Wista 45DX questions

[Bill_1856]

1) does it have interchangeable bellows?
2) can it take recessed Technika lensboards?
Thank you

[koh303]

1. no. DX II and III do.
2. yes

[Doremus Scudder]

I'll add a bit to the above :)



1) does it have interchangeable bellows?

The DX and DX II don't. They come with a 300mm regular bellows. When used with shorter lenses, even on recessed boards, one must be careful not to kink the bellows across the pleats. I have seen a number of DXs damaged in this way. Often the damage is purely cosmetic, but I own a "parts DX" that has the bellows so badly kinked that it will no longer close correctly. That said, I use my regular DX with lenses down to 75mm on recessed boards with good results. A 300mm lens can be used on a top-hat lensboard.

Wista does make a model called the SW, which is basically a DX with interchangeable bellows. I have one in Rosewood. The bellows are a bit fiddly to change, but the wide-angle bellows work with lenses as long as 210mm as long as you're shooting close to infinity. For "cityscapes," this is my go-to camera since it works better with shorter lenses (the other DX works well for landscape, etc.). The standard bellows is similar to the regular bellows on the DX (possibly a tiny bit shorter).

There are two alternatives with the wide-angle bellows on the SW. It comes with a screw-ring adapter meant to screw on to the screw threads on the rear lensboard of an open-style recessed lensboard (These have one board that mounts in the front standard, a set of spacer posts that positions another board back about 50mm or so. The lens is mounted on the back board and the bellows attached as indicated above). This allows the use of very wide lenses (think 47mm).

With the second variant (the one I use), the screw-ring is removed from the bellows (three small screws) and the bellows then attaches directly to the front standard. This allows movements with smaller short focal length lenses on recessed boards down to 65mm or so. I use it with 75mm and 90mm, both on recessed Technika boards and have more movements than my 90mm SA f/8 can handle. You could use it with one of the larger f/5.6 90mm on a flat board and take advantage of most, if not all, of the coverage available.



2) can it take recessed Technika lensboards?

The DX, DXII and SW take Technika boards including the recessed ones.

One more comment: the DXII does not have the shift feature, which makes it unusable for my purposes. There is also a DXIII with a Graflok back (the other models don't have this feature, so if you use accessories, such as roll-film holders, etc. that need mount to the Graflok, you'll want to consider this one).

My SW came with a gridded ground glass. With the addition of a level and focusing scales, it makes a really fine lightweight tool for architectural work.

Best,

Doremus

[rbultman]

Does the DX III have the shift feature? How can you tell if any of the DX models have shift by looking at them in photographs of the camera? I'm thinking about getting a DX but want shift.

[munz6869]

My DXIII doesn't have interchangeable bellows, but does have the graflok back (which I regularly use, with a 403 holder and Fuji FP100c) and rear shift.

Marc!

[Doremus Scudder]

Does the DX III have the shift feature? How can you tell if any of the DX models have shift by looking at them in photographs of the camera? I'm thinking about getting a DX but want shift.

If you can see the back of the camera when it is opened up in the photograph, look for the two brass levers that lock the shift underneath the main wooden body of the camera. There are two black pieces of sheet metal that support the camera body between bed and wooden box that slide on each other for the swing and shift movements. The two brass levers lock these together. You can clearly see them here

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Wista_Field_45

Note that the camera pictured is a Wista DX with rear shift, not the DX II that is indicated in the text.

Hope this helps,

Doremus

[rbultman]

To clarify on lens selection, a 90mm with a recessed lens boards works on the DX with movements (no crinkling of the bellows.)

For the 300mm on a top hat lens board, how close can you focus? Is the 300mm you mention a tele design?

I think my lens range will be 90-300. I want to make sure the DX can handle those. Usage will definitely be field ranging from traditional landscapes to closer up abstractions.

Thanks and regards,
Rob

[Doremus Scudder]

To clarify on lens selection, a 90mm with a recessed lens boards works on the DX with movements (no crinkling of the bellows.)

For the 300mm on a top hat lens board, how close can you focus? Is the 300mm you mention a tele design?

I think my lens range will be 90-300. I want to make sure the DX can handle those. Usage will definitely be field ranging from traditional landscapes to closer up abstractions.

Thanks and regards,
Rob

My 90mm SA f/8 on a recessed board and when used at the edge of the movements crinkles the bellows on my DX a bit. I stretch it often to get the shot, but don't really like doing it. However, it hasn't done anything but a bit of cosmetic damage in the past 15 years. Eppur, si crinkle :)

My 300mm f/9 Nikkor M on an approx 1.5-inch top hat board will focus in to about 9 feet. That's close enough for most of what I use it for.

Best,

Doremus