Spent a week now reading and re-reading. Scoured the forums, been all over the web sites of many dealers.
A week later i am more confused then educated. So looking for a bit of insight from those who have set up a MF back on the platforms i am looking at.
Today i have zero equipment - starting from scratch again, so can buy into any system i want.
I earnt my living off photography for 14 years but gave it up in 97 so i've been around the block a few times in regards to equipment - i owned a Bronica SQ 6x6 and ETRS 6x 4.5 and ETRSi 6x4.5 , Cannon New F1 and a slew of lenses and a set of Elinchrom studio lights. All that stuff got sold off when i moved to the other side of the world to do other things in life. So i do have a good idea of the equipment involved.
So now i want to get back into photography - not commercially this time. I want to spend a few years hiking around the bush where i live taking pano landscapes on a MFD back.
So i know what i want to do - i just dont know how to get there.
I have 2 goals - get a MF camera setup (or 2 or 3 - because i would like to mess around with some studio gear for a bit of fun) and i would like to get an Alpa FPS system.
I have always LOVED Rollie so want to get a Rollie system and those lenses are to die for iirc. Having done extensive research in the last week it looks like the Hy6 mod 2 is the way to go. Having read extensively on the Alpa FPS system i see i can get a back plate for various MFD backs and Alpa have a lens adapter for Rollei lenses.
Sounds simple enough....... Ha! Seems nothing is simple when it comes to MFD!
So the problem is this - the Rollie system can only take Leaf or Sinar backs. I think it is the AFi mount. The Alpa has a back plate for a Leaf AFi back. Plus the Alpa can mount the Rollei lenses. All sounds good so far.......
Except that the Phase backs have a killer feature i really would like to have..focus mask! So if i go for a Leaf back i dont get this feature.
If i go Phase back i can mount the back onto the Alpa but cant use the Rollei Hy6
To make it all more complicated, I see a very good deal right now on a new with full warranty and support Aptus II 10 56MP back but in MAMIYA mount only. Such a good price - but the mount is wrong for a Hy6 and i dont get the focus mask feature.
Have i summed this up the right way ? AM i missing something? It seems like there is no way to get what i want - Phase back with focus mask that can be mounted on the Alpa FPS and on a Hy6
The systems i am interested in getting into are the Alpa FPS, Rollei Hy6, Fuji 680 III, Mamiya RZ II - i am interested in adapting a MFD to the Fuji and RZ systems - i would like to setup a small studio again with a new set of modern lights - things have come so far in the last 17 years !!.
I am interested in collecting lenses and so want to mess around adapting lenses to the Alpa, so the Rollei and RZ glass could be cross used here - i may be way out on the RZ glass on the Alpa - not sure on that yet - i do see a Mamiya adaptor for the Alpa system, so this may work? I have fond memeories of RB and RZ setups from the 80's and 90's and the RZ lenses were pretty good. My thoughts on this are that the RZ glass would have a pretty big image circle and this would be good for movements on the Alpa with sensor sizes being where they are at around 60MP.
So given all this i cant figure out a way forward.
Any thoughts that might help me here ?
Thanks
A week later i am more confused then educated. So looking for a bit of insight from those who have set up a MF back on the platforms i am looking at.
Today i have zero equipment - starting from scratch again, so can buy into any system i want.
I earnt my living off photography for 14 years but gave it up in 97 so i've been around the block a few times in regards to equipment - i owned a Bronica SQ 6x6 and ETRS 6x 4.5 and ETRSi 6x4.5 , Cannon New F1 and a slew of lenses and a set of Elinchrom studio lights. All that stuff got sold off when i moved to the other side of the world to do other things in life. So i do have a good idea of the equipment involved.
So now i want to get back into photography - not commercially this time. I want to spend a few years hiking around the bush where i live taking pano landscapes on a MFD back.
So i know what i want to do - i just dont know how to get there.
I have 2 goals - get a MF camera setup (or 2 or 3 - because i would like to mess around with some studio gear for a bit of fun) and i would like to get an Alpa FPS system.
I have always LOVED Rollie so want to get a Rollie system and those lenses are to die for iirc. Having done extensive research in the last week it looks like the Hy6 mod 2 is the way to go. Having read extensively on the Alpa FPS system i see i can get a back plate for various MFD backs and Alpa have a lens adapter for Rollei lenses.
Sounds simple enough....... Ha! Seems nothing is simple when it comes to MFD!
So the problem is this - the Rollie system can only take Leaf or Sinar backs. I think it is the AFi mount. The Alpa has a back plate for a Leaf AFi back. Plus the Alpa can mount the Rollei lenses. All sounds good so far.......
Except that the Phase backs have a killer feature i really would like to have..focus mask! So if i go for a Leaf back i dont get this feature.
If i go Phase back i can mount the back onto the Alpa but cant use the Rollei Hy6
To make it all more complicated, I see a very good deal right now on a new with full warranty and support Aptus II 10 56MP back but in MAMIYA mount only. Such a good price - but the mount is wrong for a Hy6 and i dont get the focus mask feature.
Have i summed this up the right way ? AM i missing something? It seems like there is no way to get what i want - Phase back with focus mask that can be mounted on the Alpa FPS and on a Hy6
The systems i am interested in getting into are the Alpa FPS, Rollei Hy6, Fuji 680 III, Mamiya RZ II - i am interested in adapting a MFD to the Fuji and RZ systems - i would like to setup a small studio again with a new set of modern lights - things have come so far in the last 17 years !!.
I am interested in collecting lenses and so want to mess around adapting lenses to the Alpa, so the Rollei and RZ glass could be cross used here - i may be way out on the RZ glass on the Alpa - not sure on that yet - i do see a Mamiya adaptor for the Alpa system, so this may work? I have fond memeories of RB and RZ setups from the 80's and 90's and the RZ lenses were pretty good. My thoughts on this are that the RZ glass would have a pretty big image circle and this would be good for movements on the Alpa with sensor sizes being where they are at around 60MP.
So given all this i cant figure out a way forward.
Any thoughts that might help me here ?
Thanks