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Practicality of Hand Held Tech Cam Shooting

rga

Member
I'm wondering what people think or have experienced doing hand held shooting with a technical camera (I use Alpa) and MFDB (I have a Phase back). Is it practical in any way and does it make sense over a 35mm DSLR?

The way I figure the workflow would be is:
1. Set a high ISO
2. If people shot, guestimate the distance and use hyperfocal. Try to go as low as f8
3. Forget about LCC correction unless you want to use a standard LCC; perhaps one created at that location before you start to shoot or if you have time afterwards.
4. Loosing 2 stops with a center filter is tough!
5. Walking around with it around my neck would be a world of worry.

But I still think that the ability to use MF would be great. I know this is best done with a MF SLR type camera, but I don't have that choice.

Thanks for any and all input,
Bob
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
And you might consider changing out the shutter for a Copal-press.
-bob
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
I have given it a shot and it works pretty ok. However, I would only consider it if the light is more or less constant and I can shoot at atleast 1/125 and stay inbetween f8-11.
It is actually quite comfortable and my SWA is well balanced and with both hands firmly on the grips it is not very difficult to keep it very still.

This one is shot handheld:
 

rga

Member
Lovely photo Dan. Wonderful painterly effect.
I spoke with Paul Slotboom this morning. He said that without being able to use a higher ISO that's available with sensor plus ( which my "old"back doesn't have) it's pretty impractical. Shooting at f8 or 11 and native ISO pretty much requires very bright sunshine.
Base on these responses I think the money is best spent elsewhere (or saved!).
Bob
 
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danlindberg

Well-known member
Thanks!
Yes, it is only useful in perfect conditions. My shot above was at 100iso, 1/125 and f8. If I remember correctly I was about 1.5 metres away from the flowers with the 35XL. My back is no good with higher iso's, my 35 XL is no good at f5.6, so anything less then perfect conditions - it's a no go.

edit: forgot to say that it is a simple crop to square...
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
Sensor+ is great for this. I've also done it with a P21+ IR back. Either way, a back with higher ISO capabilities is pretty critical to the practicality.

http://www.doug-peterson.com/osu-vs-ou/



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Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I've seen Doug running around with a cambo shooting handheld a lot of times. LOL

The Alpa TC I adore . Great for handheld
 

Woody Campbell

Workshop Member
Joe is correct: I shoot the TC + IQ 180 handheld all of the time. It's why I own the SK 35mm XL and a large part of why I selected Alpa over Arca. Typical settings for daylight: ISO 50, f12.3 (the lens's optimum f stop), and 1/60. Hyperfocal distance is 16', close focus is half that. I try to keep at f 12.3 and at least 1/60 which means that I ride the ISO as light changes. I go to sensor + before coming off of these settings, although I'll shoot slower shutter speeds if I have something to brace the camera on. I use the Leica D5 Disto for distance measurements if I need to come off of hyperfocus, and the sunny 16 rule as a light meter. I generally take one lcc shot at the beginning of a session - at least in part to capture the dust on my sensor.

I've done a thread on the subject: An Alpa TC Goes to Africa.

With some patience and practice you can really make it sing. My shooting style handheld is more fluid than on a tripod, and the results (for me) are generally better - my on-tripod shots tend to look "staged" - I'm trying to discipline myself to be more fluid on a tripod but it may be a losing battle.

It's also feasible to shoot the SK 47 XL. ISO 100, f12.3, 1/125. Hyper focus distance is 26'; near focus is 13'. I've tried the SK 72 XL with so-so results - camera movement and shallow depth of field (and thus critical focus) depress your keeper ratio pretty badly. The SK 42 xl would also be a good choice - I wanted wider.

I'm the source of the observation that the Alpa TC + SK 35 XL + IQ 180 is functionally a high resolution digital equivalent to the Hasselblad Superwide C.

A recent shot (from another thread) illustrates the advantage of this approach - I grabbed this shot handheld (braced against a fence) - by the time I got a tripod set up the ground fog had burned off sufficiently that there wasn't much of a shot left.



From a recent walk in Harlem with the SK 47:



Used the disto to get focus correct:


 
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danlindberg

Well-known member
The TC is definitely a nice piece of metal, but I would argue that most could handhold a SWA one stop slower shutterspeed. The grips are really perfect and the balance is superb (with both my lenses). I feel considerably more stable with the SWA rather than the TC.

Ps. appreciate your comment Thierry!
 

Woody Campbell

Workshop Member
I'm wondering what people think or have experienced doing hand held shooting with a technical camera (I use Alpa) and MFDB (I have a Phase back). . . .

5. Walking around with it around my neck would be a world of worry.

. . .

Bob
I take mine everywhere. It's just a tool.

I look like an old guy with some kind of weird old camera. People who have an idea of what it is often come up and chat so you make new friends.

I keep it around my neck or over my shoulder with an upstrap, or in a Crumpler Pretty Boy bag, that just holds the assembled camera, a couple of batteries, the disto, the lcc doodad and a colorchecker passport.
 

rga

Member
Woody,
Lots of great information on your posts! And your images are why I'd like to use my Alpa handheld!!

My system is different from yours in that the P45+ does not have plus sensor technology, I have to wake up the back, and, probably most importantly, I have an STC, not a TC.

Given these differences do you still think handheld is akin to an SWC replacement?

Thanks for your thoughts,
Bob
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
My experience of using the TC and STC handheld is that you need a longer trigger finger with the STC. (seriously). With my TC I have the Phase One wake up grip on the left side & right finger grip but when I shoot handheld with the STC I just use the right side grip and shoot the back in zero latency mode as there is no left side grip.

I'd agree with the other comments that you need good light and/or variable ISO/Sensor+ to make this practical. I tried with my Aptus and found the lack of ISO flexibility to be a limitation. That's not to say that it can't be done by any means but it's just tougher to keep exposure where you want it with acceptable apertures. I'm going to try it again using a monopod to see if that helps but you do lose some of the spontaneity.
 

OliverM

Member
I used the Alpa 12 TC / Aptus 75s / Alpar 35 APO handheld in Marocco (thanks to the advices I got here, thanks to all !).

First of all, it was a pleasure to use.
The nice shots were taken at 50 iso (100 max), 1/80 to 1/125, f11.
As said before, I don't think it makes much sense to move to an iso value that is not perfect with the back, except for a souvenir picture and to avoid having a dslr in the pocket for that purpose.
Focusing was done by guessing, but I could have studied the DOF table better before, and decreased the distance a bit more in some cases of short distance.
At the end, technical success rate was very decent for a first use.

But the feed-back from the different experts here confirms I cannot count on using any longer lens with my current back handheld.

Here are some examples of pictures handheld

Marc
 

lance_schad

Workshop Member
I just wanted to share with you a link of some work that a client of mine, Jehad Nga has just completed with his recently acquired P65+/ALPA TC-SK47mm.

I am not sure of what settings he was using as he is still away shooting, but I did confirm with him that it was all shot handheld.

It is amazing he picked up his P65+ on a Wednesday and by the weekend he was in the extreme heat of North Africa shooting!

The following link takes you to his latest work in the gallery " Creek Don't Rise":
http://jehadnga.com/#/galleries/creek-dont-rise/DADAAB_ALPA01

Cannot wait to see his future work.

Lance
 

jlm

Workshop Member
oliver: those shots are very engaging

woody; my thanks for always contributing to the greater good, and love your shots, have learned a lot from you
 
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