ARCA-SWISS | NEWS | PHOTOKINA 2010

[dougpeterson]

The size savings in the horizontal was reduced by eliminating the option for an E-module with the Rm2d.

?

The model at the booth seems to have both the physical ability and the electronic port for the emodule:

It doesn't look like there is a knob to turn for the shift on the Rm2D- do you have a back view of camera?
Edit: and the PDF only talks about vertical rise/fall not horizontal.

The other limitation of the Rm2d is that you cannot add the E-module to it.

As clarified above there is no KNOB but the same range of horizontal movement.

Doug Peterson (e-mail Me)
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[David Klepacki]

Doug,

Thanks for clarifying. I knew that the horizontal movement was still there, but it is great news that the E-module can be used with the Rm2d. Thanks,

David

 

[jotloob]

Is there already a price and a delivery time known for the geared d4 head ?

 

[cly]

perhaps this is a rather stupid question as it relates to a purely aesthetic thing:

in the arca pdf file it says on page 3:

"handgrips 3 type"

does this mean that there will be an alternative to the yellow grips or does this refer to variants of the vertical grip?

and one more question: is there any information on the pricing of the rm3di?

-- chris

 

[Terry]

Is there already a price and a delivery time known for the geared d4 head ?

LuLa - on the Photokina blog has December delivery on the D4 and the price was listed at about $600 euros so it isn't very clear.

 

[jotloob]

LuLa - on the Photokina blog has December delivery on the D4 and the price was listed at about $600 euros so it isn't very clear.

Thanks Terry .
I have sent a message to Santa Claus and the quick answer was : YES .:thumbup:

 

[ustein]

The D4 head sounds very interesting to me.

 

[Guy Mancuso]

My bet is 995 US money. End of year let's hope but it does look very interesting for sure. My one concern is watching it does not get damaged with transport, lot's of knobs and gears. Maybe get a head cover for it would be wise.

From the PDF

 

[jotloob]

My bet is 995 US money. End of year let's hope but it does look very interesting for sure. My one concern is watching it does not get damaged with transport, lot's of knobs and gears. Maybe get a head cover for it would be wise.

From the PDF

Guy

I use the OPTECH SNOOT BOOT medium as head cover for my CUBE . That is a great protection . :thumbs:
Available in three sizes .
I got that hint from BOB in one of the threads but can't remember which one .

 

[VICTOR BT]

the r2md is most intriguing.
alpa's new compact camera movements are oriented more for stitching rather than hand-holding. im not interested in stiching at all, but interested about landholding and still being able to do Rise of the lens easily, so besides alpa 12 swa, it seems that arca r2md does it.

does this arca comes with that very (overly) long focusing ring ? or is there something more rapid. the catalog states that the camera can be used for applications like "photo-journalism" too, but i cannot imagine how overly long turn of focus can help there ?!

 

[Terry]

the r2md is most intriguing.
alpa's new compact camera movements are oriented more for stitching rather than hand-holding. im not interested in stiching at all, but interested about landholding and still being able to do Rise of the lens easily, so besides alpa 12 swa, it seems that arca r2md does it.

does this arca comes with that very (overly) long focusing ring ? or is there something more rapid. the catalog states that the camera can be used for applications like "photo-journalism" too, but i cannot imagine how overly long turn of focus can help there ?!

If you are using it for photojournalism with a wide lens and your subject distance isn't very near the focus ring doesn't have to be turned very far. For instance with the 35mm lens at the focus distances and ring markings are:
10 feet 5.7
18 feet 3.1
25 feet 2.3
35 feet 1.6
50 feet 1.1

at 50 feet feet with f11 you've got from about 25 feet to infinity.

When you start to get into close focus range the focus ring needs to be moved a lot more. For the same 35mm lens but closer distances

2 feet 29.8
3 feet 19.5
4 feet 14.5
8 feet 7.1

If you look at the pictures where the ring markings are evident you can see how big a distance you need to cover on the focus ring.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[David Klepacki]

the r2md is most intriguing.
alpa's new compact camera movements are oriented more for stitching rather than hand-holding. im not interested in stiching at all, but interested about landholding and still being able to do Rise of the lens easily, so besides alpa 12 swa, it seems that arca r2md does it.

does this arca comes with that very (overly) long focusing ring ? or is there something more rapid. the catalog states that the camera can be used for applications like "photo-journalism" too, but i cannot imagine how overly long turn of focus can help there ?!

