Tech Cams: the choices, which one and why ?

[archivue]

(With the Arca, you will have only one axis of either tilt or swing)

with the current RM3Di, you have only one axis of tilt but you can turn the front 90°

For me going with the Arca was cheaper at the end than the cambo... because i can share my lenses with my existing F line 69... sometimes a bellow camera is better...

So again, the good thing is that we have all different needs, and there's plenty of tools to choose from !

By the way, is there any horseman user ?

 

[Bob]

(With the Arca, you will have only one axis of either tilt or swing)

with the current RM3Di, you have only one axis of tilt but you can turn the front 90°

For me going with the Arca was cheaper at the end than the cambo... because i can share my lenses with my existing F line 69... sometimes a bellow camera is better...

So again, the good thing is that we have all different needs, and there's plenty of tools to choose from !

By the way, is there any horseman user ?

I am an ex-horseman user.
-bob

 

[Guy Mancuso]

I am a ex- horseman user.

 

[Don Libby]

I considered the horesman when I was first looking. Liked the Cambo WRS much better. The movements won me over.

 

[jlm]

i had Guy's horseman, neat little package, but the rise and fall shifts were not gear driven as i recall

 

[Jack]

I am also an ex Horseman user. It was fine, but I wanted tilts.

 

[Don Libby]

i had Guy's horseman, neat little package, but the rise and fall shifts were not gear driven as i recall

That's what won me over to Cambo.

 

[Bob]

I considered the horesman when I was first looking. Liked the Cambo WRS much better. The movements won me over.

The Cambo thumb-roller is much superior to the horseman slide and lock.
Which is why I used a wrs-1000 for awhile.
-bob

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Not to derail this thread. But just FYI I am taking a little road trip here and Dave at Capture integration is lending me the Rodie 32 and the SK 43 in T/S mount for me to shoot on my Cambo. I will certainly be giving a report on this plus the 180 will be on hand along with my 160. Hopefully you can get some insights on these exciting lenses.

 

[PeterA]

I use an Alpa and a Sinar artec for different purposes and I can see myself using a second Alpa body to fill out the missing bits even in this combination.

Using teh full potential of movements however is easier said than done - ironically higher megapixels derived from smaller pixel pitches - is a negative constraint on top of other physical contraints for users. Of course this will not be a popular statement amongst the elephant gunners...

For a tech camera the larger the chip dimensions and the larger the pixel buckets in the chip the better.

If you want to buy a camera to do levelled shooting with no movements - you dont need one. if you buy a tech camera to use movements - you will need to invest time and brain power in getting the best out of it.

Digital backs today on every camera platform is like attaching a scalpel to a sledge hammer handle and attempting to do brain surgery one handed whilst blind folded.

If you need movements - and his doesnt mean simple shifts for stitching - thats the game you have to play.

Caveat emptor.

 

[archivue]

"Digital backs today on every camera platform is like attaching a scalpel to a sledge hammer handle and attempting to do brain surgery one handed whilst blind folded."

;-)
by chance we are only photographers !

 

[kuau]

I have been quite happy using my Sinar arTec, Sure I would have never purchased a new one, way over priced IMHO, but since I got into the system for a really good deal, I am looking forward to using it for fall colors here in Telluride, CO.
I have no images to post yet from my arTec, all I have been doing is test shots and figuring out all of it's features.
I really like my Leaf Aptus II 7 AFI back, yeah I know only 33mp, yet I love the rotating sensor and the flip up LCD screen and now with the new Leaf GUI, it's a very nice back.

I finally for my hands on a RM3di, very nice indeed.

Steven

 

[Professional]

Thank you very much for this 2 pages until now thread, now i really don't know what to buy, lol.
Really a big help, huh

 

[Bob]

Thank you very much for this 2 pages until now thread, now i really don't know what to buy, lol.
Really a big help, huh

I think that is the point actually,
You can select the features you want and find at least two excellent alternatives. I just wish there were more opportunity for folks to have hands-on experience to make the decision easier.
As there are different photographers, there are different cameras. Some work better with one than the other.
-bob

 

[Professional]

I think that is the point actually,
You can select the features you want and find at least two excellent alternatives. I just wish there were more opportunity for folks to have hands-on experience to make the decision easier.
As there are different photographers, there are different cameras. Some work better with one than the other.
-bob

I am different, anything can work great with me, but i sometimes agree i may look for something, but i can't tell until i can test them, and my problem is i want to use a camera for many applications not just one or two applications, but as i said, my main applications which those tech work better are landscapes and architecture[indoors and outdoors].

