Using shift & Polaroid with Horseman 612 Pro or 69 Pro

[Sandy Sorlien]

Howdy, Just as I had made up my mind to buy the Arca FC Metric, I had the chance to han dle the Horeseman 612 camera -- so light, so simple, so handholdable! I shoot a rchitecture exteriors and landscapes, and have used Nikkor shift lenses for 15 y ears. Now I want a bigger negative. I think 6x9 is ideal for the streetscape dip tychs I want to do, but it might be nice to have the 6x12 option. Either way, I definitely need moderate rise. Further movements are not essential for the proj ect I will spend the next 2 or 3 years on.

My first question is this: Has anyone used either the 612 or 69 Pro Shift models , and if so can you explain how their "shift mask" works on the viewfinder? It sounds useless to me, but I have only seen the non-shift model. From other posts I gather that it's hard to see the edges of the ground glass with WA lenses, th ough I would use only a 65mm or longer, so maybe you can see the edges with thos e lenses. Obviously with ground glass you'd use a tripod, and I want to be able to handhold sometimes --- is that feasible at all when using shift? I notice i n the brochure that the Pro version does not have the ergonomic handholds that t he non-shift version has. Are they telling me something?

My second question is, can you use a Polaroid (or NPC) 665 pack film back on ei ther body? Horseman does not list these on their website. I will call NPC on Mo nday...

Thanks so much.

[Robert White]

Yes, the Horseman SW612PRO is certainly a very hand-holdable camera, I use one myself for a variety of things including Motorcycle meetings....it works well. The viewfinder masks are strange, they are called "Pre Shifted" they show the image as it will appear with 10mm of shift apllied in either the horizontal or vertical direction.......it is just a guide. The ground Glass works fine with the 55 upwards but yes, with shorter focal lengths you will get a darkening at the edges. I hope this helps Robert