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New Purpose & help with MFD gear.

F

fotografz

Well-known member
Dear friends, I can't think of a better group to share a "refreshed" photographic purpose, and ask for advise on gear needed. :)

Reason for a "New Purpose": after a long and relatively successful career as an ad man, and 15+ years shooting commercial advertising images, weddings and portraits, I've decided to more fully retire. A working retirement to be precise.

Advertising photography has all but evaporated in my area, and I sincerely believe what remains is best left to those needing to feed their families without competing with a "part-timer" retired person with no overhead to speak of. Weddings have become cut throat with the combination of the economic down-turn and influx of those willing to shoot at cut rate pricing. This is not to say that weddings aren't a viable source of purpose and income. However it requires a major investment in marketing time and capital, and anyone who has shot a wedding can grasp how physically taxing it can be ... not something I relish as I ease into retirement age. I will still shoot weddings, but far more selectively.

Letting go of all this to some degree or another leaves me with less purpose ... and purpose has always been the fuel for me. So I began the search for a renewed photographic focus.

Friends have urged teaching. I especially could be valuable in teaching advertising photography because of my ad career as art-director through Executive Creative Director on just about every category of product or service ... combined with commercial photographic knowledge. This is relatively rare at the teaching level. Teaching is also viable for wedding photography ... although less so as there are so many free wedding forums and a billion seminars. So, the former is still a possibility, the latter far less so.

But teaching isn't what really interests me ... shooting is. (Teaching more selectively is a possibility).

So, it dawned on me to try something totally different. I live in a small village that is packed with historical homes and quaint life ... the motto for Franklin Village is "The Town That Time Forgot." There is a very active historical preservation society here with a town museum ... and I've decided to volunteer to document Village life and all the historic places here ... and donate the results as art prints, books, and even calendars to help raise funds for the Historical Society. A pure labor of love and way to give back to the community that utilizes both photographic and graphic design talents and skills.

A chief component of that will be doing panoramic photography ... which I've only dabbled in up to now. Sweeping views of the open common areas here as well as historic buildings in context to their current surroundings. Private historic homes, including their current owners in a sort of environmental portrait. All done in the various seasons.

With my soon to be delivered H4D/60, and extensive lens and accessory selection, I'm there except for two components ... true Panoramic gear and a printer able to do relatively large archival prints (my current 3800 cannot do rolls, only 17" X 22"s). The objective is to record as faithfully as possible with as little post manipulation of overlap panos that may alter the minute details at a historical level.

I'm inclined to go with Really Right Stuff for the pano gear, but want to make sure I get the right nodal slide for these bigger cameras and lenses. Advise and alternatives are welcome. Advise regarding the leveling base would also be most appreciated. Can this sort of thing be combined with the HTS/1.5, or is that impossibly complex? Please forgive my ignorance on these specific subjects :eek:

Printer: 17" tall panos would probably easily suffice, but 40" or 50" wide would not be to wide. Are there roll papers that are archival? Is roll printing a nightmare or just as easy as sheet? I was thinking the Epson 4990 (SP4900HDR) Designer Edition, that comes with EFI eXpress RIP available for pre-order @ $3,000.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/741507-REG/Epson_SP4900DES_Stylus_Pro_4900_Designer.html

It would be a struggle to place a larger printer in my studio BTW ... although if a bigger printer would be better I could find a way ... But I seriously doubt I need anything taller than 16" or 17" tall for the panos.

Anything else I'm overlooking?

Your thoughts and comments on any of this are most welcome, and many thanks for any insights you can share. :thumbs:

-Marc
 
mediumcool

mediumcool

Active member
Consider a 24" printer; while 17" is fine for looooonnngg panoramas, squarer shots would look less impressive on a wall.

The HP Z3200 has inks and paper available that will last very well, and does not seem to have the blocking-up problems that Epsons can be prone to.

But it’s good to keep active (he says, approaching 59).

My 0.02c :)
 
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J

jlm

Workshop Member
The RRS nodal slide is nicely made, but not very large compared to the bulk of the H camera with, say, the 28 and the HTS, or the 35-90 zoom hanging on it. All the mounting is done via the camera base screw, then a quick-lock adapter to slide, slide to pan head, pan head to tripod. some sort of support under the lens would make sense.
the panning base is only 2-3/4 diam, very nicely made, again compared to the scale of the H with lens, seems kind of dinky.

I am sure they will hold up with reasonable care I'll try and assemble a set-up and send you a pic.

I have one of the new Epson 9900 printers and roll feeding is excellent. Very easy to change rolls, change to sheet feed (single sheet only), etc. I use the standard Epson drivers with ICC profiles for the papers i use, (never use Matte, but switch from Epson to Innova or Fineart Pearl). 44" wide is way overkill, given that you can print a very long print, the 44" becomes the short dimension. For my use, I wanted 36 or so wide, not available, and the 7900 at 24 seemed too small. I ended up buying 50" wide rolls, table-sawing the roll to a 36" roll and a 14" roll to get best paper use.

