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PViapiano
1-Jun-2007, 08:59
http://cgi.ebay.com/Moveable-Adapter-Fits-Canon-Eos-Camera-To-4x5-Camera_W0QQitemZ220117842260QQihZ012QQcategoryZ15215QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

David A. Goldfarb
1-Jun-2007, 09:06
I saw one very much like it (perhaps the very same), available in Nikon or EOS mount, at PMA in Las Vegas, made by a company called Fotodiox. It may not be on their website, but you can contact them and ask about it. I suspect they can make it for any camera mount, since they make lots of different adapters. It seemed like a neat thing.

Photomax
1-Jun-2007, 09:47
Hmmm, there is very little in the way of product description. Wouldn't the 35mm camera capture only the center of the 4x5 image area that would normally project on the GG? This would make picking lenses tricky. If this was a neat product you would think that there would be glowing text to point out its virtues etc???

Max

David A. Goldfarb
1-Jun-2007, 09:50
It's interesting for stitching with a DSLR.

You can set up the shot on the 4x5" camera using the groundglass and switch to a DSLR to capture a panorama using the sliding back or even the whole frame by using rear rise/fall on the LF camera in conjunction with the sliding back (or obviously use the perpendicular movements for verticals), then stitch all the small captures together in software.

Paul Metcalf
1-Jun-2007, 09:51
I'm trying to understand the concept of operations for this. A 4x5-to-35mm reducing back? Maybe a way to use a digital Canon SLR as a metering aid? Canon makes TS lenses, albeit expensive, but the image area is so small for this setup to use it for tilt/shift reasons. It says "Canon" on the device but didn't find anything of the Canon website (US or Japan), but not a rigourous search, either.

David's post made it before mine. Understand the purpose now.

rhbourbonnais
1-Jun-2007, 10:13
I don't have one of these devices.
My understanding is that the mirror housing of the DSLR gets in the way when tilting using a setup like this. Also, the DSLR sensor plane isn't at the same plane as the ground glass.

Robin

Richard Kelham
1-Jun-2007, 10:18
Mmmm. Looks like a cheapo version of the Cambo Ultima 35 system.


http://www.cambo.com


Richard

PViapiano
1-Jun-2007, 10:19
Well, Calumet has the Cambo X2-Pro system advertised in their latest catalog, which hooks up to the Canon, Nikon and Fuji digi-systems. It's much more involved and seems to be beautifully tooled and designed. Price is $1800...offers 17.5 mm shift in both directions and 20 degrees tilt/swing. Small print says the amount of movement is dependent upon chip size, lens image circle and body construction of the camera body.

Hope nobody is offended at the posting of a digi/view cam device but this looked interesting. I would love to hear an experienced photographers take on using this...

Donald Qualls
1-Jun-2007, 14:37
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Leica made one of these to mount one of their thread mount bodies to a view camera, before WWII. Kodak made 'em for 828 in a sliding form -- ground glass matched to the film plane on one side, camera body with 828 film transport on the other (though neither of those were SLRs and the Kodak body was dedicated to the adapter).

Seems to me it wouldn't be hard to do the same with the mount end of an M42 lens (or a cheap extension ring) and mount my Spotmatic on a Graflok-compatible camera back. Probably be cheaper to buy a monorail and make one of these than to buy a tilt-shift lens for the Spottie...

ericantonio
1-Jun-2007, 17:04
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Leica made one of these to mount one of their thread mount bodies to a view camera, before WWII.

So correct. I worked with a photographer in the 80's that had a Nikon F3 attached to a 4x5. I'm forgot how he did it but I suspect, at that time, it was some sort of Tamron or T mount or something and that was attached to the back of a camera. I think he used a Cambo or something. Been a while.

Turner Reich
1-Jun-2007, 17:20
No, but if it's from Hong Kong it's got to be state of the art.

Gary J. McCutcheon
1-Jun-2007, 21:44
I have one of these devices and it is distributed by fotodiox (fotodiox.com) in the U.S.. Neat company with lots of adapters for mounting lots of lenses etc.. This adapter allows attachment of a 35mm style camera, film or digital, (I have the Canon EOS version) to any viewcamera with a graflok back. I have used it with my Toyo G, Technika, and Wista woodfield with graflok. The distance from the Canon 5D sensor with adaptor attached to inside of the graflok attachment is about 75mm. That leads one to believe that a 90mm Schneider lens could be used, but the rear element of the lens hits the graflok back prior to infinity focus. My 135mm lens works fine. I've used it for stitching and with portraits to throw the focus plane askew. I have not tried any of the shorter digital view lenses with this yet. I have a smaller 90mm lens from an old graflex camera with little back end on it that may work. At this point, this type of adapter will only work on 135mm and longer lenses for me. Perfect for stitching and portraits or landscapes with longer lenses. I see no reason to use it on traditional landscapes as the dedicated camera lenses are much more portable. This is a relatively cheap way to attach a DSLR to a view camera body. I have seen pictures of the Cambo version mentioned above. It looks like the bellows attaches directly to the DSLR body eliminating about 29mm of adapter that the fotodiox must have for it to clear the handgrip of the 5D. That means much shorter lenses could be used with the Cambo. So far I've found this a useful device and it has paid for itself already with just one small product catalogue. The client wanted digital and loved it. I just wish I had received a portion of the profits of the 75k ring that I photographed. I bought this adapter to have some fun with my fine art work and it was put to work immediately to pay the bills. Works both ways.

tombob
8-Jun-2007, 08:47
never come across that before, intresting idea

Stefan Lungu
8-Jun-2007, 08:58
Hm, interesting idea, but I wonder how you focus the lens with this. Focus on the GG will not do because the (D)SLR film plane is way back, so you either use the view finder of the SLR or focus on the GG and the adjust by the exact amount that the film planes differ. Not the nicest way, but one could build a box with GG that is as far as the film plane of the SLR and focus on it. I think I saw such a thing somewhere but don't remember where...

Regards, Stefan

David A. Goldfarb
8-Jun-2007, 09:14
I think you would focus and adjust all movements on the groundglass, attach the back, then refocus on the rear standard with the D/SLR attached without changing any of the other movements.

Ted Harris
8-Jun-2007, 09:26
Take a look at www.camerafusion.com ... they have a similar product, at least I think it is similar from what I have read above. I have seen the camera fusion product tested and it does produce excellent results. I want to test one myself before making any final comments and critique. Initialk impressions were very favorable and I compared 16x20 prints side-by-side from 22 stitched images from their back to the same image/same lens shot on Velvia. It was a macro jewelry shot. The resolution of the Velvia was slightly better but the shadow detail of the final digital image was slightly better. More to follow but I won't get to any detailed testing until sometime in July.