'll need to get started.Simmons, in this book, is much better at simplifying and going through the fundamental movements showing images to accompany each description of the movements. It also covers basics such as different types of cameras (monorail, field, view), lenses, lensboards, shutters, etc. The only problem I see is the types of film discussed is a little dated since the film market has changed since the publication of the book. Otherwise, it covers everything you need to get started and makes a decent reference after that.It's also more straightforward than the other books mentioned. Ansel Adam's book on "The Camera" is more of an overview of 35mm, medium format, large format, and covers reasonable detail on each, but does not get as thorough on LF cameras, so frankly I found his description of rise/fall and tilt/shift rather confusing. Dykinga's book is also fantastic but focuses (as the title implies) on specifics for landscape photographers and thus skirts over the fundamentals a bit too much.I give this book 5 stars for doing what it's intended to do, and does it very well. That said, if you're looking for something that goes well beyond the fundamentals, this one isn't for you.

I've been shooting (and processing) 35 mm and medium format film for decades, digital for about 12 years, decided to venture into large format. I've searched for a variety of books, and most of those few publications on the subject are extraordinarily (too) detailed and technical. Simmons book, although written relatively long ago, hits the proverbial nail on the head: All the basics you need to know about large format/view cameras and their use; metering, and so on. Thankfully, and unlike most of the books about "using your DSLR" or the like, you're not insulted with page after page of absolutely fundamental stuff like "what is an f-stop?"

This book must have been printed on a clapped out desk-top laser printer and pulp paper. Pictures are blurry but the text is outrageously so. It hurts your eyes to try and read it. Mr Simmons, your previous editions of this book have been excellent and I’ll be keeping mine but I shall not be giving this copy to anyone but the garbage men. I cannot see how it could possibly be recycled further.

I thought this book was just about excellent in its thoroughness for informing the reader how view cameras work. There are lots of photographs displayed as examples of what the author is discussing at the time. This book is excellent for those either just getting into view camera photography, or, like me, interested in moving into that area of the art. I am a digital photographer, and have been since the early days of digital, but have been drawn to medium and large format work because of their reliance upon the shooter's eye and the absolute skill required of the shooter. Anyone can point and shoot a picture, but it takes intimate knowledge of the camera's capabilities and the patience to move the photograph from the mind's eye to the camera's eye. The quality of large format is unsurpassed, and ught to be around for a long time. Kudo's for the author for this instructional, yet inspirational book on view camera photography.

Revised for currently available films. Much better resource than I expected it to be. Excellent discussions of bellows extension factors, front and back movements and reciprocity.

This is a book about large format cameras, and the point of that equipment is top-quality imagery. Which is ironic, as the quality of the image reproduction in the book is appalling. It is printed on low-quality paper which had rendered the black tones of the monochrome photos too dense and the colour images too flat and lacking contrast.It's a large-format book and some of the photographs are printed to a large size, and often with detailed information on how they were taken. I found myself not wanting to look at the photos for too long, which is a huge pity as many of them look like they would be extremely eye-grabbing with the right reproduction.While I haven't read much of it, I can tell already that the author is an expert and knows the subject inside-out. So, getting a lot of good information from it is assured.But, the publishers have let him down by cutting costs on paper and printing. Photography books need to be seen as well as read. I know this because I've written 3 - all printed on good paper by good publishers. I'm glad it wasn't this one.5 stars for the author. 2 stars for publishers. Overall 3/5.

The print quality of the reproductons used as examples is atrocious. The paper used muddies the images so badly that they appear as a blob. Buy this book to learn how to use a large format camera and the importance of printing using the correct medium.

I buy a lot of books about photography, both new and old. This is one book that I can whole heartedly recommend to anyone. It is beautifully designed, contains some marvellous examples of large format work and is full of useful tips for anyone wanting to make the move to large format. I shan't be parting with my copy anytime soon.

Easy to follow technical information, especially for the beginner

Very informative book very interesting readin for serious minded photographers