Just thinking of a volte face

[johnnygoesdigital]

Tashley,
You're not alone, I went from the H3D/31 to H4D/40 (two of each) to try to find the right tool, but QC was the issue. Hasselblad released the 35-90 zoom as part of an inclusive kit, just after I bought into their system, but wouldn't honor it for my purchase. I sold the H4D and also took it on the chin, but I wanted out of that camera. Now those and most other MFD including the Leica S can be had for quite cheap. I'm somewhat rambunctious and don't always research every detail, but as our creative needs evolve sometimes the gear doesn't. I'm sure you'll find a great camera with movements. There are so many great choices to pair your IQ180 with. I'm sensing evolution as an artist for me too...

 

[Ken_R]

Yeah, MF DSLR's are still way behind the smaller format dslr's in a LOT of areas. Only the 645D gets close and maybe the Leica S2. Thats it. The Hasselblads are good but are clunkers to lug around out and about. The Mamiya/Phase body gets really mixed reviews.

I also plan to keep using my Canon DSLR gear for almost everything. The IQ back and tech camera setup (it's on the way) is mainly for a few landscape photo projects I have planned. If I can use it for other stuff great but if not, its ok for now. I might use it for my Architecture photography which sometimes nets me good money. In fact, I might use both during an Architecture shoot since for some shots I need telephoto but for the grand exterior and interior shots (wide angle) the IQ back with a lens like the 23mm HR or the 40 HR (which is on the way) destroys anything a 35mm dslr camera can produce from what I have seen.

As a single camera solution for architecture and landscape the D800E is excellent. Its really a cut above everything else on the 35mm dslr market. It's not close.

 

[gerald.d]

Ken, I largely agree: but the unintentional retention of the IQ180 means that it has to find a place in my shooting where it provides a service that other cameras I own can't provide - a very personal and private thing, for sure!

For my general needs, the D800E is all I need. But I do have a niche requirement for a high quality camera with movements and that's where the Phase might well fit back in, since there's no good wide perspective control lens for the Nikon. However, there's pretty much nothing that an IQ180 does on a DSLR style body that I wouldn't prefer to do on the D800E...

Have there been any tests of the new Samyang 24mm T/S on the D800 yet?

(Long shot I know!)

 

[Ken_R]

Have there been any tests of the new Samyang 24mm T/S on the D800 yet?

(Long shot I know!)

No, but judging from the test on the Canon 5D3 and D800HERE the Samyang does not change the game in regards to the current tilt and shift lens line up. The 24mm TS-E II remains king. By quite a bit. The Samyang is close to the Nikon 24 PC-E in quality but the Nikon is still a touch better.

I have used a lot of lenses over the years (35mm systems) and the Canon 24mm TS-E II is one of the best lenses ever made (technically speaking).

 

[gerald.d]

No, but judging from the test on the Canon 5D3 HERE the Samyang does not change the game in regards to the current tilt and shift lens line up. The 24mm TS-E II remains king. By quite a bit.

I have used a lot of lenses over the years (35mm systems) and the Canon 24mm TS-E II is one of the best lenses ever made (technically speaking).

Thanks Ken.

The Canon is a remarkable lens. I used it extensively when I had Canon DSLRs, and now on an Alpa FPS with the IQ180.

I can't help wondering though whether Tim ( I think Tashley is Tim?) should be thinking carefully about selling off his IQ now for a sensible price (probably around the $20K mark I'm guessing) and waiting for the Canon big megapixel camera. With the new 45 and 90 TS's also supposedly incoming, it might a better long-term plan than hanging onto the IQ.

Canon simply are not going to sit around and let the D800 mop up for ever. When they do launch, what price an IQ180 then I wonder?

 

[tashley]

Have there been any tests of the new Samyang 24mm T/S on the D800 yet?

(Long shot I know!)

Unfortunately yes - Lensrentals blog - no better than the 24 PCE (in fact worse at wider apertures) just cheaper...

