Leaf Aptus 5 ii 22mp digital back for Hasselblad H1 & H2 used on a View Camera?

[hackphotographer]

I am selling a Leaf Aptus 5 ii 22 megapixel digital back and a gentleman has asked me if I thought he could use it on his View Camera. I think he has an Arca Swiss. I told him that this particular mount on mine was dedicated to the Hasselblad H1 and H2 camera mounts only.

He then told me that he has seen mounting plates being sold so that people can attach the H1 and H2 series film magazines onto view cameras. If that's the case then is there any reason that he would not be able to buy one of those mounting plates and then attach my Leaf Aptus to his view camera? I thought that was pretty slick but not being a large format man I thought I would come to the wealth of knowledge that you guys have here at this site.

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated. By the way - attached are a few photos of the Aptus I have in case anyone needed to see the mount.

Thanks so much in advance, Ken

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

http://www.mamiyaleaf.com/files/Leafcompatibility.pdf

[hackphotographer]

Thanks for the link Jason but "compatibility" with Leaf seems to be a confusing concept because when they say their back is compatible with something it doesn't mean that it will mount directly to all the systems that it might be compatible with. That's why I'm wondering if anybody here has ever used a Leaf aptus 5 II back with their view camera and how they went about mounting it. That's the $64,000 question for me right now.

I did, however, just get some confirmation from Rod Kuklas who is an Arca Swiss dealer that they sell adapter plates which will allow Arca users to mount my back onto their cameras. So that was good news for the Arca at least. Now I'm wondering if anybody else has mounted it to their camera and what plate they used and where they bought it. Thanks again.

[Daniel Stone]

A sliding back, like this one:

http://kapturegroup.com/leaf/leaf.html#sba

will provide the best "option" for being able to focus, then easily "slide" the back over into the position formerly occupied(the area focused on) with the g/g portion of the back.
Just so you(the seller) and he(the buyer) are aware: most 4x5 cameras DO NOT have the "precision" to accurately focus/compose on a >6x4.5cm sized chip(like the one in your Aptus II5(22). These chips require(IMO) MUCH HIGHER PRECISION of gearing/focusing than most 4x5s provide(even if outfitted with geared movements).

but it sounds like the buyer(and probably you the seller) should do a little more "digging" around on the web for the best possible solution for him.

FYI, check out this primarily digitally-oriented forum which is chock-full of this kind of requested information:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/

cheers
-Dan

[hackphotographer]

Dan thanks for the information. Let's suppose someone were to go buy a $1000 adapter plate such as the one I just saw here for the Cambo Wide DS:
http://www.calumetphoto.com/eng/product/cambo_wide_ds_digital_hasselblad_h1_rear_plate/cb06991

Are you saying that the photographic results "might" not be maximized as they would be when someone uses the digital back on the Hasselblad H1 or H2 system?

That everything depends on the system and the adapters used, etc.? That's valuable information as I don't want to sell something to someone only to have them want to return it to me. It'd be nice to hear from someone in this forum who has actually done this so that they could relay their results.

Just making sure I'm understanding you correctly.

[GG12]

The pancake type tech cameras, as well as other view cameras designed for use with digital backs, have highly controlled movements - either sliding plates (pancakes) or geared movements (679, Techno, Arca Mline 2).

Most view cameras are built to film tolerances, and while they can work (see Sexton's review of a stitching back on LL), they aren't ideal. I tried a sliding back on a wooden view camera, and got acceptable pictures, but there are all sorts of issues: wide lenses (digital backs use lenses from 23-58) can't focus to infinity, detailed control of movements simply isn't precise enough, focus is hard to nail. It can work, but its not great - the tolerances are just totally different, and the scale (36x38mm) of a sensor is much smaller than 4x5.

[Thom Bennett]

Does your back offer Live View? I'm sure it does since the backs we have are older than yours. If so, scroll to the bottom of the page of Daniel's link where you will see: Live Video Solutions for large and small format view cameras. Basically, you tether to your computer and compose/focus/swing/tilt on your computer monitor. On my 20" monitor it is almost as large as 8x10 viewing area. The Live View is in black and white and it has a time lag but you will not be squinting through a 645 piece of glass. We do it all day long. Good luck!

[hackphotographer]

Does your back offer Live View? I'm sure it does since the backs we have are older than yours. If so, scroll to the bottom of the page of Daniel's link where you will see: Live Video Solutions for large and small format view cameras. Basically, you tether to your computer and compose/focus/swing/tilt on your computer monitor. On my 20" monitor it is almost as large as 8x10 viewing area. The Live View is in black and white and it has a time lag but you will not be squinting through a 645 piece of glass. We do it all day long. Good luck!

Thank you so much for your reply Thom. A buyer from the UK has bought the back and it looks like he's going to try and rig it up to his Arca. I really appreciate all of the advice and help you guys have offered. I posted this same question in the other forum at luminous landscape and not one person answered so this forum has always proven to be the best and most helpful resource I've found regarding all things large format. Even digital large format.