base tilt vs axis tilt

[Ed Nygard]

What are the advantages and disadvantages of axis tilt vs base tilt, not just th eoretical, but in practical day to day use, both field and studio.

[Mark Windom]

Simply put, the advantage of on-axis tilts is that their use requires less refoc using and recomposing than do base tilts. I have a field camera (Wista SP) with on-axis front tilt and base back tilt and I find that the use of on-axis tilt t akes less readjustment of focus and no readjustment of composition whereas use o f base tilt with the camera back requires more focus readjustment as well as rep ostioning of the camera to obtain my original composition particularly when extr eme back tilt is used. I would recomment reading Leslie Stroebel's "View Camera Technique". Chapter 13 , View Camera Types, addresses this issue much better than I can.