Fotoman went fully into Chinese hands. You can now buy the Chinese Fotoman cameras. Google it out.
Fotoman went fully into Chinese hands. You can now buy the Chinese Fotoman cameras. Google it out.
It's not where the problem lies. Put yourself on the top of a mountain in a stormy wind. Take your LF camera in your hands and shoot pictures. You will see where the problems lies...Originally Posted by Noah A
The answer here has usually been to pick up a camera designed to do aerial photography. The inexpensive answer is to use an old Graflex K-20, which used 5" aerial roll film made specifically for this type of photography. The K-20 produced about 50 4x5 shots per roll. I don't know if Kodak is still making aerial film of not. You can modify the K-20 to use a 4x5 Graflex bag magazine. I have a working K-20 that I picked up for about $50 on Ebay several years ago. I also have a Keystone F-8, which is just the K-20 scaled up to 5x7. the one I have has been modified to use a Graflex 5x7 bag magazine. Cameras like this (i.e., the K-20) come up regularly on Ebay, and usually go cheap. There is also a motorized development kit to process the 5" roll film for the K-20. I have one, but I've never tested it. They don't appear on Ebay very often. I would think that using something like these aerial cameras would be preferrable to chancing tearing the bellows on an expensive view or technical camera.
See the K-20 at:
http://www.mastercameras.ru/index.php?productID=920
See the F-8 at:
http://csusap.csu.edu.au/~dspennem/p...Fairchild.html
I have never done any shooting from the air.
With that said: I would think that a Fotoman system could give you the large negatives you want in several formats . . .while providing the ruggednes and regidity rewuired.
Can someone explain to me why a high-end DSLR with quality glass and vibration correction and everything else is not the best approach to aerial photography today?
Drew Bedo
www.quietlightphoto.com
http://www.artsyhome.com/author/drew-bedo
There are only three types of mounting flanges; too big, too small and wrong thread!
Depends on what you are trying to accomplish I suppose. I saw an interesting implementation at the Gigapan conference a couple of weeks ago. They used some mylar sleeping bags filled with He for lift and towed a camera behind a boat shooting overlapping frames that were later stitched together to form a gigapan of the beach impacted by the BP oil spill. That was all digital based imaging.
The aerial rollfilm cameras aren't a realistic option for me. They're large to travel with and may look like spy equipment which is not good these days, and even if the film is available I imagine it would be expensive and hard to get. I would need portra 400 since that's what I'm shooting for the rest of my project. Not to mention processing...my labs have enough trouble not screwing up my 120/220 and 4x5. A 5" roll would surely throw them for a loop.
GPS--I'm fully aware of wind. As I said I've routinely shot from a helicopter with the door removed and a non-stabilized 400/2.8 on film and APSC digital. (This was news coverage however, I do NOT need a long lens for my current work.) But yes, I guess the wind could be a problem with the bellows so I've moved on from that idea.
I guess in the long run $1k or so for a rigid setup (fotoman/gaoersi) isn't all that bad considering some of the choppers run almost that much per hour. I was more trying to save space on my travels, but clearly it's not worth it.
Carrying an extra handheld 4x5 is no bigger than a Mamiya 7 kit (since I'll already have the holders and film for my terrestrial work). And it can serve as a backup camera as well. A rigid handheld 4x5 with a 120-135mm lens would be perfect and probably a lot of fun for other uses as well.
Thanks for setting me straight everyone!
When I owned a studio, about a hundred years ago, I did a lot of aerial photography, mostly real estate and construction progress photos. I did some work with a 4x5 Century Graphic that I made an shroud to protect the bellows for. I found that handling/organizing/not double exposing sheet film holders in a cramped cockpit was a real challenge. A helicopter was not in the budget so most of my shooting was done from a Citabria or a Cessna 150.
I finally bought a Koni-Omega with a couple of extra backs and life was good. I made enlargements as big as 5x7 (feet!) from that silly thing.
Today I'd recommend a Pentax 67, plentiful used, lots of lenses available, 120 or 220 (if you can find it) film.
But a purpose built 4x5 (Gowland/Fotoman) with Grafmatic holders would be doable.
JD
It probably is the best solution for some uses. But if you're in philadelphia any time soon stop by and I'll show you why I'd rather shoot film...I have some aerials I shot in Sćo Paulo with the Leica M9 and Nikon D700 and in my opinion they don't look nearly as good as medium- or large-format film when printed very large (40"+).
The Mamiya 7 beats any dslr hands-down for large prints. At small sizes it's a toss-up and digital is certainly easier. Of course 4x5 has a different look altogether.
The best solution, honestly, would be an Alpa with a Phase One back P65+ and a ken-lab gyro. But that's not in the budget.
Besides, I like the look of color film.
Fotoman China is still around and shipping out new product.
A nice, heavy, honest camera would also be the workhorse Mamiya Press 6x9...
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