For our current (and would-be) digital mavens, here is photographer Richard Sexton's approach to digital capture using a view camera platform (he wrote the various tutorials on the Ebony camera web site):
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/re...al-ebony.shtml
I've been waiting for this article to come out -- I purchased Richard's 45SU when he migrated to the SW45 a few months ago -- although I didn't realize it would be published on the LL site (it should get plenty of traffic there, though). It is an interesting, hybrid setup -- notice that he doesn't swear off 4x5 film entirely -- but for applications optimal for digital capture he seems quite happy with it.
One obvious question is, given the limited resolution of the camera groundglass, how well can he focus this setup, given the small image area? I asked Richard this, and he said he utilizes the ground glass (supplemented with an Ebony wide-angle fresnel) that came with the Flexadapter. Using this setup and his 4x loupe, Richard says he can focus without any problems. He also says he doesn't miss geared movements, at least for field use. But I still wonder whether optimal focusing can still be consistently achieved to fully utilize, say, a P45 or future higher resolution back (I'm not counting use of Live Preview, which requires teathered operation)? And stitching multiple images using an LF film lens like the Nikon 200M or 300M works well with a 16MP back like the P20, but stitching with a higher resolution back would leave bits on the table given the resolution limits of such lenses, no?
I understand that for most commercial applications 16 MP (and especially multiple stitched 16 MP captures) is more than enough resolution to satisfy clients. But those of us wedded to large fine art prints will still ponder how higher resolutions can be achieved.
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