View Camera - the Journal of Large Format Photography

Customer Rating:
Summary: Absolute necessity for LFers
Comment: Very well written, and packed with good information and wonderful portfolios. An absolute must-have for anyone shooting in large format. Great resource to find out what other people are doing, get technical advice, and see ads from pretty much all of the LF world.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Book to Learn Camera Fundamentals
Comment: Pickup today's modern camera and it does the work for you. Pickup a view camera and you'd better know what you're doing. But for those willing to invest the time, the returns are some of the most incredible, detailed, and rewarding photographs you'll take. Not only will you experience photography in it's most basic form, the understanding and lessons will greatly improve your small format work. I've found this book along with Ansel Adam's the Camera and the Negative books as the most important photography books you'll want to own. You can buy many other books on exposure, composition, etc but until you really understand why cameras work the way they do - you'll continue to take pictures and never experience creative photography.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Good magazine, more for experienced photographer than total amateur
Comment: For a couple of years now I've been interested in View Cameras but couldn't find much to read about them other than Steve Simmon's "Using the View Camera" and other books here at Amazon. I wanted more so I finally found the website for this magazine, viewcamera.com, and got myself a copy of the magazine on eBay.

The magazine is nicely done (based on my reading of the Jan/Feb '06 issue) and worth a lot more to the interested person than Popular Photography is these days. I learned a little about camera suppliers and other items the photographer will need, couldn't find that stuff elsewhere. Most of the items seemed to have been written by other photographers, it was interesting- I did learn some things.

In my particular issue there wasn't much for the near total novice like me (I think I've read that's the case for most issues these days)but I'm still thinking of getting a subscription just in case I ever do own a View Camera. The magazine is worth getting even if you're just curious and never intend on owning one of these cameras.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great resource for large format photographers of all levels
Comment: I am sorry to see that the previous reviewer had a problem with his subscription. I always get my issues, although they may show up at the bookstore before they are end up in my mailbox. But it's a small publisher, so some hick-ups are to be expected.
The magazine itself is always a joy and a great resource. The articles are well written, and the quality of the illustrations is excellent. It is always an inspiration to see what can be done in large format bbeyond the obvious calendar photography. One thing that sets this magazine apart from many other photo rags is the fact that they also review older products that aren't sold anymore by their advertizers. Large format technology (aside from digital) is fairly mature, and there is no reason why a 40 year old lens shouldn't do a good job for your needs. View Camera tells you which lenses are great finds, and which cameras will do the job.
I can only recommend that people interested in LF photography read a couple of issues of View Camera. They will come away with a good impression of what is involved, and if they finally step up to large format, they will be able to save a bundle by knowing what the used LF market has to offer

Customer Rating:
Summary: Never Received
Comment: I ordered the subscription to this magazine months ago and never received a copy. Don't waste your money or time, go to a bookstore and buy it. I emailed both amazon and the supplier, nothing has been done. Very disappointing.