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View Full Version : New 6x7 View Camera?



neil poulsen
6-Nov-2005, 08:19
I was viewing completed auctions for medium format equipment and stumbled on the following 6x7 view camera. Is anyone familiar with this camera? It sells for about $700, according to the EBay price. $695 or something.

www.shelro.com

It has kind of a funny, round focusing screen.

Most of the technical information is in Asian characters. I don't know if it's Japanese or Chinese. It appears to have a reasonable range of accessories, including adaptors, wide-angle bellows, and so on. Accepts a variety of cameras and lenses. (e.g. regular view lenses, Hasselblad lenses and backs, etc.)

Bob Salomon
6-Nov-2005, 10:52
It appears to be similar to the Wista Technical Rail III system.

http://www.hpmarketingcorp.com/PR/Wista%20pr.html

Christopher Nisperos
6-Nov-2005, 16:16
Chinese

Dave Moeller
6-Nov-2005, 18:41
Unless I'm mistaken (always a possibility), the Wista Technical Rail III system allows one to use large format and enlarging lenses on the front standard with MF and 35mm bodies on the back standard. The system at www.shelro.com does this, but also allows the use of certain medium format lenses on the front standard, and allows the back to mount various medium format backs without requiring the camera to be mounted through the use of adapters.

It's hard to tell from the limited amount of information on the HP Marketing site if the Wista system has any of these capabilities or not, but the information that's available on the two sites makes it seem that the product on the shelro site offers a lot more versatility. (None of this, of course, speaks to the quality of the system offered on the shelro web site, just to the capabilities they've listed.)

Wayne Crider
6-Nov-2005, 20:05
The only thing you have to pay extra for in order to use the base system is to get a lens controller for a medium format lens ($287) or a standard lensboard, ($21.80?) and then you'll need the RB rollfilm back; A back adapter for the RB is included. I wonder tho how easy it is to exchange the GG?

Without the rollfilm back it brings the system price to a grand, but the usefullness may be there for the architectural shooter, and is obviously cheaper then a 6x9 rail such as the SA.

Bob Salomon
7-Nov-2005, 02:23
"The system at www.shelro.com does this, but also allows the use of certain medium format lenses on the front standard, and allows the back to mount various medium format backs without requiring the camera to be mounted through the use of adapters."

That is what the Novoflex BALPRO T/S and BALPRO I do as well.

Dave Moeller
7-Nov-2005, 10:40
Thanks for the information Bob. Can you point me to a web resource that will help me understand the Novoflex systems? I'm interested in such a system, but don't want to be bothered if I have to mount an entire body (the Wista solution you mentioned above) or if the price to get started using the equipment I have is out of my range (very possibly all of the systems currently available). But to be fair, I'd like to see what the Novoflex systems do and what the costs would be.

If there isn't a web resource available, can you please clarify for me that the Novoflex solution allows mounting of LF, MF, and enlarging lenses on the front standard and entire MF and 35mm cameras as well as MF backs on the back standard, as the system at shelro.com does? If I move in to such a system, I'd like it to be as flexible as possible. If I have to build my own system to get the flexibility that I need, then so be it.

Thanks in advance,
Dave

Oren Grad
7-Nov-2005, 11:00
Dave, if you go to www.novoflex.com (http://www.novoflex.com), click into the English section and then the "Macro Accessories" section, you'll find info on the BALPRO bellows. To me it looks as though you can only attach a camera body to the back - in browsing through the price list I don't see anything that looks like an adapter for attaching a roll holder. Ditto for attaching view camera lenses in shutter to the front.

Bob Salomon
7-Nov-2005, 11:58
Dave,

How wound you advance the film on the roll backs you have if their isn't a body attached to the camera?

Some cameras have backs that are virtually impossible to advance the film without the body. Others make it difficult to do (hasselblad for instance)

We have 3 different bellows systems available.

The first - from Linhof - M679, M679cc and M679 cs accept medium format or digital backs for Hasselblad, Mamiya RB, Mamiya RZ, 6x9 Graflock, Sylvestri and Horseman as well as Linhof Rapid Rollex. It uses large format and digital lenses on M679 boards.
The second from Wista takes any 35mm camera body or most MF camera bodies (ones with FP shutters) on the back and large format or digital lenses on Technika boards in front.
The third from Novoflex takes 35mm and most MF (ones with FP shutters) in back as well as a stiching panoramic adapter for any 35mm body and lenses from any 35mm SLR camera, most MF cameras and 3 special Novoflex lenses. Novoflex offers two bellows. One without movements and one with tilt and swing front and back.

Now once you have decided on what you need in the way of backs comes the question of what you need to cover that back at infinity with movements? No MF lens will do that on a bellows with a MF back unless it is a short mount like a Planar for the Hassy bellows? With movement? Then that Hassy lens dosen't cover. At macro distances? Lots of lenses from MF cover but may not allow movements.
The special lenses made for the Novoflex system are custom Componon S lenses that would not work for enlarging they do allow photography from 1.8x lifesize to infinity. Standard enlarging lenses could be mounted but they would have a greatly reduced operating range. Both the Linhof and the Wista could also use enlarging as well as duplicating lenses but not to infinity.

You might want to read the current Photo Techniques. paul Schranz just did a field test on the Novoflex system.

Dave Moeller
8-Nov-2005, 00:22
Bob-

I shoot a Mamiya RB system in medium format, so advancing the film in the back without the camera attached is pretty straight forward.

Given that MF lenses cover MF backs with a camera between the lens and the back, the MF lenses will cover just fine as long as the bellows are at least as long as the camera. I can't imagine any LF lenses would have problems covering 6x7, even if the bellows were extended less than the length of the camera body. I have two interests in a setup like this: creating a system that will use my current MF lenses for macro work, and using the same system to allow my LF lenses to be used at infinity so that I can have movements when shooting 6x7. (I do have a 6x7 back for my 4x5, but then I have to carry the 4x5 to accomplish my 2nd goal and I thought it would be interesting to find a system that let me do this with smaller equipment.)

I did read the current Photo Techniques magazine. The article by Paul Schranz was interesting, but I don't have much interest in putting a camera body on the back of a setup like this. (The depth of the camera body, though small, will still restrict movements due to the body cutting off the image because the film plane is sunk back into the body...thus my interest in doing something like what Paul Schranz talks about but with a 6x7 back rather than a whole camera body. Such a setup will, of course, use a ground glass since there's no camera in the setup which could be used for viewing the image.)

Thanks for the information Bob...I'll continue to investigate the available solutions.

Oren - Thanks for the link.

Be well.
Dave