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Thread: 2x3 monorails?

  1. #11

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
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    NJ
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    8,467

    Re: 2x3 monorails?

    Same problem with that as with a bellows, if you use lenses made for 35 mm cameras. Won't focus to infinity.

  2. #12
    David J. Heinrich
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    575

    Re: 2x3 monorails?

    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Fromm View Post
    Same problem with that as with a bellows, if you use lenses made for 35 mm cameras. Won't focus to infinity.
    But it would at least be good enough for portraits, right? My Minolta lenses barely, if not quite, focus at infinity with the regular adapters, and that's fine.

  3. #13

    Re: 2x3 monorails?

    I doubt lenses made for the Oly 4/3 system would focus at portrait distances with the plunger attached. The reason lenses made for Minolta do better is that their flange distance is about 43-44mm. So you have 44-39=about 5mm to play with to insert adapters etc in.

  4. #14

    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Palo Alto, CA, USA
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    420

    Re: 2x3 monorails?

    Olympus made a very nice 24mm shift lens (no tilt) for their OM SLRs which can be mounted on a four thirds camera fairly easily. It is fairly popular with Canon digital SLR users who want to stitch together multiple images to create a large super high resolution picture. It costs about $1000 if you can find one. I'm not aware of any shift lenses having a shorter focal length.

    If you are wanting a limited DOF you are starting with the wrong camera. You should use the largest format film/sensor you are comfortable with. A 24mm f2 lens on an E-3 will behave just like a 48mm f2.8 on a 35mm film camera except for the exposure times. The small formats are great for giving an extended DOF not for achieving a narrow DOF.

    If you are just wanting to add camera movements to an SLR, both Hama and Spiratone made tilt/shift bellows years ago. They can be bought used for a little less than $300 if you can find one. You will be very limited which lenses you can use them with. The minimum lens to focal plane distance is probably about 75mm. Also, very few 35mm SLR lenses have an image circle large enough to handle any shift or tilt when focused at infinity.

    As others have said if you put a sliding adapter on the back of a view camera you could stitch multiple images together if your subject doesn't move while you are taking the multiple images. It will take a lot of 12mm x 18mm images to create a 4"x5" composite.

    The easiest and probably least expensive way to have view camera movements is to buy a used 4x5 camera and use film.

    Jeff Keller
    (I have an E-3, the OM shift lenses, and the tilt/shift bellows - they are very different from a LF camera)

  5. #15
    David J. Heinrich
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    575

    Re: 2x3 monorails?

    Quote Originally Posted by Anupam View Post
    I doubt lenses made for the Oly 4/3 system would focus at portrait distances with the plunger attached. The reason lenses made for Minolta do better is that their flange distance is about 43-44mm. So you have 44-39=about 5mm to play with to insert adapters etc in.
    Yes, I'm not planning on putting any Oly 4/3rds lenses on a plunger. Besides the flange, they all have an image circle designed for 4/3rds, so not as much room to move.

  6. #16

    Re: 2x3 monorails?

    Ditto to what Jeff said. Lenses for the 24x36 format will focus to portrait distance with very little extension, just a few millimeters for a 50, and a few more for a 90 or a 105.

    There are some high-quality 35mm short mount lenses that will focus to infinity and portrait distances on a bellows rig, but they're quite expensive used these days. Most old Leitz telephotos, however, have removable lens heads for use on the visoflex, and the heads by themselves can be cheap.

    If I was dead-set on doing this with a 4/3 camera, I'd look for a tilt/shift bellows, a 65, 90, or 135 Leica lens head , and the necessary heap of lens adapters to make such a setup work. You're talking a bunch of money though.

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