Maximum front rise on the Ebony SW45Siii?

[joelorbita]

Hi, Was just wondering if anyone knew how much front rise can be obtained using a 65mm lens (with 4 x 5 film ) or a 35mm lens ( with a digital back ) on the Ebony SW45Siii? Either with the universal bellows or the wide angle bellows? On their website it gives the front rise measurement as 60mm (back rise as 50mm) but surely this is somewhat reduced with such wide angle lenses? After doing some research, this seems to be the best 54 camera that also allows a digital back? Am interested in architecture but want to keep a traditional 54 film camera for other work? Any other suggestions? Thanks so much.. Josh

[Jack Dahlgren]

Both of those lenses are going to be limited by their image circle which is usually tight with wide angles (plain old geometry) so I don't think you will be using a whole lot of rise.

Best thing to do is email Ebony. They are pretty responsive in my experience. Address is on their website.

[joelorbita]

Hi, thanks for the response! I did actually contact Ebony and their response has been great, very quick to get back to me.. Although when asked about this query, they responded by saying it would be the same as the SW45S2. Hmmmm, very criptic indeed. I was kinda looking for someone who maybe had one of these cameras ( or the SW45S or SW45S2 ) and had used it with wide angle lenses.

I currently have an Chamonix 45N-1 and find that the bellows restrict movement before I run out of lens coverage. I am using a Nikon 65mm f4 and the Chamonix Universal Bellows. Would I get a lot more movement out of the wide angle bellows?

Ok, thanks so much. Best Regards Joel

[Jack Dahlgren]

A bag bellows will be much less restrictive as there is not that big stack of pleats to deal with.

[Steve Hamley]

Most 65mm lenses have an image circle of about 170mm, so on 4x5 you'll have about 5mm of rise available, limited by the lens, not the bellows. Trust me, the bellows will not be an issue with a 65mm lens on 4x5.

Cheers, Steve

[joelorbita]

Hmmm, I will have to do some more tests. I have attached an image that was shot with the Nikon 65mm on my Chamonix 45N-1 and had the front rise all the way up (with the universal bellows). I was using a 0.3 or 0.6 Lee ND Grad as well for the sky and have deliberately left the image quite flat so that you can see the corners easily. ( Just a test image so please no judging). If I had run out of image circle wouldn't the top corners of the image be curved and black? Maybe I need to do some tests without any filtration? Anyone else had any experience with the Chamonix, Nikon 65mm and the Universal Bellows? Ok, thanks so much.

[John NYC]

Hmmm, I will have to do some more tests. I have attached an image that was shot with the Nikon 65mm on my Chamonix 45N-1 and had the front rise all the way up (with the universal bellows).

What were you stopped down to?

Check out the specs here. At f/16 (this lens is rated at that on the chart - see the note next to the lens name) the image circle is, probably conservatively, 170mm, which should give you a rise of 10mm+ in portrait mode, which it looks like you were using. If you were stopped down to f/45, your image circle was probably much bigger, but you would be in serious diffraction territory then.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/lenses/LF4x5in.html

If you were at f/16, I have no idea how you didn't run out of image circle. I don't know what the rise is on that camera, but I am sure it is much more than 10mm.

[joelorbita]

Hi, Thanks for the response! This was shot in portrait mode at f16.5. It was shot on a Chamonix 45N-1 which lists the maximum rise as 45mm (fall of 30mm). The problem is that the universal bellows are quite restricted at this point and I can only get so much rise before I can really feel the restriction in the bellows and that is where i stop. Maybe a wide angle bellows is needed? Any one have a Chamonix and ran into this same problem? Ok, thanks again. Best Regards Joel