 

[gerald.d]

(I should add - I'm not necessarily saying the IQ180 will drop in price when the Canon comes out because of the Canon itself, just that because another 6-12 months (I'm guessing) will have passed, inevitably, it will have devalued even more than it has already. The price of used IQ180's sold privately have dropped by around 7.5 - 10k in the last 12 months...)

 

[tashley]

Thanks Ken.


Canon simply are not going to sit around and let the D800 mop up for ever. When they do launch, what price an IQ180 then I wonder?

Shhh!

 

[Ken_R]

Well, when Canon releases the worthy successor of the 1Ds Mk 3 those who will hurt the most (emotionally speaking mostly ) are those who switched from Canon to Nikon just for the D800E even though they otherwise loved their system.

I think the top dogs (IQ160/260 and 180/280) are safe, for now.

Cramming much more than 40MP in a 24x36mm sensor will result in having quite a bit of diffraction from f8 on. Maybe even 5.6. This is of course a big problem if you need a lot of dof. (can you say focus stacking?)

Also, technical cameras will always offer a degree of control a DSLR will never be able to achieve.

But, I still think there will be some damage in the MFDigital market with a high res Canon DSLR model. It however better have the DR of the Nikon!

 

[tashley]

I'm homing in on an STC with Rodie hr40 and bits and pieces but have some questions for the experienced...
1) the Alpa has a much more compact looking lens hood than the cambo compendium but is it really that much smaller and is it any good? People say you really need a good shade with this lens
2) the cambo wrc400 seems nice in that it has 'natural' rise whereas the STC requires the camera to be turned 90 degrees if you want rise. I use rise a lot more than shift. Is the STC easy to use that way or does it feel strange ergonomically?
3) if I get the STC/Rodie there's the option of short barrel with t/s mount. But given the attention paid to micro-shimming, doesn't all that extra flexible, moveable stuff make getting the image plane parallel to the sensor more of a problem?
4) is the Alpa wake-up system as nice as it looks compared to the capture group one I used on my last cambo? It seems very neat...

Thanks as ever for all advice!
Tim

 

[gerald.d]

2) Perhaps you should be considering the SWA instead?
3) Nope. Nothing flexible when it comes to ALPA gear. In some configurations, there can be as many as 5 separate products between the lens and the back.
4) It works very well. A lot of money though!

 

[dchew]

Tim,
I have the STC w/ 40hr (sb w/TS), 70hr, 100hr and sk150. And an IQ180 back.

1) I do not have the Alpa lens hood. I use my hand and/or body to shade. I do, however, almost always shoot with a tripod so I have a spare hand.

2) I generally don't carry a viewfinder. I have a mocked up wrist strap where the viewfinder normally goes. With this setup I can rotate 90 degrees easily for rise. If you are handholding, you might try rotating the lens so the release is to at the bottom pointing to your right. You can trigger the release with the middle finger of your left hand that is underneath the camera.

3) The TS mount is designed in a way that makes it quite precise. I used to have the 43xl, which of course was a standard Alpa mount. My results with the 40hr & ts are as good or better. I don't know how or why, but it is very precise.

4) I like the Alpa wake up system very much. I rarely get errors. I hate the cost, but like the function so much I purchased two release mechanisms so I would not have to unscrew them from the lenses as much!

I will come out of the closet here and admit I do not always shoot an LCC. If there is snow and or a bunch of blue sky, then almost always. I often shoot one with the 40, but not very often with the 70, 100 or 150. Here is a shot I posted in the tech cam images thread. Sk150 shifted 18mm each way (2-image stitch). No LCC. Hey, I was near the end of a 16 mile ski day. I was tired!

Dave

 

[torger]

Do you really need a wakeup for the IQ180? What's the gain? I thought that hack was for the P45+.

 

[tashley]

2) Perhaps you should be considering the SWA instead?
3) Nope. Nothing flexible when it comes to ALPA gear. In some configurations, there can be as many as 5 separate products between the lens and the back.
4) It works very well. A lot of money though!

