Mini View Camera and functionality

[Warren Roos]

We'll be getting A P45 that comes with the phase (mamiya) body. I’m hoping to set up a “mini” view camera to use in the studio for food shoots and still lives.

I have a few questions.

What view camera system(s) work the best with a modern computer based workflow?

This means using the computer to fire the camera, change appiture etc..

Does C1 let you do this, with an Arca Swiss, SinarP3 or a Rolie Exact? As far as can tell using a view camera requires work arounds, shutter cocking (the good old days) and the like.

Should I bother with a view camera and try and get ahold of PC (virtually non existent) lenses for the mamiya platform? The HARTBLEI | Tilt-Shift Lenses & Medium Format Cameras is so far the only lens. And they are very very hard to get.

TIA

[Martin_Doudoroff]

Warren:

I hope some folks pop out of the woodwork, here, to provide you with some answers, but we haven't had a very active medium format user base here. You might try posting at the Luminous Landscape forums, too; Reichmann's intense interest in MF digital has attracted a fairly active group of users there.

[michaelnotar]

heido ho, im a fellow phase one shooter even in the same mount.

if you want computer controlled AV/TV you need a fancy sytem with a digital shutter, not worth it in my mind.

i have a toyo 4x5 camera with a rodenstock digital LF lens, mounted in a copal shutter like a film LF lens, i have a phase one flex adapter that holds my P25 and has a ground glass for composing. you focus in the GG and then slide the back to shoot, it also does stitching. they make the flex adapter for most view cameras. i bought my toyo 4x5 GX yaw free camera for $3300 about 6 years ago as a student and i see them going for $300 at most on ebay, so you could try that for a VC.

there is no electronic connection to the back and lens with out a kapture group one shot cable, it wakes the back and fires the lens in one click, other wise you need to cables, one to wake the back and a traditional mechanical shutter release to fire the lens. all of that can be done tethered or to the back's onboard CF card.

i believe with my canon slr and phase one capture one, i can fire the camera with a mouse click, but not control AV/TV, it usually takes dedicated software from the camera company to do this, in C1 and my back i cant fire the back on a view camera, but when the back is on my mamiya 645 it fires i believe.

i also use the back on a cambo wds camera that is the same principle but is made for wide angle lenses and therefor has the lens/back in a fixed position and focuses the lens in a helical mount. you need a one shot cable to connect to the back/lens here too.

the digital lenses are mountable in a press shutter to relieve some of the pains of the 4x5 workflow of cocking etc... i think theres a sinar 4x5 that has most of those features but shot only 4x5, perhaps a sinar back/software will do this and considering you just bought a P45 another back is probably out of the question.

personally the 4x5 workflow isnt bad, are you really time crunched or something? also the LF digital lenses (just like 4x5 ones but optimized for digital imaging) are MUCH better than an 645 lens because the LF digital lenses are not helical focusing, that is moving internal glass elements to focus at different distances. its much better to move the whole lens like on a view camera.

[Clawery]

There are a few options.

1. Standard 4x5 with a Phase One FlexAdapter or Kapture Group Adapter

2. RZ/RZ Pro II or IID with shift adapter (limited to 2 short barrel lenses0

3. Phase Ones new TS lens

4. Cambo/ Arca-Swiss 6x9 cameras

Feel free to contact me for more detailed explanations of each system.

Chris Lawery
Sales Manager
chris@captureintegration.com
Capture Integration, Phase One Dealer of the Year

877-217-9870 | National Atlanta / Miami
404-234-5195 | Cell
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[Warren Roos]

Thanks for all your comments.

I very much like the files/images from the 45+. The camera is fine but no great shakes. It's not "modern" like some others. Rather the camera software combo are so-so.

I also have the canon Mark III and it and it's software are what I hope the upcoming C1 pro will have more of. Do y'all know anything about this (the new C1)?

[Warren Roos]

We have been using the Camera for the last six weeks a lot and the more I use it the more I yearn for two things (in the unlikely event you know who is reading this). The camera is OK but it's not modern.

I have been using to camera to make daylight images, so far not one strobe image has been shot.

1.) More AF points. It's rare that a centered focused composition is the norm. With a long lens, I first focus on the critical part and them remove AF switching to manual and then reposition the camera.

2.) It takes two of us to expose a final studio shot. One works the aperture or time and the other fires from the computer (to mitigate shake). Ugh. Or I must hop around a bit. Some exposures are up to 30 seconds.

Here's hoping.