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Thinking about getting a Technical Camera HELP :)

Been shooting medium format for a while now. P30+ with H2. First starting shooting fashion, but now found myself in a gallery here in Paris and see a lot of doors opening with the use of a technical camera.

Is it best to buy the Hasselblad HC Tilt/Shift system? Should I buy a technical camera? Which One? Any recommendations would be great.
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
Been shooting medium format for a while now. P30+ with H2. First starting shooting fashion, but now found myself in a gallery here in Paris and see a lot of doors opening with the use of a technical camera.

Is it best to buy the Hasselblad HC Tilt/Shift system? Should I buy a technical camera? Which One? Any recommendations would be great.
It's a broad question you are asking. You'll get better advice if you can help us understand more of your specific needs/wants.

Do you plan on shooting fashion with the technical camera or landscape/architecture/interior. While a standard tech camera (e.g. Cambo Wide RS, Arca Swiss RM3, Alpa STC) can be used for anything (I once shot infrared sports hand held with a tech camera - not for the feint hearted), it is generally best for landscape/architecture/interior. Several users on the board use tech cameras for handheld street shooting, and a few here and there use it for other styles of photography.

Perhaps you intend to use it for fashion, but just mean that you'd like to add movements to your repertoire of camera control. In that case I think an HTS is an ideal solution. It magnifies the image 1.5x and you lose some aperture, but you'd gain tilt-shift on all your existing lenses and maintain through-the-lens focusing and composition (pretty important for most fashion shooting styles).

If instead you're planning on branching out to landscape/architecture/interior or going to use the human form, but not in a static manner (lots of time to set up each shot, limited movement within the frame while shooting) then a true tech camera may well be a better tool. It provides the absolute best lenses, movements entirely in the rear on some models (better for stitching and for fine tuning carefully crafted compositions), large ranges of movements on some models, and the tactile feeling of shooting a more traditional/mechanical camera which some (including me) enjoy greatly.

One big gotchya here however is that you're using the only Phase/Mamiya-Leaf back which is strongly recommended NOT to be used with a tech camera. Your P30+ (also the non plus version) has strong/steep micro lenses which make it very hard for the sensor to see off-axis light. When using a wide lens on a tech camera, or when adding tilt/shift/swing to any lens you are throwing light at the sensor in an off-axis way. For most backs this creates a minor inconvenience (color cast which requires one calibration shot for any given lens/movement setup), but for the P30+ this often makes the shot unusable.

So if you want to go to a pure tech camera you'd need to upgrade your back to get much out of it. An IQ140 or P40+ would be the most natural progression but there are a dozen other possibilities (e.g. DM33, DM40, P65+, IQ160 etc etc) - you're using the only Phase/Mamiya-Leaf back which is so poorly suited for a tech camera. The P21/P21+ has a similar issue, but not as severe.

So tell us more. As much as you tell as about what you shoot, what you want to change, what you're likes/dislikes/priorities/budget are the better the advice you'll get from the forum!

Also once we know more about your needs/wants/priorities we can link you to a few threads with relevant discussions that have already occurred. This conversation has happened in various forms several times in the last few years.
 

shlomi

Member
You can't use your P30 back with movements, because it has microlenses on the sensor.

I don't know the HTS system, but it seems to add more optical elements and change the lens characteristics. Also, if you are using movements and bellows, you will get better results from a fixed lens that was designed for this type of work.

You can get a Fuji GX 680 which is a cheap solution, or for instance a Sinar P2 - cheap enough to work with film, but with all the necessary digital adapters, control boxes, digital lenses and non microlens large sensor back, it can get pretty expensive to work with it digitally.
 

Bryan Stephens

Workshop Member
As the others have stated here, it depends on what you are going to use the Tech Cam for. If you are looking for shift, and rise/fall for landscape and for architecture then that is one thing, if you are just looking for perspective control, then the T/S Hassy system may be fine for what you need, but as the others have pointed out, you cannot use the P30 with any type of movements.

I use my Tech Cam for landscape as I find it a better fit for what I am looking to achieve, especially if you are going to stitch a few frames together to make a panorama. I find it a little easier on the Tech Cam because of the shifting abilities of the back. You can accomplish the same thing with the Hassy, but need to have a rail system for your tripod so you are not changing your central point, but just sliding the camera along the same plane.
 
