Field Camera - Which Movements Would You Consider ESSENTIAL

[Heroique]

Swing can done by putting the camera on it's side and doing rise.

I know you meant shift (not swing), but thought I'd point it out so the beginners wouldn't be confused...

Also, if one has a sturdy tripod to support the camera on its side, front swing converts to front axial tilt.

Depending on the shot, this is sometimes easier than base tilt.

[jp]

I'm not seeing the on it's side thing............tilt on its side would be a complicated swing but, a rise would only be a complicated shift.......

TY for the correction.

[DG 3313]

I wasn't trying to correct you.....my comment was only for clarification......I know where you were going....

TY for the correction.

[brandon allen]

Fascinating. Looking at the sum of these posts, the important movements range from virtually all of them, to essentially none of them. This is the problem with "crowd sourcing!" Or put differently, if you look at the LF image posting threads, some of the images are made with wide angle fixed "box cameras" and others with lots of movements. It just depends who you ask.

I agree, but the general consensus seems to be what I had supposed - that a few key movements should suffice - most of the time. I'm sure that every conceivable movement could be used occasionally but could safely be left out, especially in the interest of simplicity and sturdiness.

[jbenedict]

I agree, but the general consensus seems to be what I had supposed - that a few key movements should suffice - most of the time. I'm sure that every conceivable movement could be used occasionally but could safely be left out, especially in the interest of simplicity and sturdiness.

And, if you can't make the movement because the camera won't do it, you'll take the shot anyway and hope for the best. It will be either good or bad. Just like every other shot you take.

[Eric Leppanen]

The folks at U.K. camera retailer Robert White addressed this very question roughly 15 years ago when they commissioned the Ebony RSW45 (see http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/ebony-r...at-camera.html). It is intended to be a minimalist, easy-to-use landscape camera accommodating the most frequently used camera movements and lens focal lengths (in their opinion, of course). The following review by pro landscape photographer Joe Cornish (who played an integral role in specifying the camera) discusses the rationale behind the chosen feature set:

http://www.ebonycamera.com/rev/RSW45.Cornish.html

[neil poulsen]

For me, it would be only tilt on the back, and rise/fall, swing, tilt, and shift on the front. I would also want to be able to lock down the front tight, after adjustments have been made.

I've seen too many wood cameras with swing on the back that doesn't lock down tight. I also wouldn't mess with rise on the back on a wood camera, either.

This all assumes that I would have the choice.

[David A. Goldfarb]

For me I'd want all front movements and at least tilt on the rear.

I'd go with that for landscape purposes.

Rear shifts and rise/fall are most useful close up, when you want to reframe without changing the position of the lens, so I can live without them for landscapes, where small changes in lens position won't make as much of a difference.

Rear tilt and front tilt together are handy when you don't have enough front rise for a tall subject and want more indirect rise, so I like tilts on both standards. Of course one could design a front standard with more rise, but then you've got a bigger camera to schlep.

Practically, I don't think I've ever run out of front shift in the landscape, so I can live without rear swing as a means to indirect shift. For perspective control through rear swing, you can do it indirectly by rotating the entire camera, compensating with front swing, and then using front shift to reframe.

[Old-N-Feeble]

^^^ I agree but there are three circumstances in which much shift is necessary even with landscape images...

1. When there are receding lines one want's to align with (lead straight to) a background object but have that object off-center... such as a tree at the opposite end of a tilled field.

2. When there is an obstruction either in the way of the camera or is in the foreground that we want to work around or eliminate from the image.

3. When one cannot position his/her camera to align properly with a distant subject but wishes to minimize distortion.

[Jim Jones]

Perhaps few of us have all the lenses and camera features to capture all of the photographs we might want. Giving up rear rise, fall, shift, and swing is little sacrifice for me. Nor would I miss front shift and swing. A light weight compact camera with modest movements is most convenient, and satisfies most needs. An inexpensive second camera with full movements and a long bellows extension supplements the more useful camera, but rarely leaves its case.