Field Camera - Which Movements Would You Consider ESSENTIAL

[brandon allen]

Hello,

I'm new to LPP though I have visited many, many times while searching for answers/opinions regarding various topics.

I am currently almost done building my first large format camera - a 4x5 folding field - sort of a blend between a Chamonix, Shen-Hao PTB and my own bizzarre ideations...

Anyway, based upon the knowlege and experience I have gained throughout the build, I can't help thinking about the NEXT one!

I'm pondering a 5x7 next, another folder, but this time with asymmetrical movements and a few other improvements over my previous design.

My question is this:

For landscape photography, which movements would you consider essential? Put another way - which movements could you not live without? For my current build, I left out rear rise/fall, rear center tilt and rear shift (it has base tilt and swing in back, front will have all these). I took these movements out of my design - reasoning that I didn't want to make my first build too complex. So for the second time around I'm debating whether I should go all out and build a camera that does everything or keep it more or less the same with a limited set of functions.

I realize that a lot of this comes down to personal style/preference/skill/practice/etc. but I'm interested to hear what others think. If you have a wonder-cam that allows the bellows to be tied into knots or can collapse until the lens breaks through the ground glass, do you USE that movement frequently? If that knob suddenly broke off or stopped working, would you be crippled without it?

Thanks for any input!

[Old-N-Feeble]

For me I'd want all front movements and at least tilt on the rear. I'd much prefer the rear also have swing but that's less essential than tilt. In other words, for me, I want all movements but can live without rear rise, rear shift and rear swing.

[Peter Lewin]

The question is difficult to answer because rear movements change the image while front movements do not. IOW, tilting the lens standard only changes the plane of focus, while rear tilt will make the near objects larger. Sometimes you want that effect and sometimes not, which determines which standards you move. Also, for Scheimpflug adjustments you typically use tilt on both standards. Since the same holds true in the vertical plane, swing is a nice to have on both standards. And I find myself using rear shift with some frequency. So bottom line, the only movement I would willingly sacrifice is rear rise, since you can get the same effect indirectly. (You can also get rear shift indirectly, but I find that less convenient.) I think most of us like having all movements on the front standard, but the one I use least often is front shift.

[Steven Tribe]

As someone who uses tailboard cameras of various sizes for most of my work, I am used to restricted movements at the front. I don't think that often about movements other than focussing - but spend lots of time on composition, where I put my tripod down for the first time and whether the focal length I have mounted is going to work.

Restricted movement does give time for other, and to me more important, considerations.

[William Whitaker]

When I look back at actual photographs I have made, few, if any movements could be considered "essential". I did use front rise extensively a couple of times, but that's about it. Tilt is nice to have and easy enough to include. But for that I would prefer to have it on the rear standard — especially for larger negatives as the focal lengths and bellows extensions implied would require me to have the arms of an orangutan to adjust the front standard.

Further, it seems the more interesting lenses benefit from having a robust front standard as they're typically large and/or heavy.

[Jac@stafford.net]

All I use is three to six degrees of rear tilt and generous front rise with my favorite 135mm lens.

[jeroldharter]

Easier to list movements you could do without.

On the rear, I could live without rise, fall, and shift.
On the front, I could live without swing.

[Len Middleton]

Bear in mind that fewer movements could result in a lighter or more robust camera, all things considered...

I think the Deardorff V8 is a reasonable compromise between movements, weight, and rigidity, with its front rise, tilt, and swing, and rear tilt and swing.

The front and rear swing can be combined into a shift.

Typically I might use tilt and sometimes some front rise.

[Heroique]

For landscape photography, which movements would you consider essential? Put another way - which movements could you not live without?

Just to keep it simple, for landscapes w/ a Tachi 4x5, my three indispensable movements are:

1) Front rise/fall
2) Front standard tilt – mainly forward tilt (rarely back tilt)
3) Back standard tilt – mainly forward tilt (sometimes back tilt)

Trees and hills cause these preferences. ;^)

Front swings are very important when I have non-planar subjects, close to the camera, that fill the frame – also when I have (smaller) nearby subjects, to left or right, for near-far compositions. In other words, when I need to apply a complex set of movements!

[John Kasaian]

The most extreme movements I've used in quite awhile was shooting St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Mariposa. There is quite a drop off onto the parking lot and I was set up right on the edge of the lawn with my back to the drop off and a 10" WF Ektar mounted. I had front rise and tilt and rear tilt maxed out just as far as the 'dorff would let me. The priest came out and told me I'd found Ansel's tripod holes.