It's a broad question you are asking. You'll get better advice if you can help us understand more of your specific needs/wants.

Do you plan on shooting fashion with the technical camera or landscape/architecture/interior. While a standard tech camera (e.g. Cambo Wide RS, Arca Swiss RM3, Alpa STC) can be used for anything (I once shot infrared sports hand held with a tech camera - not for the feint hearted), it is generally best for landscape/architecture/interior. Several users on the board use tech cameras for handheld street shooting, and a few here and there use it for other styles of photography.

Perhaps you intend to use it for fashion, but just mean that you'd like to add movements to your repertoire of camera control. In that case I think an HTS is an ideal solution. It magnifies the image 1.5x and you lose some aperture, but you'd gain tilt-shift on all your existing lenses and maintain through-the-lens focusing and composition (pretty important for most fashion shooting styles).

If instead you're planning on branching out to landscape/architecture/interior or going to use the human form, but not in a static manner (lots of time to set up each shot, limited movement within the frame while shooting) then a true tech camera may well be a better tool. It provides the absolute best lenses, movements entirely in the rear on some models (better for stitching and for fine tuning carefully crafted compositions), large ranges of movements on some models, and the tactile feeling of shooting a more traditional/mechanical camera which some (including me) enjoy greatly.

One big gotchya here however is that you're using the only Phase/Mamiya-Leaf back which is strongly recommended NOT to be used with a tech camera. Your P30+ (also the non plus version) has strong/steep micro lenses which make it very hard for the sensor to see off-axis light. When using a wide lens on a tech camera, or when adding tilt/shift/swing to any lens you are throwing light at the sensor in an off-axis way. For most backs this creates a minor inconvenience (color cast which requires one calibration shot for any given lens/movement setup), but for the P30+ this often makes the shot unusable.

So if you want to go to a pure tech camera you'd need to upgrade your back to get much out of it. An IQ140 or P40+ would be the most natural progression but there are a dozen other possibilities (e.g. DM33, DM40, P65+, IQ160 etc etc) - you're using the only Phase/Mamiya-Leaf back which is so poorly suited for a tech camera. The P21/P21+ has a similar issue, but not as severe.

So tell us more. As much as you tell as about what you shoot, what you want to change, what you're likes/dislikes/priorities/budget are the better the advice you'll get from the forum!

Also once we know more about your needs/wants/priorities we can link you to a few threads with relevant discussions that have already occurred. This conversation has happened in various forms several times in the last few years.
I am using it for gallery work. Abstract photography.

Here is a link to the gallery I am in - Galerie | Galerie Matignon

I want to be able to push my limits farther and have more options than I previously had.

For the gallery work, I do not use autofocus.
 

malmac

Member
I am using it for gallery work. Abstract photography.

Here is a link to the gallery I am in - Galerie | Galerie Matignon

I want to be able to push my limits farther and have more options than I previously had.

For the gallery work, I do not use autofocus.
I find your images are very strong and compelling.
Have done some work with my IQ MFDB both on the Phase 645DF and with a Cambo Tech camera and Canon DSLR.



This example was taken with the 645DF.
Must admit I love the resolution of the MFDB even though one my ask why when abstraction inevitably blurs the destinction and leaves sharpness as a relative concept.

Have done smaller amount of shots with the Cambo (only have one lens panel and it is not tilt swing) but I guess the sky is the limit so if you can why not.

As an aside - the micro lenses that are a disadvantage to traditional landscapes might well introduce some interesting side effects for abstract photography.

Like your work.


mal
 
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Shashin

Well-known member
Do you want a tech camera--usually a very flat body with limited shifts and maybe tilts--or do you want a view camera--which will have larger and more movements but might limited at wide focal lengths and will have to be mounted on a tripod. Two very different cameras. But you don't really want a sensor with micro lenses which gives limits to movements.
 

dick

New member
Sinar P2 - cheap enough to work with film, but with all the necessary digital adapters, control boxes, digital lenses and non microlens large sensor back, it can get pretty expensive to work with it digitally.
Yes ... I bought a P2 for about £1k, but that is the tip of the iceberg!

