CAMBO WIDE with Schneider 47mm 5.6 SA

[Corran]

I have a Mercury 3D-printed camera that I shoot with a 47mm XL. It is perhaps 8 ounces with no lens. The maker can send you the proper setup - just add a lens.

The 47mm XL is a specialty lens and is very wide, as I am sure you know. But be sure that's what you want. You can also configure a Mercury with a 90mm of some sort if you want a more typical wide-angle. You can build a system any way you like and it will be super lightweight.

Here is an image I made with this setup a few days ago:



And I also use the camera with a Horseman 6x12 back, sometimes along with a 38mm XL lens for an even wider horizontal view:



I highly recommend them if you are looking for low weight. I am sure the Cambo is "nicer" in some way but...it's just a light-tight box. No need for a lot of complexity with a point-and-shoot ultrawide IMO.

More info on the Mercury here:
http://mercurycamera.com/

By the way - I really don't recommend using half darkslides for panoramas with ultrawide lenses. The problem is that you are using the lens with 2 inches of rise or fall that way. There is no way to "center" the lens on a panorama because movements are extremely limited with such compressed bellows (or impossible on a rigid camera obviously). Perhaps there will be a small number of photos that this is good (architecture) but it is extremely frustrating for most photos. I know because I've done it, on 8x10, and if I want to use my 120mm it never works because of this issue. Otherwise my trees/landscape is all skewed from distortions caused by the rise/fall.

[EdSawyer]

Corran the Cambo Wide has about 20mm or so of rise/fall/shift. Maybe more - I forget offhand, so you could address some of the centering re: split darkslides. But, I agree, I only shoot with normal film holders (roll film or sheet film).

re: 58 vs 65 - the XL doesn't really matter much (there's no 58 non-XL at least not in modern times that I know of) - they both cover 4x5. Frankly I find the 65 plenty wide for nearly anything, I don't use the 47 all that much, its just SO WIDE that it can be tough to compose with. For the 47 (and 58, and 65 even) having a strong foreground element helps a lot, otherwise the overall width makes everything look so far away with a ton of ground and sky in the frame. Having something in the foreground helps mitigate that.

[Corran]

Didn't realize that Ed, thanks. 20mm rise/fall would counteract the offset from a split darkslide.

I have been shooting extensively with the 47XL today. I certainly understand the feeling of it being "too wide" but on the other hand, it's a unique tool!

[EdSawyer]

It's definitely unique, and I like mine and won't get rid of it, but it's not really a general purpose wide in the way that most people think of wide-angles. E.g. I wouldn't recommend it as a first step in wide-angle LF. Much easier to start with a 90 or 65 and see how that goes, and then if needed, go to the extreme of the 47.