Hi,
Well, I got my tech cam (Arca-Swiss Factum) and the first lens (Rodie HR 50mm). Holy sharpness Batman !
I really enjoy using the Factum. It's small and light and I actually like the shifting mechanism better than on the "full" Rm3di. On the Factum, you just push the back to move it. No screws to turn, and the centered position is "sticky" and doesn't have a chance of being knocked out.
I use the Live view on my IQ160 for framing (I do not have a viewfinder "system" yet - exploring different options, ranging from the iPhone holder to the Chinese zooming viewfinder from eBay). Framing with LV actually works quite well: Aperture to f/32 to avoid using a neutral density filter, open the shutter, pop into Live view, frame. Done. Quite simple and fast actually. The only thing it won't be good for is nodal point panos because of the changing the aperture thing (well it works, it's just going to be really slow).
For the moment, I just "focused" to infinity. I have a Leica Disto D5 and will experiment with that, and also with Live View for focusing. I suspect the D5 will be faster. I am also experimenting with the focus mask feature of the IQ (setting the threshold is a bit tricky and scene dependent).
For exposure time, I use the histogram. But in a few tests, I did underexpose quite a bit (in the ETTR sense at least), so it seems that having a few blinkies is not that bad and the IQ's screen is a bit deceptive (at least for me). I increased the threshold for the blinkies to appear, so let's see if that helps.
Man, that lens is sharp ! I only worked at f/8 for the moment (I figured it should be a good compromise between DoF and Diffraction - need to confirm that later) but the resolution is mind boggling - and it's very even across the frame - at least when not shifted. Zooming to 100% on the screen is a real treat. It's SHARP everywhere ! Individual trees look like trees, not green mush. It's not that my Hassi V lenses (50mm, 80mm, 150mm and 250mm) are coke bottles. But there is such a clear difference to the tech cam. Amazing !
I took LCC shots, but without shift they don't seem necessary (at least it's not obvious), however I need to experiment more, do nodal point panoramas to see if there is vignetting that should be corrected with LCCs.
I use the Phase One 2 shot cable. I thought it would be a hassle and was considering the Kapture Group single shot cable, but I actually got used to the 2 "click" system quite quickly.
A very small detail that I don't like about the Factum / Rodie was the magnetic cable shutter release. It's very high tech and cute, but it keeps popping out of it's socket. So for the moment, I don't even use it much, and release the shutter with a finger - didn't seem to affect sharpness (but I was very careful). On the other hand, I also forgot to close the shutter (after using live view), and that prevents the shutter from actually working. So maybe with a bit more practice, the cable release will make it's come back.
Another point that I find a bit disturbing is the lack of clicks on the aperture ring. So you can not be 100% sure you can come back to the same aperture value as previously (could be important for stitching panos), because f/8 doesn't click into place - you could be at f/7.8 or f/8.2, depending how precisely you look at the indicator when you set the aperture.
Well, that's about it for the feedback from a first time tech cam user. I loooove the image quality, like very much the Factum and find it a joy to use. Now I need to get a lot more practice, and try more "challenging" shooting conditions. I'd like to add a bit of tilt, focus to somewhere else than infinity and so on.
I'd like to thank the forum for providing me so much good information on how to spend my money
Also, I'd like to give Kudos to Walter at
Arca-Shop.de who helped me a lot navigating the tortuous waters of the Arca system.