 

[Guy Mancuso]

First thing I would decide on is what back. I think the IQ series on a tech cam really has the best features to offer. I like the confirmation feedback better using a tech cam. Highlight control, focus mask, level pitch and roll , 100 percent zooming that is accurate, live view and a great LCD to do it all on. . I would start there with a DF to get a nice price on the body since they bundle that pretty nicely. Next you have to decide on the tech cam what's going to make your day the most and what features you have to have. You need help you can contact me offline. But these have been my choices

You want a Hassy back than you also need to figure out which Hassy back is better on the tech cams. But I really think you need to figure out what backs you are after and lets not forget leaf in this choice as well. I like the Phase and if that sounded somewhat fanboy well it was not meant to be . I use it and it makes sense to me and those are the exact features i use to work with on a tech cam but I also use the complete DSLR side of the house as well, Each system will have there pluses and minuses , they all do. But right now your trying to decide two things at once which is very difficult to do. You have to pick a MF system on one hand than a Tech cam system on another. I say slow down pick the correct system on the MF cam side first with its back setup than narrow down the tech cam side which is a little harder since there is three major tech cams system not to mention various models in those systems. That makes it a little harder and no offense on Alpa but having 4 or 5 models makes it tougher on the end user to decide, its actually a good thing just harder to make decisions on which one is best for you. Cambo and Arca are a little simpler as they do not have that many models. These are tough calls and its easier to get a order going that makes the most sense, which I think pick the MF first than work on the tech cam after that call is made.

When you get to the tech cam part lots of question you need to ask, You can start which focusing type which you like better, do you need tilt and do you need swing or one or the other is okay. Do you want front rise and fall or do you like it on the back with stitching. Also you may not even want to stitch and just have rise and fall or nothing at all. I might have just described every model combination out there. These are the thing you need to ask yourself. I know they are not easy but first you need to ask yourself what type of shooter you are and what features enhance that type. If your architecture shooter you will have different needs than the landscape type. There focus is on wides and mostly rise and fall. Stitching is not used as often but some do.

I probably did not help as i added more than you where thinking about. LOL

 

[jlm]

everyone has their own odyssey: guy had a horseman, then an alpa, now a cambo.
I had a horseman, now a cambo (used to use film: 4x5 toyo monorail and sinar p)
it is a different way of working, not for everyone.

i strongly recommend renting a rig for several days

 

[Guy Mancuso]

everyone has their own odyssey: guy had a horseman, then an alpa, now a cambo.
I had a horseman, now a cambo (used to use film: 4x5 toyo monorail and sinar p)
it is a different way of working, not for everyone.

i strongly recommend renting a rig for several days

Agree and never fall in love with any of them because you WILL divorce it someday for something else. LOL

 

[GrahamWelland]

Agree and never fall in love with any of them because you WILL divorce it someday for something else. LOL

Unless of course you're like most folks here in which case you never really divorce them but just let 'em stay in their own room as you focus your attentions on the new pretty young thing. Pretty soon you've got a camera system harem with a litter of camera bags in tow.

 

[Professional]

The problem from what i read is there is no one body can do it all for you, i saw the fact that i am trying not to believe, which is i must have at least 2 bodies if not three, i am not sure if i can afford one body, but if i do then i know that it will not be that body i really want perfectly, i will use it for sure but i will always know it lacks something, i am not only landscape photographer or only architecture photographer, i am both of them and i like them both, so i know i will need one movement here and another movement there, this is making me to know that i must go with 2 different tech cameras so each can give me something to compliment each other, i keep my Hasselblad H4D-60 for portraits or fashion things and i am very happy with it. I started to use LF and i can see why all those movements are there and when to need one over the another, and i am really worry that i will end up to need all of the movements or most of.