DIY a camera for digital back

[asd]

Currently face a dilemma of adapting digital back to traditional camera. I put a Leaf Aptus 22 back to Hasselblad and Fuji GX680. I like Hasselblad lenses which give me very sharp and colorful pictures but no shift to correct vertical lines when shooting buildings. Whereas GX680 could do the job since it offers rise/fall of lens standard but lenses are not as sharp as Hasselblads'.

Just come to an idea that to put Hasselblad lenses on a DIY camera body where I attach the digital back. Of course, shifting function is added to the lens standard. The rear standard and front standard are connected by a bellow. Followings are my questions:

1. Is this idea crazy?
2. Are lenses from Hasselblad good for this shifting lens standard as the fact that they are designed for 6cm x 6cm film?
3. What are the points that need special attention in the camera design.

[Donald Miller]

Currently face a dilemma of adapting digital back to traditional camera. I put a Leaf Aptus 22 back to Hasselblad and Fuji GX680. I like Hasselblad lenses which give me very sharp and colorful pictures but no shift to correct vertical lines when shooting buildings. Whereas GX680 could do the job since it offers rise/fall of lens standard but lenses are not as sharp as Hasselblads'.

Just come to an idea that to put Hasselblad lenses on a DIY camera body where I attach the digital back. Of course, shifting function is added to the lens standard. The rear standard and front standard are connected by a bellow. Followings are my questions:

1. Is this idea crazy?
2. Are lenses from Hasselblad good for this shifting lens standard as the fact that they are designed for 6cm x 6cm film?
3. What are the points that need special attention in the camera design.

I think that you will run into coverage problems with Hasselblad lenses. However to be sure you should contact Hasselblad. If you're going to the expense and trouble of mfg a "one off" camera, why not use something akin to a view camera and thus you already have the provision for lens and bellows? This, it would appear to me, would solve the coverage and the movement problems at the same time.

Another thought that occurs is this. I understand that the sensor size of the Leaf back is larger but, if I were you, I would strongly consider the 5D Mark II with the Canon tilt/shift lenses. For something on the order of $4,000 you can be set up to have the same mp resolution without the hassle of designing and manufacturing something.

[Archphoto]

Your idea is not that crazy, but you have to consider that in order to use a LF camera you will need LF lenses and then stitch the photo's together.

If you have a LF camera with LF lenses all you need to make is a back plate that accepts the digital back.

Using Hasselblad lenses: forget that part.

Peter

[Ben Syverson]

5D II with T/S lenses. By stitching a few frames, you will vastly exceed the resolution of the Leaf.

Or, you know, just shoot 4x5 and scan it. ;) That's the $150 solution.

[monkeymon]

There are plenty of 6x9 view cameras, and as your leaf 22 has smaller sensor than 6x6 film would be, you do have some room for movements, don't know how much but at least the difference of the 6x6 negative size and your 48 x 36 mm sensor. So why not? With hasselbald lenses bag bellows might be a good thing, as they need to be quite near of the film plane.

Something like this would be a nice platform?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Galvin-2x3-View-Camera_W0QQitemZ290339512369QQcmdZViewItemQQptZFilm_Cameras?hash=item4399956031&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Do these lenses have shutters? Or do you even need them on digital backs.. i know nothing about digital world.

[Gordon Moat]

I think the Hasselblad Arc Body (http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/nikon/hasselblad/cameras/hasselmodels/models/arc.htm) is what you are describing. However, it uses mostly Rodenstock lenses, though I think Hasselblad made an adapter to use some Zeiss lenses. Recall that the image circle of many Zeiss lenses for Hasselblad cameras will not cover much more than 56mm by 56mm, which does not leave much room for movements. There was also an older FlexBody Hasselblad, which is slightly different construction. A digital back would be a simple mounting to either of these, though an adapter. If you want to buy one of these used, I suggest KEH (http://www.keh.com) in Atlanta, who currently have a few of these at reasonable prices, listed under Hasselblad Camera Bodies heading.

I have been working on a 4x5 handheld camera with movements, and I can share a few issues that came up in design. One big issue was proper lock-down handles (basically threaded fasteners), because everything at McMaster-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com) was physically too large for my design. If you design in movements, then you need some sort of handle or lever that you can quickly and easily operate to hold the camera movements in position. Other than that, you need to ensure that the lens to film plane distance can be calibrated, which will be based upon the tolerances possible in your manufacturing set-up. If the tolerances are less than what Seitz and ALPA can accomplish, then you will need to figure out how to adjust and calibrate your camera.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[Steve Barber]

It sounds as if what you are looking for is a PC Mutar 1.4x Shift Converter or the HTS 1.5, depending on the system you are using, if you want to use your Hasselblad lenses.

