Printable View
So based on my extensive research and reading on the matter on how to focus with field camera, I have a fair understanding on how to focus with front axis tilt alone or back base tilt alone ie focusing near tilting for for or focusing far tilting for front.
However what would you do if your camera (like my intrepid) has front axis tilt with back base tilt. Would you give back tilt first and then focus with the front tilt or vice versa?
Cheers,
F
Focus, front tilt, refocus.
Kent in SD
You do these, after you set the back tilt right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Two23
Are you shooting landscapes? If so I can think of no situation that requires both at the same time.
FWIW I always use back tilt, never front. It has the same effect re plane of focus but has two benefits, it slightly extends the foreground, almost never a bad thing with landscapes, and it solves any vignetting problems caused by my lens hoods with front tilt.
Yes that’s my intention, landscapes. I understand with back tilt, you can loom the foreground which sometimes I’d like to do while I keep the deepest DOF possible. I also understand Scheimpflug allows us to use either of them but thought by using both, I can get more efficient. Maybe I’m wrong :)Quote:
Originally Posted by GRAYnomad
If image shape is an important compositional element, then after general focus, I would suggest starting with the back tilt to get the image the shape you want it to be (looming, non-looming, trees parallel, or not), then mess with the rest.
I very rarely use back tilt. It changes the size of the subject where front tilt does not.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatih
Kent in SD
Does your Intrepid have asymmetrical tilt? If so, you have another way of controlling tilt.
Yes, front standard is axial, back standard is basal tilt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Klein
I second that. I'm kind of a purist for parallel lines, and preserving hills and valleys. This not tilting the film plane was exactly why I choose to work with LF.Quote:
Originally Posted by Two23
There are studio cameras with axis and bottom tilt
I am familiar with Horseman 8X10 LX and don't confuse it with their L
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...723cb215_c.jpgHorseman by TIN CAN COLLEGE, on Flickr
I'm not sure if that's asymmetrical. Maybe someone else knows?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fatih
Tilting or swinging the camera back changes the image. It changes the relative sizes of objects in relation to each other, with objects on the part of the ground glass/film farther from the lens getting larger and vice-versa. It also controls where the plane of sharp focus is in the scene your a photographing, so it's a kind of double-duty movement.
Tilting or swinging the front does not change the image; it just controls where the plane of sharp focus is in the scene being photographed.
Note that setting up your camera entails a choice of how to position the camera back relative to the subject. Often, we set up with the camera leveled, but that doesn't have to be the case. At any rate, if we want parallel vertical lines in the scene (think tall buildings or trees) not to converge, then the back has to be positioned parallel to them. Or, conversely, if we want to make the lines converge more, or make something "loom" or make the foreground relatively larger, then back position will determine that.
So, positioning the back relative to the subject entails a choice about how we want the subject to be rendered (conscious or not...).
Using back tilt or swing to reposition the plane of sharp focus will change the image. Many times this is desirable, sometimes not. Very slight movements make only very slight changes to the image. However, if we've positioned the camera back carefully for a particular reason (say an architectural shot where we want parallel vertical lines to be rendered parallel on the film), then any repositioning of the plane of sharp focus needs to be done using front movements.
I can envision a situation where back tilt is used to get a desired rendering of the image and then front tilt or swing is used to get the plane of sharp focus in its optimum position.
That said, lots of shots don't need an exact positioning of the camera back, so using back tilt, especially in small amounts, doesn't change the image enough to make a substantial difference. Many landscape photographers routinely use back tilt because it's easy to apply and the like the slight exaggeration of the foreground achieved that way.
Others like to use axis tilts when possible, since they usually require fewer iterations of refocusing and refining the tilt; you can just tilt till the near and far focus points are both in sharp focus and go. So with cameras that only have base tilts on the back, but axis tilts on the front, the front tilt gets used more just for that reason.
Another reason to go with back tilt rather than front is lens coverage. Tilting the front points the lens away from the center of the ground glass/film. If your lens has a smaller image circle and you use too much tilt, you end up vignetting the image. Using back tilt keeps the center of the film on the lens axis.
FWIW, axis tilts are those where the tilt movement revolves around a center line on the ground glass or middle of the lens. Base tilts revolve around an axis below the ground glass or lens center. Asymmetrical tilts are like axis tilts, but with the axis off center on the ground glass. They are used on rear standards primarily; I don't know of a camera with asymmetrical tilts on the front standard.
Best,
Doremus