Do you want a tech camera--usually a very flat body with limited shifts and maybe tilts--or do you want a view camera--which will have larger and more movements but might limited at wide focal lengths and will have to be mounted on a tripod. Two very different cameras. But you don't really want a sensor with micro lenses which gives limits to movements.
Traditional view cameras like the Sinar are versatile, but there tends to be a little slop between standards.
 
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Shashin

Well-known member
Linhof and Arca Swiss make some really nice models as well which are design for digital backs in mind--film backs can also be used.
 
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dick

New member
Traditional view cameras like the Sinar are versatile, but there tends to be a little slop between standards, which can be important for Wide Angle work.
Depth of focus (not depth of field) is dependent on aperture only. If there is slop, the focal length will be irrelevant. Linhof and Arca Swiss make some really nice models as well which are design for digital backs in mind--film backs can also be used.
It would seem that you are correct, thank you for your correction. because Merklinger states:

"If we should specify how large we
may allow the circle-of-confusion to become, this specification may be
translated via Equation (5) into an allowable focus error:

(6) g=Na

This simply states that the allowable focus error on either side of
the point of exact focus is equal to the f-number, N, times the maximum
permissible diameter of the circle-of-confusion, a."

I will edit my post.
 

torger

Active member
Looking at your work I would guess that wide angle would not be used too often, and then I think a view camera adapted for digital use would be the best.

The Arca-Swiss M-line two I would guess is a very good option for you, it is also one of the lower cost tech cameras. I use a Linhof Techno myself which is also a view camera, and I'd say it is a bit better on wide angles than the Arca, while the Arca is a bit better on longer lenses (more movements, more tilt).
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
It would seem that you are correct, thank you for your correction. because Merklinger states:

"If we should specify how large we
may allow the circle-of-confusion to become, this specification may be
translated via Equation (5) into an allowable focus error:

(6) g=Na

This simply states that the allowable focus error on either side of
the point of exact focus is equal to the f-number, N, times the maximum
permissible diameter of the circle-of-confusion, a."

I will edit my post.
Dick, you give up your practical experience too quickly!

It's 7am, so forgive me for skipping the math, which is there - it's simply dependent on more than one variable [Depth of Focus].

But in practice a sloppy system is harder to use with very wide lenses than standard length lenses.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Dick, you give up your practical experience too quickly!

It's 7am, so forgive me for skipping the math, which is there - it's simply dependent on more than one variable [Depth of Focus].

But in practice a sloppy system is harder to use with very wide lenses than standard length lenses.
We will wait for your answer...
 

dick

New member
"If we should specify how large we
may allow the circle-of-confusion to become, this specification may be
translated via Equation (5) into an allowable focus error:

(6) g=Na

This simply states that the allowable focus error on either side of
the point of exact focus is equal to the f-number, N, times the maximum
permissible diameter of the circle-of-confusion, a."
Depth of focus = 2g

Dick, you give up your practical experience too quickly!

It's 7am, so forgive me for skipping the math, which is there - it's simply dependent on more than one variable [Depth of Focus].

But in practice a sloppy system is harder to use with very wide lenses than standard length lenses.
A great deal of slop would give the effect of unwanted base tilt, which would have more effect on lenses of short focal length, and simply re-focusing would not solve the problem.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
A great deal of slop would give the effect of unwanted base tilt, which would have more effect on lenses of short focal length, and simply re-focusing would not solve the problem.
Unless of course you are framing the object the same way with different focal lengths and then tilt would be the same regardless.

Just sayin'...
 

dick

New member
Unless of course you are framing the object the same way with different focal lengths and then tilt would be the same regardless.

Just sayin'...
If you wanted tilt to keep a foreground object in focus, the tilt required would be different for each focal length, and the problem with "slop" is that it is inconsistent?

The problem occurs if you touch the camera between shots (e.g. to re-cock the shutter, adjust shutter speed or aperture) ...all good reasons for tethering and electronic shutters.

A set of Sinar eShutters would be nice, but for ten lenses @ £1,500 each?

If everyone is upgrading to eShutters, where do I buy a dozen Schneider shutters?

...and Hasselblad/Phocus does not support eShutters yet!
 
