Very small field cameras

[Matus]

One technical comment. The weight of camera will have influence on your tripod selection. For example - My Tachi 4xt5 is hold perfectly steady with Feisol 3442 and a small Photo-Clamm ballhead (the 33 or 36 version) - total weight of the head and tripod is just below 1.5kg - about the weight of the camera. Should I swap the Tachi for some of the more compact monorails (around 3 kg) like Technikardan or Toyo VX125 or Arca Swiss I may need stronger (=heavier) tripod and head not to get the whole setup too top heavy. So swapping a 1.5kg camera for 3kg one may actually add much more weight.

Just a thought. I am not going to join the discussion 'my monorail is smaller than yours' 😀

 

[bigeye]

Entry-level field cameras also have much smaller underwater housings than monorails.

.

 

[shadowfox]

Compared to a foldable field camera it certainly is. Sure, technically you could disassemble the camera and take the rail apart for transport but that's not really practical.
Where you take the camera really has nothing at all to do with whether or not you're starting out in LF photography. And maybe that's an American thing but remember, not everyone moves around by car, let alone by truck.

Fine, strap it to your bicycle or motorcycle then 🙂

Man, I miss my high-school days in Asia, just me, a couple of buddies and our 100cc Hondas, we ride out of town to the base of a mountain, then hike all day long. Wish I knew about LF photography back then.

 

[FrozenInTime]

If still have your hasselblad lenses and small is the top priority and you can live with single axis tilt, limited shift and no swing: there is the flexbody.

Though realistically it's best for depth of field increase or Keith Carter style tilt effects ; rather than, despite it's name, as a truly flexible field camera alternative.

Best wide coverage is with the B70 50mm CFi ( not C or CF versions ) with about 12mm of shift.

 

[bigeye]

http://www.twinlenslife.com/2011/09/nyc-in-irenes-eye.html

That seems to be with a tilt/shift lens on a Rollei SL66, but that is pretty much what I'm going for. Landscape/Cityscape with a bit of a difference is my aim.

Should the movements in a Toyo field or similar be enough for something like that?

BTW: The movements required for the 1st large shot whould be something like this:

PS: There is nothing on a Graphic View or Kodak Ektar to break.

-Charlie

 

[thegman]

If still have your hasselblad lenses and small is the top priority and you can live with single axis tilt, limited shift and no swing: there is the flexbody.

Though realistically it's best for depth of field increase or Keith Carter style tilt effects ; rather than, despite it's name, as a truly flexible field camera alternative.

Best wide coverage is with the B70 50mm CFi ( not C or CF versions ) with about 12mm of shift.

Interesting bit of kit, and I do have Hasselblad gear, which I like a lot. I think at the moment, I'm still interested in trying 4x5, but it does look very cool.

 

[thegman]

BTW: The movements required for the 1st large shot whould be something like this:

PS: There is nothing on a Graphic View or Kodak Ektar to break.

-Charlie

That's interesting to know, so I guess you don't really have to do anything with the rear of the camera/bellows, just tilt the lens downward?

 

[Frank Petronio]

The back is tilted in that picture too but tilting the front forward will effect focus the same as tilting the back backwards.

Usually for architecture the most used movement is front rise to keep tall buildings and wall straight.

Usually for classic Ansel Adams landscapes you'd use front forward tilt to hold the focus from foreground to horizon line.

The back movements are of often used to keep buildings and subjects straight/parallel while the front movements are used to control focus.

 

[thegman]

Thanks Frank, I did not notice the back was angled!

I do really like Ansel Adams' work, I'll have to try some of those techniques soon.

Cheers

Garry

 

[skibeerr]

I don't know your budget but I strongly recommend a Linhoff Technikardan. A monorail that folds up to a really small pack.

And with all the movements off course, check it out!

 

[AgentX]

Technika or Toyo field and you're golden.

 

[bigeye]

Thanks Frank, I did not notice the back was angled!

I do really like Ansel Adams' work, I'll have to try some of those techniques soon.