I also have the 4880 (17" wide) and gave up on roll feeding as the curl was a pain, causing head drag marks, etc. the roll is harder to fit and change, etc. i stopped roll feed entirely on this printer. I use Imageprint for the RIP driver and it is great. so easy to arrange multiple prints on a page, etc. (way too expensive for the 9900, however.) I don't print matte, so changing the black inks is not a problem for me. the sheet paper feeder works fine, something not available with the 9900

If you ever want to hold a workshop, my guess is you could do very well!
 
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Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Hate to say it Marc the Cube is a great tool for Pano's and my Epson 7900 rocks the house for sure. Epson I believe does sell some archival roll paper for fine art work. It's 24 inches wide and I find really nice for Pano's. Jack has a nice setup on his cube that has a Nodal point rail on it.
 
B

Bob Davis

Guest
Marc,

Good luck on your new Mission. Sounds like fun!

I've done some panos, so here's my experience. Started out with RRS setup for panos. I think it was the PG-02 package. Of course, coming from RRS, it's all top notch and worked perfectly. At the time I was shooting landscapes with 1Ds II and iDs III. Then I decided I needed a motorized pano head, so I ended up with the Rodeon VR Head from Germany. Very nice device that's operated by bluetooth on a PDA.

Eventually, I ended up with a P65 and the Cube head. I suppose I could still use the RRS head or Rodeon, but hey, why bother? Instead of stitching 6-18 35mm images, now 2 or 3 images from the P65 gets me what I need. I really appreciate not having to lug that Rodeon everywhere (although it's a wonderful device if anyone wants to buy it...hehe).

So, what's my point? It's the Cube my friend. It's the secret ingredient that makes setting up for a picture fun and easy.

Now for printers: I rarely print less than 40" wide. Actually, my standard print is a 40" canvas. But several times a week, I'm printing 60-68" wide. So this doesn't really work without a 44" printer. But I'm out here in No-Man's Land and don't have the benefit of local labs to print for me. With a H4D/60, won't you have an urge to print big once and a while? I've been happy with Epson, now using 9800 with Colorburst RIP. Using roll paper, no problem. I build a rack near my printer to hold 5 different types and sizes of paper. Spindles are a minor pain (and expense) but maybe the new Epsons don't require spindles?

Long Live the Cube!

Bob
 
B

Bob Davis

Guest
Oh, and one more thing. The next time I buy a printer, Ink Capacity will be something I'll look at closely. At the office we have an Epson R2400 (or something close to that). It's only used for one thing, printing transparencies. It seems like every time we turn that thing on we have to feed it a couple of those expensive tiny ink cartridges. Cost of ink easily surpasses the cost of the printer in a short time and it seems prudent to own a printer that uses larger ink cartridges.

Bob
 
D

Dale Allyn

New member
Marc, thanks for sharing your thoughts and plans here; and congratulations. It sounds like a wonderful plan.

Regarding roll printing: lots of great papers are available as roll stock, and yes, archival selection is good. I print primarily from roll paper and like Hahnemuhle papers. For best long-term results avoid papers with a lot of optical brightners added. The stock color of such papers will be less white at the start (perhaps most appropriate for your subject anyway) and will then tend not to yellow over time.

I like Canon printers (ImagePROGRAF) which have had roll feeds for a long time and the inks performed well under Wilhelm tests for archival longevity. I like the Photoshop plug-in Canon provides, which acts like a mini-RIP.

Obviously, Epson is the big player in the space and I like the 7XXX series. I agree with the comment above by Mediumcool: if you feel comfortable with the added expense, 24" is the way I'd go. Print on 17" paper all you want, but when you need wider you'll be glad to have the option.

Sounds like great fun!
 
D

Dale Allyn

New member
As jlm mentioned that "the curl was a pain" with roll paper: buy a D-roller and your prints will be as flat as sheet stock. Lots of recipes online to make a knockoff because the D-roller seems hideously expensive for what it is, but don't waste your time. Close your eyes and buy the commercial one and forget the price. Unless you like experimenting with homemade PVC and vinyl D.I.Y. projects and potentially messing up prints in the process. ;)

Many venders will discount the D-roller by $50 (or used to) if you order a roll of paper at the same time. See Shades of Paper or Booksmart Studios, etc.

Edit: I see that Booksmart is still offering the $50 discount with purchase of a roll of paper. I have purchased from them and happy with them. THESE are the two sizes.
 
F

fotografz

Well-known member
Thanks so far, keep it coming :thumbup:

Looks like a 24" wide printer is a wiser choice because ... yes ... there will be times I'll want to print larger standard images, especially given the H4D/60 files. Not everyone agrees, but I prefer using a RIP ...so I'll have to investigate current or coming Epsons with RIP that print 24" wide and takes roll paper. The paper curling comment does give me pause however ... I've experienced that even with some flat sheets.

