Horseman 6*12 back on Ebony 45SU for stitching?

Dear all,

I have recently ordered an Ebony 45SU that I intend to use for landscape work.

I am now considering getting an Horseman 6*12 roll film back for it that I would use to stich 2 images taken by using the back shift capability of the 45SU.

I would probably use a Schneider 110 or Fuji 180 to do this since these 2 lenses have an image circle large enough to cover 200 mm sidewise.

I was wondering if any of you had done similar things before and if there were things I should be aware of in this regard?

Thank you in advance,

Best regards,
Bernard

Hi Bernard,

Assuming from your previous posts, you are interested in doing panoramic photography, printing digitally, and are located in Tokyo. This is not an answer to your inquiry, but a suggestion. You mentioned that you were looking at 75 and 110 wide angle lenses. Consider the Fujinon f8 105 SW. Fuji uses that lens on their 6x17 panoramic camera. It seems to me that it would be the ideal lens to use for the purpose that you describe. It would give you what you need in the way of coverage, and a good previously owned one should be readily available in Tokyo. The Fuji 105 is mounted in a Copal 0 shutter and would be compatible with your new Ebony 45 SU camera.

Hi Eugene,

Thank you for your kind answer. Your analysis of my situation is right on, but I have already bought/ordered the lenses actually (a second hand 75 mm Nikkor and a new 110 Schneider). The 105 mm Fuji was also an option, but I decided to go for the Schneider whose image circle is even larger.

Best regards,
Bernard

To answer your question, Bernard. It sounds dooable to me. The rear shift ability of the Ebony 45SU is 50mm. to the right and 50mm. to the left. In the horizontal position, the film is approx. 127mm. wide. Add the total of 100 mm. rear shift cability of the camera and you get 227mm. The image circle of the Schneider 110XL is 288mm., so you probably won't get any vignetting. Make one image with the rear of the camera shifted to the right and a second one shifted to the left. Stitch them together in Photoshop and you should be able to create a single panoramic print. The Nikkor 75 SW has a 200mm. image circle and probably would vignette using the same technique, unless you used a lesser amount of right and left rear shift, in order to keep the total shift within the 200mm. image circle.

Bernard, I figured for using the 4x5 format. Figure the same way for the 6x12 format and you'll get similar results.(120mm. wide, insread of 127mm. wide).

Thank you for your additional answers.

Actually, I found today a mint second hand Horseman 220 6*9 back for 4*5 and decided to buy it. It was amost 1/3 the price of a new 6*12, and I figured that the resulting 2*9 -1 cm wide image (about 170 mm) would be wide enough for most applications. Plus, it will be a lot easier to scan with nikon scan and my Coolscan 9000. Besides, being 220, it will enable me to take 16 images on a roll of film, or 8 assembled panoramas, or 4 bracketed assembled panoramas for a very cheap price.

This will also make it possible to use the 75 mm lenses depending on the situation.

I spoke with Ebony today, and my 45SU will be ready this Thursday, I am looking forward to trying it out next week.

Thank you again and best regards from rainy Tokyo,
Bernard