 

[thegman]

Well, maybe not that particular technique... 🙂

 

[Benjamin Marks]

I took a look at the link you (OP) posted. If you want to go both long and wide with a view camera, then you are likely going to need access to both a standard bellows and a bag bellows. You are in luck, though. I think there has never been a better time to get into LF photography. There are a ton of cameras available for very reasonable prices (compared to 10 years ago) and like all mechanical objects there are trade-offs in the engineering. A Toho (not Toyo) will give you the absolute lightest rig you can imagine. Do a Google search on Kerry Thalmann, he has posted extensively about his use of that system and on Fuji's LF lenses. Of course with a light rig, you will also get less stability. The opposite end of the spectrum is probably a Sinar. This is a camera that is unbelievably robust. But also heavy and harder to carry. Ease of carrying prizes go to the "field" cameras. Light = Tachihara mentioned above; Small = Horseman; Solid = Linhoff. Inexpensive accessories = Shen Hao. Toyo is also on this list, and I would put it in the middle of these axes (e.g. more expensive than a Shen Hao, not quite as robust as a Linhoff etc.) This style of camera folds into a little self-contained box and can be set up in seconds (a distinct advantage in the field). They give you fewer movements than the monorails and can be tricky to use with wide-angles (lenses shorter than 90mm) as the short lens to film distance can put the whole lens assembly inside the main "box" of the camera (which then requires tilting the camera bed out of the way). Seriously, for wides it is simpler to stick to monorails.

Finally, I know the Speed Graphic/Crown Graphics have been briefly discussed above, but if you don't need movements, they do a lot of things well. With a 127 Ektar on the front of it, you can fold the camera and lens up in the camera's outer box and be on your way in no time. Many of them come with a flip-out metal focusing hood -- it is kind of like a LESS able Toyo 45a. But also less expensive. And no changeable bellows.

 

[AgentX]

Well, to be fair, most field cameras have to be opened up and the internals have to be set up and locked in place and then then lens has to be put on, so it's not that fast. Even carrying a collapsed monorail camera around mounted to a tripod is a lot quicker to set up; it's just the bulk of the packed camera that's typically less with a field.

Maybe he should get the Arca-Swiss Misura. 😀 Although no back movements, which kinda sucks. One of their small field model monorails would be a dream for me compared to a field camera of any kind, but I don't have the cash or the volume of large-format to justify it.

And if the Hassy flexbody is appealing, there are a bunch of tiny 2x3 monorails out there that'll take medium format backs. If movement is what you seek rather than a vast negative, might be a way to go...6x6 to 6x9 with Ilford Pan F still gives a hell of an image.

 

[kuzano]

That looks pretty nice?

That looks pretty nice?

Compact, light, quick to set up and pack away = Ebony RSW (or the Shen Hao copy).

Visit Robert White in London to have a look at one.

Is that a copy of a Bulldog?

 

[ChrisN]

I don't know the Bulldog - what's it look like?

I must admit I rather lust after this one (the SW45 or RSW45). I have the Ebony RW45, which is a conventional wooden folding field camera and works perfectly well for what I want, but the RSW (which is effectively a wooden monorail with limited movements) has all the movements and bellows extension I'd need for my 150mm and 90mm lenses, and would be much quicker to set up and pack away.

I think with the low cost of a good used monorail (like the Sinar recommended by Frank), if I was really serious I'd have the RSW for landscape and backpacking, and a monorail for still-life etc where move movements are needed.

Hey Garry - what lenses do you want to use?

 

[shadowfox]

Well, maybe not that particular technique... 🙂

Why?
That particular technique is how I justify having a truck 😀

 

[thegman]

I don't know the Bulldog - what's it look like?

I must admit I rather lust after this one (the SW45 or RSW45). I have the Ebony RW45, which is a conventional wooden folding field camera and works perfectly well for what I want, but the RSW (which is effectively a wooden monorail with limited movements) has all the movements and bellows extension I'd need for my 150mm and 90mm lenses, and would be much quicker to set up and pack away.

I think with the low cost of a good used monorail (like the Sinar recommended by Frank), if I was really serious I'd have the RSW for landscape and backpacking, and a monorail for still-life etc where move movements are needed.

Hey Garry - what lenses do you want to use?

I don't know really, I guess a normal/wide, maybe the 35mm equiv. of about 35mm or maybe 50mm.

I do want to be able to fold it up with the lens attached though, and I don't mind making a few sacrifices for that.

 

[MCTuomey]

if you're not printing beyond 20x30 or so, you could get that look with a Canon TS-E and a 5D II. large format - why use it unless you need the resolution? i guess i don't get it.