Jesse3Names
Established
Does the Crown Graphic accept 65mm lenses well and still allow for a full or nearly full range of movements? I have never operated a 4x5 camera, but what I have picked up on is that folding bellows on some 4x5s become too compressed to physically allow for the full range of tilt/shift of the front/rear standards relative to one another. I read a few posts about people using 65mm lenses with Crown Graphics, but it was unclear if they meant it could be used with all movements.
If worse comes to worse, can you swap out the folding bellows on a Crown Graphic for a bag bellows or, as I've found them called, wide angle bellows? Just something that doesn't bind up but also isn't so loose that it falls in the way of the image circle between the front and rear standards... unless that's not really an issue on 4x5s - just something I thought could cause problems with loose cloth instead of than neat folds.
If worse comes to worse, can you swap out the folding bellows on a Crown Graphic for a bag bellows or, as I've found them called, wide angle bellows? Just something that doesn't bind up but also isn't so loose that it falls in the way of the image circle between the front and rear standards... unless that's not really an issue on 4x5s - just something I thought could cause problems with loose cloth instead of than neat folds.
Dante_Stella
Rex canum cattorumque
I have a Silvestri H and have put 20 rolls of film through it so far (the only glitch was when the Horseman/Mamiya-derived film back got jammed - easily and cheaply fixed). Having looked at the configuration of the Dmax and the Silvestri, the Silvestri is not only cheaper (assuming you can find one); it's also somewhat better designed.
The Silvestri "only" has +15/-10 shift (that's actually a lot of shift on a negative that's 55mm tall), but its viewfinder is coupled so that when you shift the lens, the viewfinder picture shifts too. It also has a revolving back that allows you to shoot 6x12 verticals without turning the camera. This is not insignificant because the in-viewfinder viewfinder bubble level is still operable that way. And unless you plan to break down the Fotoman, the Silvestri is much more compact; you just rotate the back to vertical, and the whole thing lines up in a vertical package.
My one criticism of the Silvestri is that it doesn't have much of a natural grip. You can get around this by attaching the cable release to the lens cage and resting the camera on your other hand. On the other hand, the Fotoman grip solution looks both bulky and unergonomic.
As to the Fotoman, initially the digital back capability looks attractive until you remember that MF sensors are really small compared to MF negatives - and that what you are really constructing is a bulky, expensive, not-so-wide, not-so-easy-to-focus digital camera.
I can tell you from experience that when you are scanning, say, a 58mm shot on a 6x12, that the actual focus point is important (which is why I would avoid cone cameras with fixed focus). Remember, at 4000dpi and 100%, the depth of field is the same as if you were using a 58mm lens for 35mm format - and very few MF lenses (including expensive ones) don't resolve like 35mm lenses. I've learned to use the DOF scales on MF cameras very conservatively.
Dante
Dante_Stella
Rex canum cattorumque
That's if you're not using a center filter and/or contrast filters. That makes it more 1/60 at f/16, which is a marginal shutter speed.* An 056 + a center filter can easily cost you 3.5 stops of exposure. Not horrible on a bright day, but to handhold, you have to start opening up the aperture, which cuts depth of field, emphasizes your need to accurately focus, and increases light falloff.
Dante
*Normally, the 1/focal length rule is applied to 35mm lenses and applied to the 35mm equivalent of a medium format lens. But the way people digitize negatives today, you need to use at least 1/ the absolute focal length with all formats.