Bag bellows versus recessed lens board

[Scott Kathe]

I posted a WTB add for a set of bag bellows for my Shen Hao. People brought up the legitimate point that I might be able to use a recessed lens board instead. I am using a 90mm f8 Super Angulon and I shoot mostly nature/landscape but will be shooting some classic New England architecture, old churches, barns etc.

First of all I would love to try a recessed lens board but I'm not sure if I should be looking at the 11 or 19mm recessed boards BUT it seems as if there is absolutely no doubt that the bag bellows would do what I want to do. A recessed lens board would be less expensive and I wouldn't have to swap out the bellows to use the 90mm lens. The bag bellows is more expensive but I would have the potential for a lot more rise, fall and shift-with a 90mm lens I don't really think I need front tilt. One minute I think I should go with the bag bellows and the next minute I think all I'll need is a recessed board.

Even with nature photography I'm wishing for rise an fall to maintain vertical trees.

Any thoughts?

Scott

[Ralph Barker]

A 90mm lens doesn't usually compress the bellows terribly, so you might well get by with the recessed board. If you don't like it, you can always re-sell it, probably at no loss.

[Mark Sampson]

Recessed boards on field cameras make it difficult to reach the shutter controls- in many ways they are a real pain in the neck. Recessed boards work better on cameras with large front standards. Since your camera will take a bag bellows, that's your best choice. The inconvenience of swapping the bellows is much less than fidgeting around trying to set speeds and f/stops.

[Ed Richards]

You might find that you can leave the bag bellows on all the time - I use 65mm to 210mm lenses on my Sinar F2 with the bag bellows - though I am not trying to do macro work.

[Gene McCluney]

On some cameras one needs to use a recessed lensboard because the front and back standards don't compress together enough to focus extreme wide-angle lenses, regardless of bellows. A bag bellows allows you to more easily do front rise and sift, that would otherwise be difficult to do with a conventional bellows almost fully compressed.

[Michael Alpert]

Scott,

I have not used a Shen Hao camera, but most 4x5 camera work well with 90mm lenses. Are you sure that you need a bag bellow or a recessed board? (I think recessed boards are 11mm deep. A deeper board would be very hard to use.) Have you tried to adjust (i.e., tilt) the entire front standard backwards (also raising the lens and adjusting lens' center tilt forward so that the lens ends up in alignment with the film)? With this change, the lens board will be closer to the film plane.

[vinny]

Bag bellows. I use mine even with 135mm and 150mm on that camera when i need lots of rise. By the time you get the recessed board and cable release extension and a back up extension for when you lose the first one, how much are you saving? Leave the bag bellows on the camera at all times and you'll be happy
Scott, where are you located? If you're in the states, you could try my shen hao bag bellows out for a week or so.
vinny

[Herb Cunningham]

Bag bellows. I can't count the number of times I used a wide angle, was VERY careful to check the gg for vignetting, and still got it when i developed the shot.

[Scott Kathe]

Michael,

I can do limited movements with the standard bellows and when I was using my plain old Angulon it was fine since that lens didn't allow a lot of movements.

Recently, I was shooting across a fast moving small river/large stream filled with rocks and ice was beginning to form around the rocks where the current was slower. To get the composition I wanted I needed quite a bit of front fall so I could get the rocks near my feet, the opposite shore and the hillside without a lot of washed out sky. If I lowered the camera the composition changed too much and I lost the feeling of looking across the flowing water. My 150mm lens worked but didn't have quite the feel I was hoping for.

I can foresee the opposite situation arising where I need front rise to keep trees vertical or the lines of a church and steeple or barn vertical.

Scott

[Mark Sawyer]

A recessed lensboard will change the axis about which the lens shifts a little bit, which can be good, bad, or neutral. I'm not sure about the Shen Hao, but on many cameras, a recessed lensboard can be reversed for a little extra stretch for a longer lens or macro work, if you can remount the other lens into the same hole.

Just muddying the choice further...