I have a RRS set-up that I've used quite a bit in studio which I like because I can rotate the camera from landscape to portrait ... kind of big, but I'll be working out of my SUV so size/weight is less of an issue. It seems sturdy enough in studio (even multi-shot) ... but outside may be a whole other matter. Definitely need a better ball head since the one I use is to tall, and I could see it introducing minor movement. Something stubbier?

Here are some snaps of that set-up. (yes, I noticed that I have one of the rails upside down and have fixed that ... LOL!)

-Marc

BTW, how do you determine the nodal point of any given lens ... just visually center sans lens shade?
 
GrahamWelland

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Marc,

Consider replacing your current arca clamp with a RRS PCL-1 as this will make leveling and setting your panorama base MUCH easier with a ball head. However, like others mentioned here, setting up panos with the CUBE is way, way easier than messing with a ballhead & pano clamp combination. I know we all sound like fan-boys in this respect but it's true.
 
A

Aaron

New member
fotografz said:
.......my current 3800 cannot do rolls, only 17" X 22"s).
-Marc
Click to expand...
The 3800 can do 17 x 37 inch panoramas using the standard epson driver, and longer i would guess if using a third party rip.

Just purchase 17 inch rolls and cut to length. The only area requiring practice is feeding the paper parallel. An advantage is that you can flatten the sheets before printing on them.

A 17 x 37, matted and framed is quite impressive size wise.

Aaron
 
J

jlm

Workshop Member
just found the HTS will interfere with the RRS pano rail. This is with a RRS right angle bracket on the camera.

the right angle bracket locates the dovetails perpendicular to the lens axis, the pano rail clamp has it's dovetail clamp perpendicular to the lens axis, this is good. But the extension of the HTS below the body will bump into the pano rail, worse when shifted. looks like about a 1-1/2" high spacer block would be needed. this would have a dovetail on the bottom and a clamp on the top.

in portrait mode, the HTS knobs are on the bottom, problem is worse.

I use the nodal slide MPR-CL II for the pano rail; this rail with camera/lens will slide in the tripod head clamp to set the pivot at the lens node
Looks like the BEX1.75 vertical extension with clamp would solve the HTS interference problem by raising the camera 1-3/4" above teh nodal rail

what the Cube offers is a panning plane of top of the geared leveling segments. Most other tripod heads require yet another device, the PCL-1 panning clamp, in between the nodal slide and the tripod head.
 
F

fotografz

Well-known member
jlm said:
just found the HTS will interfere with the RRS pano rail. This is with a RRS right angle bracket on the camera.

the right angle bracket locates the dovetails perpendicular to the lens axis, the pano rail clamp has it's dovetail clamp perpendicular to the lens axis, this is good. But the extension of the HTS below the body will bump into the pano rail, worse when shifted. looks like about a 1-1/2" high spacer block would be needed. this would have a dovetail on the bottom and a clamp on the top.

in portrait mode, the HTS knobs are on the bottom, problem is worse.

I use the nodal slide MPR-CL II for the pano rail; this rail with camera/lens will slide in the tripod head clamp to set the pivot at the lens node
Looks like the BEX1.75 vertical extension with clamp would solve the HTS interference problem by raising the camera 1-3/4" above teh nodal rail

what the Cube offers is a panning plane of top of the geared leveling segments. Most other tripod heads require yet another device, the PCL-1 panning clamp, in between the nodal slide and the tripod head.
Click to expand...
Isn't that what the Spacer that came with the HTS is for? Although you may have to use the Hasselblad H coupler to mount the camera rather than the RSS QR, or mount a Arca type plate to the bottom of the spacer (which does have 1/4" and 5/8" holes).

-Marc
 
F

fotografz

Well-known member
WaHoooo!

Just got off the phone with a key player of Franklin's Historical Society, and he is absolutely delighted with the idea. He will set up a meeting with other key board members right after Christmas!

He loved every idea I bounced off of him ... man, I feel energized. To give back to the community I've lived in all these years, and do something that'll be part of Franklin's record for a long, long time ... priceless! :)

Keep the gear info coming ...

I gotta really get into archival now, more so now than ever before.

-Marc
 
Guy Mancuso

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Awesome . Still recommend a 7900 printer. I absolutely love mine. Besides that it is so fine tuned to my monitor it is scary. I'm running a NEC 30 inch wide gamut.
 
J

jlm

Workshop Member
Marc: I forgot about that little adapter...

when i count joints: camera to RRS right angle bracket, RRS to block, block to "adapter' plate, adapter plate to nodal rail, nodal rail to panning head, panning head to tripod head. (cube might eliminate one separate joint, but has redundant panning below the levelling part, yet another joint)

it is all about minimizing the number of joints and overhang. I may look into a custom solution
 
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