Pure Ingenuity Leads to Affordable 8x10 Large Format Video Capture

I'm no cinematographer. I mean I dabble, like a lot of still shooters do, but I wouldn't put myself under the category of video expert by any means. That being said, I do know what I like and what I think looks good. What I've always really liked is the depth and feel of large format in still photography and, now finally, in video. You don't need to spend a $100,000-plus to do it either. See for yourself how Zev Hoover from Massachusetts accomplished it.  

Hoover, just 18 years old and a favorite on Flickr with 76,000 followers, created a unique camera that has peaked the interest of even big names like Philip Bloom. Using an old large-format camera mounted to a video slider, a Sony a7S, and some pure gumption, Hoover has created a sort of Franken-camera that emulates everything I love about large-format photography by turning it into moving images. 

OK, so it's not really an 8x10 camera (sensor), but I don't care. It feels like it. And to me, that's really all that matters. There's some magic in this video. It captures the feel of what it's like to look at the grounding glass of a large-format camera while composing a shot, or directing a subject. It's in the movement. The movement that a still shot tries to capture only just a moment of, but struggles to tell the whole truth of what the camera is seeing. 

Kudos to Hoover for trying something new with old materials. The results are impressive, and a joy to view.

See more of Hoover's work on Flickr, Instagram, Facebook, and on his website.