Importance of Swing and other movements in LF Cameras

[audioexcels]

Well,

I decided that it was against my price bracket to splurge on such a pricey camera, but went ahead and sent payment off for the AS F-line Metric due to the versatility of it. I still have field cameras around, but I just cannot seem to justify their lack of movements and versatility compared to the monorail type camera, even these Arcas that can be considered field cameras especially when you can get the weight of one with a custom whole plate back to weigh in the 6.5lb figure which is pretty darn light for any camera on the market.

Without further due...

How many use swing and how much swing do you find yourself using on a frequent or even necessary basis even if for only a few situations of your work? Just how important is SWING (hey, we all did it in the 50's song no?)


Swing aside, though I'd like the subject on swing to be somewhat of greater importance, what do people use for their primary movements and for all the field camera users, what do you find to be the most "lacking" aspect in terms of movements/lack there of movements? In other words, lets say you had the opportunity to use a monorail from any maker that has excellent versatility for movements, what would you want more of or are you satisfied with what you have available to you per movements?


Hopefully this thread will spring into an interesting one that involves not only the discussion of movements, their importance or lack of importance, and also why people will "live with" not having some movements they wish they could have.

Thanks!!!

P.S. I hope I was clear enough with this post!

[Gene McCluney]

I use tilt to get near foreground and distant background in focus at same time. I use swing to get subjects in focus left-to-right in frame. Especially important for large objects that are at an angle in the photograph, such as shooting an oblique (or 3/4) view of a bridge. I find I use both types of movement very frequently in my current work.
I use front rise or fall to get the subject positioned in the frame after leveling up the camera at shooting position. (I like vertical lines to be vertical)

If you are shooting with extreme wide-angle lenses, sometimes the swing and tilt can be eliminated just due to increased depth of field of the lens, but I still find I must use front rise or fall to position image, as I always level the camera first.

If you are shooting "organic" material, such as flowers, trees and rocks, then leveling up the camera is not such a requirement, but my exterior work is primarily vintage bridges and architecture, where I want minimal distortion.

[Kevin Crisp]

If you've already made your camera choice and purchase, then it really doesn't matter how much other people want and use movements. Shooting 4X5 and 5X7 solely for landscapes, I can live without front swing. I have only used it once, and I could have worked around that situation if I'd had to in three different ways. My latest 5X7 Deardorff has no front swing and the front standard is much more solid than the front swing DD models I have owned. Trading off rigidity for a feature I have very rarely used is an easy call for me. I use front rise and fall frequently and front tilt often. I have used front or rear shift a couple times, but could have worked around that "need" very easily too. A little movement goes a long, long way, but the comical 'twisted pretzel' view camera advertisement poses can lead people to believe otherwise.

People who photograph other things and work in a different manner need their movements. It sounds like you have all the movements you need, regardless of subject.

[audioexcels]

If you've already made your camera choice and purchase, then it really doesn't matter how much other people want and use movements. Shooting 4X5 and 5X7 solely for landscapes, I can live without front swing. I have only used it once, and I could have worked around that situation if I'd had to in three different ways. My latest 5X7 Deardorff has no front swing and the front standard is much more solid than the front swing DD models I have owned. Trading off rigidity for a feature I have very rarely used is an easy call for me. I use front rise and fall frequently and front tilt often. I have used front or rear shift a couple times, but could have worked around that "need" very easily too. A little movement goes a long, long way, but the comical 'twisted pretzel' view camera advertisement poses can lead people to believe otherwise.

People who photograph other things and work in a different manner need their movements. It sounds like you have all the movements you need, regardless of subject.

Well...landscape is definitely a primary thing for me, but so is getting things into a tweaked perspective/creative stuff, etc...I don't believe in "traditional" LF photography as the purpose of having those bellows is for tweaking things...or a Fotoman would do the job perfectly well.

Thanks for your list of movements and I hope this thread becomes fruitful with when/where/how people use movements, especially those that value a lot of swing.

Cheers!

[David A. Goldfarb]

In landscape photography you might use swing, say, when you've got a shoreline or a line of trees in the near field receding at an angle to the film plane, and you want it all in focus, or maybe you're photographing a rock face fairly close up, and you want it in focus, but you don't want the camera back parallel to the rock so that you can include something else in the scene.

I use all the movements the camera has at some time or other, but the main ones I use are front rise and front tilt.

[Capocheny]

Hi AE,

Congratulations on the purchase... it's a great camera!

Movements?

Do some table top shooting... you'll lose whatever hair you have in a very short period of time!!!

Have fun with it.

Cheers

[Gordon Moat]

I use a ton of movements, nearly to the edge of the image circles of my lenses, and sometimes beyond. Currently using a Shen-Hao HZX45A-II, which I have not found lacking in movements, though not any weight advantage over your Arca Swiss. If I could change anything, or redesign an HZX45A-III (or whatever they might call it), then I would add the ability to do front standard shift.

I recently even tried a two shift panorama using full rear shift. Still need to scan and stitch the two 4x5 frames, though I was happy to be able to do such a shot. I used a small amount of forward tilt at the front standard, and the rest was easy.

Using front and rear swing together is another effect I use at times. The idea is to create a wedge of focus, leaving the left and right sides of the image defocused to varying degrees. Do similar movements only with tilt, and it can create top and bottom image defocus. Or combine tilt on one standard, with swing on the other standard, and there is a more variable area of defocus. I am glad to be able to use these movements, and don't think I would do as well with a less movable camera.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat Photography

[Robbie Shymanski]

For architectural/HABS work, it cannot be done without tilts and swings. I am finding it close to imposible to do that level work without the ability to correct perspective throught the camera movements. Especially with wide angle shots. For me, that is a part of what makes LF so interesting. Working with planar movements makes PS seem more appropriate for a game console.

[Daniel_Buck]

I use a bit of swing (1 or 2 milimeters or so) when shooting trees and rocks sometimes, if there are trees/rocks close to camera on the left or right, and others on the opposite side farther away that I know I really want in focus. Then I'll swing just a bit. For most of the time though, I don't use swing or tilt because I just don't need it. If I don't need to use a movement, then I wont. Rise (or fall) I use for 75% of my images though, sometimes just a bit, sometimes several centimeters.

I guess it depends on what you shoot really, and how you like to shoot it.

[Ron Marshall]

Rarely do I ever use more than front tilt and front rise, which are both used for most shots.