As a new owner of an Ebony SW23, I have a few observations as well as questions to other SW23 users:
I did buy an extension panel and two 35mm extension tubes for my 180 Apos-Symmar . Works great, does not compromise stability much. I heavier lens might be an is sue since the lens weight is off-center from the front standard.
I also did buy the 692 extender back. This turned out not to be the best idea. A lot of weight is placed off-center on the rear standard, plus you only will wan t to use the extender back when you have already used up al rear extension so yo u end up with an assembly the is just a little too unsteady for field use.
I miss a handle already, and the camera has not even left my living room. There is not much space on top of the rear standard, so I can see why Ebony chose not to put a handle on the SW23. Still, holding this camera with just one hand makes me a bit nervous.
Some movements such as front shift are just a little unsmooth - is there such a thing as proper lubrication for titanium?
Groundglass viewing with the 47 SAXL is a bit difficult, as expected. The Ebony groundglass/fresnel is very bright in the middle, but there is no way to see the entire image at the same time. I also bought a Horseman angle viewer, which giv es more even illumination at the expense of image brightness. For longer focal l engths, both screens work very well. Is there any remedy in sight for superwide lenses, such as a different fresnel screen?
- The convenience of the hinged back is lost if I attach the angle viewer. I did hear of a modification to the horseman viewer that lets it attach like the orig inal hinged back, has anybody done such a modification?
- While the front center tilt is great, I can see myself using more than the 20 degrees forward tilt available. Looking at the construction, it seems that the t ilt movement is limitad by the tilting assembly rather than bellows or anything else. Modifying the part that limits the tilt seems like a fairly straightforwar d machining operation (except for the difficulties of working on titanium). Good or bad idea?
Bookmarks