Hey everyone, Thank You very much for the help. I've been looking a lot into these cameras. I have one concern that I feel I cannot find a solid answer to. What is the max flash sync speed with these cameras? I do a lot of motion stopping, and being able to sync at 1/800 with my hassy is pretty helpful for me. I also have seen that some of them look as if they are not able to use a flash with them as I do not see a hotshot. Maybe the best bet for me is to go for the HTS 1.5?
 

Ben Rubinstein

Active member
They use leaf shutter lenses by definition so sync should be all the way up to the top speed. Keep in mind though that most LF lenses have a relatively low max shutter speed.
 

dick

New member
Hey everyone, Thank You very much for the help. I've been looking a lot into these cameras. I have one concern that I feel I cannot find a solid answer to. What is the max flash sync speed with these cameras? I do a lot of motion stopping, and being able to sync at 1/800 with my hassy is pretty helpful for me. I also have seen that some of them look as if they are not able to use a flash with them as I do not see a hotshot. Maybe the best bet for me is to go for the HTS 1.5?
On many technical cameras shutters tend to be an optional extra, and you need to look at the shutter specs, not the camera specs...

Some cameras have a built-in focal plane shutter, (Including the Hartblei) but you should avoid them if you need high flash sync speeds... but some of these give you the option of using a leaf-shuttered lens?

I think that all mechanical leaf shutters such as the standard Copal can sync at all their speeds, usually up to 1/500th.

These mechanical shutters normally have a small flash sync socket on the shutter body... you need a (last millennium) standard flash sync lead not a hotshoe connection. (some hotshoes have a socket for a flash sync lead)...but you use the flash sync socket on the shutter to fire the digital back, and there is another flash sync socket on the digiback to fire the shutter. ¿Did anyone tell you MF tech cams were simple? ...use the Hasselblad use "flash Sync" mode, not Schneider (even if you are using a Schneider lens) unless you are using a Schneider Electronic Shutter.

I think the Schneider Electronic Shutter (SES) syncs up to 1/60th.

The Sinar Electronic eShutters sync up to 1/125th... and these can be "modern" in that you can set the aperture and speed from the laptop... at £2,500 for the first shutter and £1,500 for additional shutters).

The Sinal EL CMV system is, I think different again - I have not need flash with mine yet, but you do not need leads from the shutter to the camera, except for those built in to the EL bellows.

With this decades old technology you do not get TTL flash metering, or the option to fire the shutter at the end of the shutter open time... but when you can take a test shot and look at the histogram, you needs a meter?
 
On many technical cameras shutters tend to be an optional extra, and you need to look at the shutter specs, not the camera specs...

Some cameras have a built-in focal plane shutter, (Including the Hartblei) but you should avoid them if you need high flash sync speeds... but some of these give you the option of using a leaf-shuttered lens?

I think that all mechanical leaf shutters such as the standard Copal can sync at all their speeds, usually up to 1/500th.

These mechanical shutters normally have a small flash sync socket on the shutter body... you need a (last millennium) standard flash sync lead not a hotshoe connection. (some hotshoes have a socket for a flash sync lead)...but you use the flash sync socket on the shutter to fire the digital back, and there is another flash sync socket on the digiback to fire the shutter. ¿Did anyone tell you MF tech cams were simple? ...use the Hasselblad use "flash Sync" mode, not Schneider (even if you are using a Schneider lens) unless you are using a Schneider Electronic Shutter.

I think the Schneider Electronic Shutter (SES) syncs up to 1/60th.

The Sinar Electronic eShutters sync up to 1/125th... and these can be "modern" in that you can set the aperture and speed from the laptop... at £2,500 for the first shutter and £1,500 for additional shutters).

The Sinal EL CMV system is, I think different again - I have not need flash with mine yet, but you do not need leads from the shutter to the camera, except for those built in to the EL bellows.

With this decades old technology you do not get TTL flash metering, or the option to fire the shutter at the end of the shutter open time... but when you can take a test shot and look at the histogram, you needs a meter?
I do not need a meter or anything of the gadgets on my camera. I shoot manual focus most of the time for my gallery work and often for my fashion work. I am almost always tethering. I am really just looking for the best way to move my work to the next level and open more opportunities. Also, I heard that these don't work well with a p30+ is this true?
 
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