Arca F Field MEtric 141 - offset for front ?

[Dave Tolcher]

Could someone tell me the precise offset for the front standard on a 141mm metric 5x4 rear please ? Both axis - looks to be 5mm on the lateral and 3 notches on the rise !

Many thanks

Dave

[Dave Tolcher]

Answered one of my dumb questions. I had the camera set up slightly offset in the carriers so it looked like I need to lateral shift to center.

Question I still have is - how much rise is needed to center the 110 front with respect to the 141 rear ? There is no obvious clue from the camera markings.

[Emmanuel BIGLER]

Hi Dave, I have the same camera as yours, congratulations !

how much rise is needed to center the 110 front with respect to the 141 rear ?

About what you mentioned, 3 notches, this makes about 1.5 centimeter. One notch every 5 mm.
I did not check precisely, I just noticed that when offset by 3 notches = 1.5 cm, the universal leather bellows will collapse most comfortably with a minimum of "distorsions".
And 1.5 cm does make sense, according to this simple evaluation : 141 - 110 = 31 mm : divided by 2 to balance the offset symmetically, this eventually yields 15.5 mm = about 1.5 cm = 3 notches.

Regarding the lateral shift on F-metric function carriers, you should pay attention to the proper centerig of the mounting dovetails after carrying the camera in a backpack. And of course pay attention that the geared lateral slide is in its "zero-click" position. But sometimes ones forgets to double chek that the mounting dovetail is also properly centered.
Usually when carrying the camera, I let loose all controls that can be unlocked, i.e. focusing and tilts, as recommended to me by Martin Vogt for backpacking.
However, with the F-metric, I keep tightened the small levers locking the mounting dovetails supporting format frames. In principle there is no reason why the dovetails should slip, but when backpacking, nobody actually knows what happens to the mechanisms. For me, so far, so good, except that when backpacking, sometimes upon installing the camera you may notice that the mounting dovetails have sligthly moved, by a few mm. Hence now I always check this when I re-tighten the tilt controls after locking the camera on the tripod head.
I have the optional manual orbix in front, in order to see the matching notches of the font lateral F-metric shift, you have to push the orbix fully backwards in order to let the alignment notches appear.
No such problem at the back where the notches that should be aligned are always easy to see.

[Dave Tolcher]

Thank you for the comprehensive answer. I am so happy to be back with an Arca again, feels so right in the hand.

What you identified on alignment at the front was my problem. I hadnt moved the orbix on the front to see the alignment mark so was a few mm out.

Good tips on packing the camera, thank you.

Best regards

Dave

[Rod Klukas]

One other point: If you have Orbix tilt, the centering mark is different than that of a classic or non Orbix tilt camera.
It is facing forward and slightly right of the Classic mark. It is also on a vertical metal part rather than flat on the frame crossbar.
Rod

[Dave Tolcher]

Thanks Rod, yes it is a little white dot