Why 4x5?

I was once asked, during an interview for theVideo Journal, (Issue 1, Number 1) , why I decided to use a 4x5 camera. My immediate answer was the one you would expect: I use 4x5 because of the superb detail available from such a large original, the superlative lens quality, the movements afforded by a view camera, and so on. In one word:quality.

Chinle Arch. Schneider Super Angulon 47mm XL f5.6 and Fuji Provia 100F

Later on that same day, while still being interviewed, I found myself under the dark cloth composing an image on the ground glass of my Linhof field camera. In this intimate setting, shielded from prying eyes by the black cloth, I thought of another, more honest answer: I use a 4x5 view camera because I have tried all the other available formats and found none to be as satisfying as 4x5. In other words I attempted to avoid using 4x5 but was forced to accept that only 4x5 would allow me to create the kind of images I wanted to create.

For many years I se...