Asymmetrical tilts

[Ken Lee]

I assume wista just happens to be distributed through HP Marketing?

In my humble opinion, if the day ever comes that we get overwhelmed by forum members with Bob's encyclopedic knowledge, clear communication and helpful attitude... we'll worry about it then. In the meanwhile, we're lucky to have him on our side

[urs0polar]

I have to agree with Ken; Bob could have said "Hey you need a Technikardan"; instead, he's suggesting a few cheap things that will save the OP lots of money. That pocket calculator thing looks awesome, I didn't know about it. And, he said just get it from a camera store, not necessarily from him.

Anyhow. To the OP, this LF stuff is definitely a skill you acquire; I would stick with what you have until you've got it. I have a Sinar P2 with asymmetrical movements, and a Technika and Kardan GT without, and I suck at all 3, to be honest. It's a bit easier, but it's not like the asymmetrical thing just instantly solves everything, you still have to learn it, and when you go too far or it gets out of hand, it's even more difficult to get yourself fixed again as it's all weird. At least it is for me so far. With either method, you just zero out and try again.

[C. D. Keth]

Of course it is. So is Linhof and Rodenstock but the answers I gave do help solve his problems and at a lower expense then switching to another system would. And very few, if any, members would have known about the magnifier and perhaps the calculator.

Did you know about them?

I simply don't think the solution to every problem is to upgrade or buy a new piece of kit. I hereby shut my mouth since you're selling to the OP and not to me.

[Doremus Scudder]

gnuyork,

Chiming in late here, but with useful info I hope.

I own several wooden field cameras including a couple of Wistas, which I like very much. They all have base tilts, front and back. My Wistas both have only base tilts. My Zone VI has axis tilt on the front as well. You first need to determine which kind of tilt you are dealing with. Axis tilts revolve around a line that is in the middle of the ground glass (rear standard) or that passes through the middle of the lens (front standard); base tilts hinge on the camera bed. Dealing with the two is fundamentally different.

For axis tilts, simply focus on an object in the desired plane of focus that is in the center of the ground glass (on the hinge line) and then tilt till both sides are in focus. This works for both front and back, but in opposite directions. Just remember that "the Lens Looks toward" and the "Back Backs away" from the plane of desired focus.

For base tilts, which you likely have, the procedure is different and slightly more complicated, but easy once you get the hang of it. Here's my technique:

1. Regardless of which standard you are adjusting, focus first on an object in the desired plane of sharp focus at the bottom of the ground glass; this is usually a more distant object, but not always. Call this your bottom focus point (even though it might be the top of the inverted image).

2. Forget the loupe for this next step; use high-magnification reading glasses or your good close vision, you just need to get in the ballpark. First, pick an object in the desired plane of sharp focus that is at the top of the ground glass, your top focus point. Tilt slowly while watching the image until your chosen focus points top and bottom appear about equally out of focus. (The same "Lens Looks" and "Back Backs" rule applies here as well). And yes, you have to use both hands and not fumble around with the loupe to do this easily. Lock down the standard.

3. It helps to remember here that when you use base tilts, you always make the distance between lens and back longer and that refocusing requires you to make the camera shorter. At any rate, now refocus on your bottom focus point using your loupe.

4. Here's the critical step. Before adjusting anything, check your focus point at the top of the ground glass. If it is in focus, you lucked out and you have the right tilt. If not, keep looking at it through the loupe and move the focus knob a tiny bit in one direction only. (It doesn't matter which, but it's best to standardize on one when doing this.) If the focus on your chosen point gets better, you need to add a tiny bit of tilt in the same direction; if it gets worse, you need to add a tiny bit of tilt in the opposite direction (here again, it helps to think of making the bellows longer or shorter).

5. If the amount of tilt seems way out still, refocus on the bottom focus point and repeat step 2 keeping in mind that your adjustment this time will be only a fraction of the first adjustment. If the amount of tilt you applied at first is close, forget looking at the ground glass; simply apply a very tiny bit of tilt in the right direction.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 till you get both focus points in acceptable focus. With practice, you can do this in two or three iterations. I do.

Keep in mind, that it is a lot more complicated and time-consuming to describe all this than to actually do it. Once you master the technique, you'll be able to do this in just a few seconds.

Best,

Doremus

[gnuyork]

Doremus, thanks.

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking about front axis tilt on my Wista- I guess I was thinking in my head the tilt axis was where the rise/knob ... now that I have utterly confused myself...I will your technique a try.

[Drew Wiley]

I have absolutely no idea what I do. I just do it, and subconsciously do it differently with my Sinar
cameras than my field folders which use axis tilt. Sinar has their whole yaw-free focus system and
all that, which is nice in the studio I guess, though I long ago forgot how it's officially supposed to be done. I also totally ignore hyperfocal theory, but probably practice it anyway, intuitively.

[Bob Salomon]

I have absolutely no idea what I do. I just do it, and subconsciously do it differently with my Sinar
cameras than my field folders which use axis tilt. Sinar has their whole yaw-free focus system and
all that, which is nice in the studio I guess, though I long ago forgot how it's officially supposed to be done. I also totally ignore hyperfocal theory, but probably practice it anyway, intuitively.

Drew,
Lots of cameras are yaw free and any camera that isn't becomes yaw free when it is rotated 90° so that the swing movement then becomes the tilt movement. This has nothing to do with assymetric movements.

Assymetric movement are also on several cameras, not just some Sinars (the original Sinars had base tilts). Sinar cameras with assymetric movements use two set points marked on the gg as the near and far points.
Continuously assymetric cameras had adjustable points marked on the gg for the near and far points.

But you are absolutely correct, it becomes intuitive.
When I was selling Sinar I once called on an extremely large catalog house (mid 1970's) and demoed the marvels of yaw free and assymetric movements and explained how much time they could save with this system.
They then set up a shot and had one of their veteran photographers take out a Deardorff 810 and set the shot up. He was able to do it so intuitively that he virtually never looked at the shot on the gg. It was just there, tilts and swings and all. Much faster then anything the Sinar could do.

But he did the same shot almost every day. Just the subject changed.