What ever happened to rear swings AND tilts on field view cameras?

[Alan Townsend]

Dear Deardorff57,

I'm glad to see you agree with me now evidenced by "Fifty years ago the market for fine art photography was just beginning to emerge". The demographics between commercial and art photographers has changed drastically, which is the point rather than some silly detail.

Since you're expert on the history of photography, why don't you simply answer the question posed in the title of this post? In the mid 1970's, I spent many hours searching the stacks at the University of Illinois Library for old photo textbooks, seeking information on what we call today "alternate photography". I remember very well diagrams and illustrations of cameras from around 1890-1920 that were boxes with a short bellows on the back with swings and tilts. This style was popular back then, and they called them "field cameras". I want one, so have to build it. What happened to these cameras, why did they go out of fashion?

[Kevin Crisp]

Or just get a modern camera and always use the front squared up and centered.

Lots of cameras have rear swings and tilts. You don't have to build one, but do that if you want to. If you really want a camera that is 100 to 130 years old, get one. Or get a NFS Deardorff, which will get you part way to the obsolescence you are searching for.

As to "what happened...?" the answer is kind of obvious. In a very competitive market, manufacturers for some reason decided that people paying quite a bit for their gear might want versatility.

[BrianShaw]

Is something like this what you are wanting/making/talkingabout?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314048665223

https://collections.museumsvictoria..../items/1178739

https://www.gmcamera.com/product/ant...nd-brass-lens/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133018900588

[Corran]

Some Shen-Hao field cams have full rear movements. Some even don't fold either.

http://www.shen-hao.com/PRODUCTS.aspx?i=204&id=n3

http://www.shen-hao.com/PRODUCTS.aspx?i=187&id=n3

I believe these would be considered "field cameras," but there are definitely lighter options w/ less movements that some prefer.

[Alan Townsend]

Is something like this what you are wanting/making/talkingabout?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314048665223

https://collections.museumsvictoria..../items/1178739

https://www.gmcamera.com/product/ant...nd-brass-lens/

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133018900588

The second link is close to the configuration, but is a heavy studio camera. These were light weight field cameras with swings and tilts only on the rear. Front standards were fixed and substantial to support the weight of heavy lenses, which had to be fast since film was so slow. Rear movements were needed to get decent depth of field with fairly fast lenses (by fast, I mean likely F:3.5-4.5 for smaller models.

[Axelwik]

How about an old Ansco Universal? My 8x10 version has swing and tilt in the rear and rise/fall/shift in the front. Works fine, but I like my newer cameras more.

[PatrickMarq]

My favorite large format photographer from almost 65 years ago was the lead actor in The Bob Cummings Show - Love That Bob. He played a photographer who was always making it with good looking chicks. Definitely a pro. Not sure about the art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in-wL38bmak

So that’s why you got back in to LF Alan

[Alan Klein]

So that’s why you got back in to LF Alan

At my age, I need more than a camera.

[chassis]

I am returning to some 4x5 photography after being away for about 25 years and am finding lots of misinformation around on film photography including movements on view cameras.

Personally, I do not photograph buildings or cereal boxes, so never had any need for any front movements at all. There are no pine trees where I live. I photograph nature, which has no strait lines or right angles. However, I often make use of rear swings and/or tilts to incline the plane of focus for improving depth of field.

I find youtube videos and other instructions online recommending front swings and tilts for this and find many so-called field cameras with rear tilts only. And those are from the bottom, not the center, which is much more convenient. What is wrong with this picture? How has misinformation crept into the knowledge base of humanity? Rear swings and tilts do not distort anything, though this seems to be what everyone thinks today. They do not require any additional coverage, and center the image on the field of view, make light falloff symmetrical.

I am currently building a lightweight 4x5 with rear swings and tilts only, since these don't exist in the market. The front part of the camera is greatly simplified and rigidified in this case. Only a small and square bellows is needed at the rear of the camera. The front is basically a system of rigid extension tubes on a rear box. Mine will have only 4 inches of focus travel, with 5 inches of bellows draw. I will have front extensions to allow my 90mm, 135mm, 240mm, and 480mm lenses to function together. The 90mm is on a recessed lens board, the 135mm is on the front of the basic box, the 240mm is on an extension box, along with the 480mm. This lens set is designed so that they all have infinity focus with the rear standard in the same position, giving the same four inches of focus travel for all.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

What do you mean by distortion? Rear tilt and swing affects perspective, aka "distortion".

Toyo 45AII for example offers rear tilt (bottom) and swing.

[Alan Townsend]

What do you mean by distortion? Rear tilt and swing affects perspective, aka "distortion".

Toyo 45AII for example offers rear tilt (bottom) and swing.

Wilmarco,

Distortion is when a viewer can tell that there's something off or not normal in a photograph. I don't consider perspective to be a distortion, since its normal and expected unless very extreme. Correcting for "perspective distortion" is actually a distortion of its own making. This is entirely subjective and a matter of opinion. In nature photography without lines or angles, we're free from worry about "perspective distortion" paradigms. What you see on the ground glass is what you get.