Thanks Gerald... I thought of the swa but if the STC is easy in that orientation then I'd still prefer it because of its form factor.the other advice is anvaluable, thank you!

 

[tashley]

@ Dave, thank you for the info - and that shot is seriously stunning!

I will for now at least be only shooting the Rodie 40 - my longer Nikon glass on d800 is usually good enough, it's the wides that need covering better hence the volte face... So I will be stuck with LCC I'm afraid. Just have to be disciplined!

 

[tashley]

Do you really need a wakeup for the IQ180? What's the gain? I thought that hack was for the P45+.

Honestly I don't know! I continued to use a wake up because somewhere at the back of my head the zero latency mode is labelled as glitchy and noisy but if that isn't the case on the 180 then I would very, very happily shoot without! What do people think?

 

[chrismuc]

My recommendation for the ZERO LCC path with (mostly) affordable lenses:
IQ 180 + Alpa FPS + Canon EF lens mount
Canon 17 TSE, Canon 24 TSE, Contax 35 + Mirex 16mm shift adapter,
HB V 40CFi, 50FLE, 80, 100, 150, 180 ... + Mirex 16mm tilt/shift adapter
Chris

 

[dchew]

Do you really need a wakeup for the IQ180? What's the gain? I thought that hack was for the P45+.

You don't have to but I do primarily to make the battery last longer. If I'm backpacking for a few days I need my batteries to last. So I have not used zero latency since I first got the back two years ago. Perhaps I should try it again though; there have been several firmware updates since then...

I'm not thrilled with the shoot-cock-shoot solution. I tend to bump the tripod or at least send vibrations everywhere when rushing to do that in 4 seconds. Sometimes the winding mechanism is not so easy to reach.

A little more about shooting orientation for rise: I have the grip but I generally do not have it attached (again, I don't handhold much). The pick below shows my strap and how it is oriented. You can imagine the grip attatched to the bottom left side of the STC in this pic. It provides a nice flat base for your left hand. Right hand goes through the strap. With the lens in the "normal" orientation, the release is at the bottom, parallel to the grip. Very close to the fingers of your left hand.

http://www.getdpi.com/forum/463015-post236.html

Dave

 

[tashley]

My recommendation for the ZERO LCC path with (mostly) affordable lenses:
IQ 180 + Alpa FPS + Canon EF lens mount
Canon 17 TSE, Canon 24 TSE, Contax 35 + Mirex 16mm shift adapter,
HB V 40CFi, 50FLE, 80, 100, 150, 180 ... + Mirex 16mm tilt/shift adapter
Chris

Can the Canon 24 really hold up to an IQ180? It seems intuitively more likely that a Rodie is going to do much, much better, admittedly at the cost of having to do LCCs...

 

[tashley]

You don't have to but I do primarily to make the battery last longer. If I'm backpacking for a few days I need my batteries to last. So I have not used zero latency since I first got the back two years ago. Perhaps I should try it again though; there have been several firmware updates since then...

I'm not thrilled with the shoot-cock-shoot solution. I tend to bump the tripod or at least send vibrations everywhere when rushing to do that in 4 seconds. Sometimes the winding mechanism is not so easy to reach.

A little more about shooting orientation for rise: I have the grip but I generally do not have it attached (again, I don't handhold much). The pick below shows my strap and how it is oriented. You can imagine the grip attatched to the bottom left side of the STC in this pic. It provides a nice flat base for your left hand. Right hand goes through the strap. With the lens in the "normal" orientation, the release is at the bottom, parallel to the grip. Very close to the fingers of your left hand.

http://www.getdpi.com/forum/463015-post236.html

Dave

Thanks Dave - it does sound a bit awkward having to shoot with the left hand on the shutter but I guess it is what it is... good tip to live without the handle, at least at first: I also shoot nearly always with a tripod...