Hi Victor,

The focusing ring is meant to be precise, not rapid. For photo-journalistic application, it makes sense to use the rm2d with an ultra-wide lens (like the Rodenstock 23mm), where the DOF is so great that you could basically shoot it at infinity or other fixed focus setting. When combined with something like the new 80MP back from Leaf, you need not worry about accurate framing and could crop what you need for most photo-journalistic work. For example, cropping and keeping only 20% of such an image will still give you a 16MP file, about the same size file as what you could capture with a Canon 1D Mark IV without any cropping.

Of course, the higher resolution and focusing precision is still there when you need it.

David

 

[VICTOR BT]

terry thanks ...
i look on a relatively long to normal travel on rollei lens in feets according to your list. ok, it is not bad for tripod use in 8 feet to infinity range i guess. this pricision is a great bonus when the distance is measured accurately as well.
do u use this camera ? if so, do u think it makes sense to hold it and turn it for more or less normal use - mid distance for people. for longer distances for acrhitecture/landscape it should not be a big problem i think.
the thing with long travel is that the camera stops to be balanced in the hand. with reflex cameras it is also more difficult to snap the object into focus, unless u move the lens very fast, but then the balance of handholding is lost. this is not a problem with arca cause it is not reflex, but long movements in faster action can be irritating a bit.
btw, how smooth the focus travel is ? i guess it is smooth (arca) but is it free running or with some solid resistance ?

 

[Terry]

I have the bigger Rm3D. I just got it and haven't yet used it enough to be able to answer your questions. The wheel is smooth but with solid resistance (more than focus ring on a lens).

Hopefully someone more experience else can step in and answer more of the questions.

 

[David Klepacki]

victor, I also use the rm3d. The focusing helicoid is much too stiff and the travel too long and slow to be practical for shooting anything quickly at mid distances. Again, for such quick shooting style only the combination of ultra-wide lens and a fixed focusing distance will work well.

 

[thomas]

I think for "photo journalism" type of work the Arca focus mount is too complicated and too slow. Every advantage also has a disadvantage...
A classical helical focus mount, in particular in conjunction with the new Alpa focus rings, will be much better here as working hand held you still have to do some guesswork. Therefore it's much easier to have the real distance indication on the lens (i.e. an indication in meters or feet).

edit: on the other hand, if you use the E-Module it will display the real distance in meters/feet and also the DOF at a given distance. So that might come in handy here, especially as the display of the E module is pointed towards the photographer (so you don't have to look at the lens to read the distance indication).

 

[VICTOR BT]

terry thanks for the info, congratulations.

david thanks...
i had no intention to take arca (or even alpa) as a typical snapshot camera like dslr or leica m... just a bit of rapid work, so that the camera focusing will not get irritating when handhold and stopping the feeling of some pace in photo-session. otherwise, on tripod, it should make sense according to terry's list.
as for 23mm, too wide, and again, it is not about snapshots, so, even in handheld, i would rather prefer to do the effort with focusing and use the sensor size for big prints.
got your point, my impression from u and terry is that at best, it is marginal in hand-holding convenience.

 

[VICTOR BT]

hi thomas...
yes, i understand it. really like the idea of arca r2md, but seems the disadvantage outweighs the advantages for my taste.
E-module is also too complicated, makes the work less intuitive and more technical.
laser rangefinder when really needed accuracy is good enough, otherwise guessing is not bad at all for common situations.

btw... here is a link to a guy how gives a very good solution for "human rangefinder" method. it is based on simple geometric principles, same as used by ancient greeks to measure distances, and about the same as used by optical RF of leica, linhof etc...

http://tomchuk.com/rf_hfd/index.php

and most important, works great in practice.

 

[thomas]

hi thomas...
yes, i understand it. really like the idea of arca r2md, but seems the disadvantage outweighs the advantages for my taste.
E-module is also too complicated, makes the work less intuitive and more technical.
laser rangefinder when really needed accuracy is good enough, otherwise guessing is not bad at all for common situations.

actually in this case I wasn't referring to the E module as a distance measurment device but as a display for the real distances. As the E Module is electronically connected to the lens it will display the actual distance (in meters/feet - and in addition the DOF). So you could still guess the distance and adjust the lens simply by looking at the display of the E Module (i.e. you don't have to translate the real distance to the numeric system of the focus ring).

 

[thomas]

here is an image of the E Module LCD (from Capture Integration):

as far as my understanding goes the E Module does not display "virtual" tables but reads and displays the distance the lens is actually set to. So when you turn the focus ring... the E Module will always show you the respective actual distance.
Hope I have understood that correctly ...?