So, what was his magic way of knowing there is no danger? These shoot the trespasser laws make me nervous,
So, what was his magic way of knowing there is no danger? These shoot the trespasser laws make me nervous,
Ed Richards
http://www.epr-art.com
Just don't be a black teenager wearing a hoodie Ed, they might think your candy bar is a Glock.
I have an Arca-Swiss 4x5 and it has more movements than I will probably ever need, but it does take up a lot of space in my pack, and weighs a good deal more than most 4x5 field cameras. I think a great camera for backpacking would be the Chamonix 45N-2 (I don't own one, and I don't work for them). The camera is really light (3 lbs), has the essential movements, plenty of extension, and can take wide lenses too. My only complaint would be not having separate locks for front rise and tilt, but that is about it, and I'm sure I would get over it.
The Chamonix does away with rear rise/fall and shifts, but has ample tilts and swings.
I had the opportunity to look at a few Chamonix cameras at the Per Memorial Gathering last month and I have to say that I was impressed. When you compare other cameras on the market, you really are getting a great value for the price.
Another lightweight and compact camera would be the Ebony RW45 weighing only 3.7 lbs but has fewer movements than the Chamonix (the Ebony RW45 has no shifts at all).
You might also consider the Canham DLC2 4x5, which is a little heavier at 4 lbs, 11oz, but has a full accompaniment of movements.
Another option you might consider is the Shen-Hao PTB 4x5 Light Weight – which has a similar design to the Chamonix and weighs 3 lbs as well.
Good luck,
-DP
If you're not a long lens kinda guy and you want a superb camera that's not too heavy then you could do worse than consider Kirk's Wide field Calumet which he has just put up in the For Sale section.
It's got all the movement you need and some. Very rugged and locks down very well.
I have a Toho FC-45X, which is a monorail camera with a pretty much full range of movements front and back. The body weighs 3 lbs and with my heaviest lens it weighs 4 lbs. It comes apart in two pieces, the rail and camera body, so it is not hard to pack in a backpack. I used to carry it in a backpack designed for 35 mm equipment until my spinal stenosis limited what I could carry on my back. The added weight came from three lenses, a light meter, a tripod and other accessories, which exceeded altogether 15 lbs. If you don't have back problems, you should have little problem carrying the camera and accessories.
I often use movements for landscape work. Front and rear rise/fall and shift were used virtually all the time. Front tilt was used when I wanted to focus both near and far without a large vertical range in the near. Think of a field of flowers, for example. The limitation on large vertical extent in the near for tilt is fundamental and not special to this camera.
The only limitation on movements was caused by bellows stiffness when using wide angle lenses. The bellows is fixed and I can't switch to a bag bellows. I could still rise far enough to just barely accommodate my Rodenstock Grandagon N f/4.5 75 mm lens. But for architectural work, on a few occasions, I would have been better off with another camera with a bag bellows and a different lens with wider coverage.
I use front rise/fall and front tilt in nearly every shot. Swing is nice to have, and rear tilt can be nice for exadurating the near-far relationship in wideangle landscapes..
On the other hand I also regularly shoot a MF camera with no movements other than rise and fall, And to be honest, the results I get from it are perfectly fine... and print massive with no issues...
Its really a case of what you want to achieve. I find rise/fall to be necessity. front tilt is nice to have, the rest are a take it or leave it thing in my eyes
Chamonix 045N-2 - 65/5.6 - 90/8 - 210/5.6 - Fomapan 100 & T-Max 100 in Rodinal
Alexartphotography
A quick touch of Zen for all the useful comments above:
Cameras w/ fewer movements don’t scare compositions away, nor do those w/ complex movements bring them out of hiding. This observation is straight out of my reliable field notes.
The compositions that please you & fit your tools are always around you.
So don’t worry about movements. (Too much.)
My experience is quite the opposite, using a Crown Graphic with it's limited movements I found that quite frequently I couldn't make the images I really wanted because the movements were insufficient. In my case the frustration was compounded as I new I could have got the images with my Wista, I bought a Soper Graphic just over a year ago and that's now replaced the Crown Graphic which was used when I needed to often work hand-held. Although the Super Graphic has no rear movements (unlike my Wista) it has more than enough for all my landscape work.
So the reality is you have to work within the restrains offered by a camera with limited movements and that will have a knock on effect on potential compositions.
Ian
You know I agree with you – right? – namely, that the compositions that don’t please you & don’t fit your tools are always around you, too.
This is a good thread discussion topic. I’ll see if it’s been done before.
Yes but what about the compositions that would please you if only your tools allowed it ?
I guess here I'm talking about the experience gained from many years of using LF cameras that have always allowed sufficient movements, you come to rely on and when out shooting expect to be able to use them.
Sure I guess many of us could make a large proportion of our images with quite limited or almost no movements but often it's those other shots that add depth to bodies of work. Often it's partly why we shoot LF anyway instaed of a MF camera with no movements.
Ian
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