Arca Swiss Rail Choices

[Sheldon N]

So, thanks to the courtesy of another fellow Arca Swiss user here on the LF Forum, I was able to trade my 30cm folding rail straight across for the 30cm telescoping rail. Now I can use my Arca 4x5 Field (110-141) with my 300mm Nikkor-M lens, focused reasonably close. I measured the bellows and at the limit mine can just get 400mm of extension. I could possibly stretch them another 10mm, but that would be pushing it. A 360mm lens would work no problem, but movements might be a little limited.

The ease of use is really quite nice, since you can roughly position the extension by sliding either of the 15cm brackets then locking down and fine tuning the focus. It also packs up into a compact package. I just put on a ground glass protector, wrap the camera in the focusing cloth, and store it in the middle of my backpack (non-photo Osprey Atmos 35, panel loader).

Here's a couple snaps of the camera on the new rail with the Nikkor 300mm. Thanks to everyone for their help!

[Capocheny]

Sheldon,

Sweet.... very sweet!

Glad everything came together for you.

Cheers

[ljb0904]

Hmm, I may have to look into the telescoping rail. I've got the collapsable, but it's a PIA to use my 240mm as infinity is almost right at the limits of the 300mm rail.

Sheldon, what's your camera weight? Mine including the 15cm extension is a little above 6 lbs, maybe 6.2 lbs, but I've got the dynamic orbix front standard. I might be willing to trade for a non-orbix front standard unless someone wants to tell me why I need the extra weight? I really don't use it as I focus with back tilt almost always.

[evan clarke]

So, thanks to the courtesy of another fellow Arca Swiss user here on the LF Forum, I was able to trade my 30cm folding rail straight across for the 30cm telescoping rail. Now I can use my Arca 4x5 Field (110-141) with my 300mm Nikkor-M lens, focused reasonably close. I measured the bellows and at the limit mine can just get 400mm of extension. I could possibly stretch them another 10mm, but that would be pushing it. A 360mm lens would work no problem, but movements might be a little limited.

The ease of use is really quite nice, since you can roughly position the extension by sliding either of the 15cm brackets then locking down and fine tuning the focus. It also packs up into a compact package. I just put on a ground glass protector, wrap the camera in the focusing cloth, and store it in the middle of my backpack (non-photo Osprey Atmos 35, panel loader).

Here's a couple snaps of the camera on the new rail with the Nikkor 300mm. Thanks to everyone for their help!

Now you've got it!! This is so much better than the folding rail..Evan Clarke

[Sheldon N]

The weight difference between the 30cm folding rail and the 30cm telescoping rail is ~190g, which is probably really close to the weight of your 15cm rail segment.

I think that the telescoping rail is easier to use and more rigid than the 30cm folding rail + 15cm extension rail. If you found someone to trade the folding rail for the telescoping rail, you could even sell the 15cm rail extension and possibly come out ahead.

[Mattg]

Good to see it's worked out for you Sheldon.

I notice in the pictures that the new 141 field seems to rob the front standard of less rise than the old field. It looks like only 2cm now, is this right?

[JPlomley]

Matt, correct. Only 2 cm of rise on the front standard from neutral. Could not really figure out why all neutral positions are indicated on the new Field's except for vertical shift on the front standard.

Sheldon, now you have me worried. I'm picking up a Rodenstock 300mm APO Sironar-S this weekend which is notably heavier than your Nikkor. I'm using the 30 cm collapsible rail with 15 cm extension rail. I was thinking I may need to use an auxillary brace for the rear standard with the lens postioned over the centre of the tripod. Do you think the telescoping rail set-up would be adequate for the Sironar-S (2.2 lbs), or would I still need to consider the Manfrotto brace?

[JPlomley]

Laurent, I added the front Orbix to my Arca Field as well and am glad I did. When using wide angles combined with a rear base tilt, foreground objects can take on some pretty funky looking geometry. Imagine those foreground rocks at Otter Cliffs in Acadia NP. They are round, not oval. It's those sorts of images where I justify the expense and bit of added weight of the Orbix.

[Sheldon N]

Matt, correct. Only 2 cm of rise on the front standard from neutral. Could not really figure out why all neutral positions are indicated on the new Field's except for vertical shift on the front standard.

Sheldon, now you have me worried. I'm picking up a Rodenstock 300mm APO Sironar-S this weekend which is notably heavier than your Nikkor. I'm using the 30 cm collapsible rail with 15 cm extension rail. I was thinking I may need to use an auxillary brace for the rear standard with the lens postioned over the centre of the tripod. Do you think the telescoping rail set-up would be adequate for the Sironar-S (2.2 lbs), or would I still need to consider the Manfrotto brace?

I would think that the 30cm telescoping rail would be more than adequate for the 300mm Sironar-S setup with no brace needed. If your tripod and head are sturdy, the rail certainly won't be the weakest link since it's designed to use for up to 8x10 shooting and Kerry's even got his set up to shoot a 7x17 back!

I might consider a brace if you were shooting really long lenses (600mm+), but I think you could even do a 450mm without a brace.

[ljb0904]

Thanks JP. I bought mine on a whim I guess, but I'm happy I did, even though I can't really afford or justify it :-)

I use my 400T with no problem, but I have started using my plamp to grip between the tripod leg and the rail. It's not the best solution, but I do have a bit of play between my ball head and tripod base, so it's enough to prevent that. There doesn't seem to be any issue from the camera itself on the collapsable rail. I don't the 400T weighs as much though.

Now I just need to find a telescoping rail...

Sheldon, do you have a weight on your new camera?