Either way, Hasselblad solves the coverage problem by extending the effective focal length of the lens. With the V system, using the PC Mutar, for example, your 40mm lens becomes the equivalent of a 60mm/f5.6 lens. Only the 40mm, 50mm and 60mm Distagon lenses will allow the full shift (rise or fall) of 16mm. If you are using the H series you can find all you need about the HTS 1.5 on the Hasselblad site.

[el french]

This is similar to what you're asking for: http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=36322.

I've also seen several view cameras adapted for DSLRs like this: http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7537

I think it's just a matter of how good your machining skills are or how deep your bank account is (or both).

p.s.
Here's another link that lists different methods of getting movements on digital cameras: http://www.stitchpix.com/options.html

[asd]

Look like the solution of True wide from Kapture Group worths further studies. PC lens for 135mm format is put at the front with digital back attached at the back. But, are there PC lenses comparable to Hasselblad lens for good photos?

Nikon produces 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 55mm and even 85mm PC lenses. Do they cover 36mmx48mm CCD with shift?

[Ben Syverson]

Why not a 6x6 PC lens? There are some Russian tilt/shift lenses made for the Kiev 60/88 system that cover larger than 6x6.

I still don't get the point of this exercise. If what you want is resolution on a subject that's stitchable, get a GigaPan and make 3 gigapixel images with a point and shoot.

[Drew Bedo]

What about using one of the "baby" graphics? There were two articles in View Camera magazine on how to modify for front swing and tilt.The Graflok type back would make the adapting problem easier.

[Sylvester Graham]

You might check this out: http://www.pebbleplace.com/Personal/Medium_Format_Blog/Medium_Format_Blog.html

[Gordon Moat]

Look like the solution of True wide from Kapture Group worths further studies. PC lens for 135mm format is put at the front with digital back attached at the back. But, are there PC lenses comparable to Hasselblad lens for good photos?

Nikon produces 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 55mm and even 85mm PC lenses. Do they cover 36mmx48mm CCD with shift?

The Nikon (and much old Nikkor) versions of shift lenses, or newer tilt/shift lenses, are quite good, easily on par with Zeiss for Hasselblad, and equal or better than the newest Fuji lenses for Hasselblad. The problem with a larger sensor is that these are lenses designed to cover about 42mm by 56mm, which does not give you much room for movements.

A better choice for even more movement would be the Rodenstock ultra wide lenses. They have several new designs with fairly great coverage, and coatings that make them function quite well with newer digital backs.

http://www.rodenstock-photo.com/

You might also be interested in the Gottschalt cameras from Germany. This is a very small company, but with some very high quality camera bodies. I have seen and handled one of these, and the quality is amazing.

http://www.gottschalt.de/de/kameras.html

You might also want to investigate Hartblei tilt/shift lenses. Zeiss consider them to be of high enough quality to work with Hartblei on these lenses. Well worth investigating more.

http://www.hartblei.de/
http://www.zeiss.de/C12567A8003B0478/Contents-Frame/6411A0795F1AD659C1257084004601ED

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography (http://www.gordonmoat.com)

[asd]

Hartblei lens looks promising. But can't find technical spec, such as image circle especially for the 40mm lens.

[Mister35mm]

As an amateur engineer (Very early days here) and photographer, I bought a couple of Hasselbled 500C/M's to tinker with.

There are a number of difficult hurdles to be overcome to building a affordable usable digital back for the old 6x6cm 'blads.

1. Sensor. As I see it there are three choices, a SCANNING back, similar to the technology in the Leica S1 digital camera (Check the Leica website for this, tethered camera (it has no memory or CPU). Then there's CCD or CMOS.

2. Building a compatible housing for sensor and attaching this to the camera body. I think the easiest way to do this is to take an old film magazine, either 70mm, or 120/220 and fit the sensor and essential electronics in there. The world is awash with old hasselblad film magazines, ready to be hacked!

3. Ok why would you want to do this? Old blads or plentiful and so are their accessories and lenses. Getting a 40 year old carl zeiss lens onto a popular SLR body only requires buying a suitable adapter ring.

4. If a usable but ultra-basic could be hobbled together for $1000 or less then a lot of old cameras could have a hole new life stretching ahead of them.

Stephen