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Robert Adams

 

Robert Adams, a key figure of the “New Topographics” movement, has used a variety of medium- and large-format cameras throughout his career—always chosen to support his clear, quiet, and morally urgent vision of the American West.

Core Cameras & Formats

4×5" Field Camera (Nagaoka)

  • He often employed a typical large-format 4×5 film field camera by Nagaoka, renowned for detail and tonal control in his early, more formal work.

  • These rigs were mounted on tripods and used for carefully composed, static landscapes.

Nagaoka 4x5

Hasselblad Medium Format

  • Adams shifted to a Hasselblad medium-format camera (6×6), frequently using an 80 mm lens, especially for street-adjacent or intimate subjects.

Pentax 6×7 SLR

  • For his 1973 Guggenheim-funded projects like Denver and The New West, he adopted the Pentax 6×7 medium-format SLR, providing a 6×7 cm rectangular frame for more expansive landscape compositions.

Pentax 6 x 7

Fujifilm 6x9

Robert Adams also commonly uses the Fujifilm GW690.

Fujifilm GW690

Robert Adams using Fujifilm GW690

Additional Lenses & Cameras

  • Nikon 35 mm SLR with a 28 mm wide-angle lens was used occasionally for quick or color work.

  • A Superwide lens on the Hasselblad and 135 mm lens on the 4×5 allowed for varied focal lengths and perspectives.

  • He also owned a Plaubel Makina—a medium-format rangefinder—for selective projects.

Film, Printing & Aesthetic Consistency

  • Primarily shot black-and-white film, often Tri‑X, but more importantly, his equipment choices centered on achieving precision, tonal range, and depth of field.

  • His darkroom practice was meticulous, ensuring skies held detail and the full grayscale range was preserved.

Summary

Robert Adams has consistently selected film formats—from 35 mm to 4×5—in alignment with his intent:

  • Large-format 4×5 for exacting clarity, depth, and composition

  • Medium-format for balance and portability

  • 35 mm where speed and candidness matter

  • The constant is his commitment to detail, tonal fidelity, and moral clarity in portraying landscapes transformed by human presence.


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