LOL...it is funny, I am so glad I was not the only one making this mistake when I started, I guess it all comes from the books on large format, where you see the lens tilted so much, you then imagine it has to be that way in the field. It was not after many months of struggling I realizied the movements needed were only a few degrees 2, 3, 4....nothing like in those pictures in the books.
Jorge, this is so true! When you look at the front of a view camera book, you see the most contorted view camera. The uninformed find that impressive, but the informed realize that no one could ever take a picuture with that set up! There is no lenses that would even have a big enough image circle to accomodate such extreme movements! I guess their goal is to show off all the movements of the camera. In my case, I advise people to never buy a camera that has a powerful zero detent on the tilt, because so often I am trying set the front lens board for 1 deg tilt and the lensboard keeps poping back to zero...meaning the detent is so strong it covers -1,0,1 Deg. tilt! Thats very annoying considering 1-2 deg. is the most common tilt angle!
All this assumes 4x5 shooting, which normal uses 1/2 the fl lenses that 8x10 uses. When shooting 8x10 with longer lenses for the same composition, the tilt angles will double...for example if you want the grass below you to be in focus, J=5ft, using a 600mm lens, this would use a 600/5x5, or 24 deg tilt... That is still not as extrememe as the book covers but quite a bit of tilt...
tabletop photographers frequently use large tilt angles.
I experimented a little yesterday and found I could get infinity and closeup in focus by tilting the lense slightly with the Fuji 450C, but the middle was still out of focus, even at f22. I suppose if the middle remains out of focus at f22 you can forget about it. Right? Are there any other techniques that I might can try to get the middle in focus or does one have to give up on the whole scene such as this being in focus. I didn't try f64 since its way too dark. Anyway at this f-stop I wouldn't be able to enlarge more than a 16x20 due to diffraction.
Thomas, since you have your Rodenstock calculator, why dont you try to work the DOF first and then if you cannot get all in focus try movements. Is the way I work in the field, first I try to get all I can by using F stops, if I cant then I use movements.
Are you sure you are tilting the lens the right way? It sounds like the lens is being tilted opposite to what it should be.
If you want to read the two Photo Technique articles that Brian refered to, they are also available on the LF page. Just scroll down towards the end of the fstop article.
The middle of your image is not in focus because it is below the plane of focus that you probably placed on the foreground and wind turbines. This is a common situation in landscape photography. Try to place this plane a bit lower than the foreground, and then use DOF to get your foreground in focus. As I said before, with a 450, one often has to stop down quite a bit, yet some scenes with lots of three-dimensionality can just not be focussed sharply corner to corner.
Thanks everyone for all your answers. I will continue to practice, and will read all the informative articles noted above.
Hi Guys!
I just could not resist. Why on earth all of you make focusing into such a big production. If I understand we are mainly talking about Landscape Photography. I too like to overcomplicate everything, but out in the field I just don?t have the time for that. Here is what I do; After determining the composure with my cardboard cut-out I set up the camera, pull out the back standard a half an inch or so, aim and rough focus and lock the tripod head. After this with all the four knobs loosened I ?wiggle? the back standard into the focus plane, lock the buttons, I fine-focus and I am done. Of course, if you have important verticals in the composition, i.e. trees you have to take that into consideration, and sometimes, when it is necessary I use a slight front swing, that is all. I share the opinion with one of the earlier posters who wrote that the majority of compositions in the field need the tiniest of adjustments. I also don?t make a big fuss about where to focus, you can just see it on the ground glass and do it by feel. I have reading glasses on and I can see all there is to see, consequently I don?t even use my loupe. If I have the time, or I want to make double-sure everything is in focus, only then I focus to the far and the near point and take both readings on my millimeter scale attached onto the camera bed, and set the focus-point exactly in the middle. Naturally I do this when I am done with ?wiggling? and locking all the othercontrols. I use the following Focus spread formula. (The first part means the total distance between the far and the near point.)
0.7 mm. = F16 1.3 mm. = F22 2.7 mm. = F32 5.4 mm. = F45 11 mm. = F64
I hope I did not upset anybody, and believe me 98% of all my shots are focused right. This of course does not mean I do not produce a lot of trash, but I have my many other special techniques for that.
Enjoy,
Gregory
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