Ebony View Cameras - Assymetrical Tilts/Swings

[paul owen]

Some of you may be interested that on the Ebony View Camera web-site (www.ebonycamera.com) there is a new, downloadable PDF manual that explains the use of assymetrical swings and tilts on Ebony "U" cameras. It is clearly written by Richard Sexton and goes a long way to clarifying the mystique of these movements. It is similar to the article he wrote fro View Camera but is much expanded and full of useful photos to explain his text. A very useful 10 pages!

[Caroline Matthews]

. . . and it's not new . . . it's been there for quite a while . . .

[paul owen]

Okay ... lets delete the word "new"

[Bernard Languillier]

As a 45SU owener, I had indeed found this article interesting when I read it about one year ago before selecting the Ebony.

On the other hand, it does not really mention the small drawback of having assymetrical tild on the back.

Since you modify the back position, you often end up with a non vertical back, which can be a problem if you have vertical features in the scene (trees,...).

You will in the end have to rotate the whole camera so as to restore the verticality of the back, and then apply a front standard rise to find the original composition back.

This is still faster than the focus/tild iterations you would have to go through without assymetrical tilt, but it does reduce the speed of operation.

Regards,
Bernard