At what magnification will the image be viewed? For example, you are going to make a 20 x 24 inch enlargement and display it where people can walk right up to it to check out fine detail. This will require the picture to be originally taken on a camera that uses large pieces of film. Again the view camera is the best choice because the large sheet film it uses (commonly 4x5 or 8x10 inches) produces high quality prints that can be blown-up into large poster sizes without losing much fine detail in the picture. A Single-Lens Reflex camera or Rangefinder can still take a high quality picture, but because it uses a much smaller film the image quality would be significantly affected if you tried to enlarge the picture to a poster size.
The next factor to look at is, how much weight can you carry to the subject? If you are going to be taking pictures on a mountain or trail hike chances are you will not want to be carrying around a big 5 pound view camera along with the tripod it needs. On the other hand a Single-Lens Reflex camera or a Rangefinder camera will be the camera you should choose because of its relatively small size and image ability. With the right lenses and filters a SLR camera can produce very high quality prints and provide you with a lot of mobility.
Finally, How much time will you have to take the picture? On the sidelines of a sports game or trying to catch birds in flight will require camera that you can easily carry around and set up shots very quickly. Because focusing and adjusting settings are lengthy or tedious on a View camera and Rangefinder you best choice here is a Single-Lens Reflex camera. These are the same cameras you see on the sidelines of football games with those long zoom lenses. Because of its quick adjustments and focusing time they are the best camera to choose for a fast paced subject.
