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Alpa SWA and STC

Hey Guys,
I am looking into getting an Alpa sometime hopefully soon and was just wondering what the differences are between these two bodies? from what I can see the SWA cannot be mounted 90degrees on the tripod like the STC can? I will be mainly shooting landscapes but wouldn't mind some hand held capabilities as well. Does the STC have more shifting abilities than the SWA?


Cheers
Will.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Will,

The SWA has 25mm rise when oriented normally. I don't recall it having any way to mount a tripod mounting plate on the side though so you would need to use it on a head that is tilted 90 degrees to get horizontal shift. If you want fall instead of rise then you actually have to mount the camera upside down with a plate/adapter at the top of the camera body (which would now be the bottom).

This explains it better than I just did:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKbTPI-RUGo

The STC has +/- 18mm left/right shift in normal orientation but does have tripod plate mounting options on the side so that you can rotate it 90 degrees and use the camera with +/- 18mm rise/fall instead. I have plates on both the bottom and the left side (viewed from the front) and use the camera in this manner.

Personally I think that the STC is the more versatile camera but less well suited to handheld use (if only because there's only one grip). That said, you can easily handhold and shoot the STC. The movements are more symmetric with the STC than the SWA in that you don't have to faff around with putting the lens / back on different sides of the body to get +/- adjustments or upside down.

I'm not sure of prices these days but if shooting handheld is important then I suspect that you could pick up a TC body in addition to the STC for the same or less than an SWA. The SWA is a very sexy work of art though to look at :)
 
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jotloob

Subscriber Member
I think Graham pointed out all the important differences . So , there is not much to add .
I use all three types , TC , STC and SWA .
TC (Travel Camera) is the lightest of them all and ideal for HH shooting if you don't want to carry a lot of weight . Usually you will then have only one lens with you .
STC (Shift Travel Camera) . That is the camera I use for architecture photography (tripod only) because it is very easy to mount the camera for horizontal or vertical shift .
SWA (Shift Wide Angle) ? ? ?
Ideal for HH use because of the two grips . The camera is wonderful in your hands and allows vertical shift (one direction only) in normal HH position .
Also , you can have a wake up button in the left grip , if required .
I have that feature and find it very useful . No additional cabling from lens to Digital Back .
 
Thanks for clarifying that for me guys! even though I am in love with how the SWA looks I think the STC would be better suited for my shooting style and most of my images will be shot on tripod, what digital backs suit these tech cams the best? I see some cheaper Leaf backs are they any good for shooting landscapes? or should I stick to the Phase One backs?
 
from what I have read the 40 is not very good on a tech camera because of the micro lenses and colour shifts etc, otherwise I would be happy to use it :)
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
The differences has been explained and I agree that the STC is the more flexible and probably the sensible choice for most, but I still argue that the SWA is the most beautiful camera on earth.
 

mmbma

Active member
I chose SWA over the TC (never had an STC) because of portability (easy on tripod and even better handheld) and frankly, looks. The TC is too small for me and it's hard to hold.

To your landscape/portrait question. On both cameras you can simply dismount the back, turn 90 degrees, put it back on, and you got portrait. no need to take the camera off the tripod. If you use an Aptus ii R back like I do, you can simply turn the knob to rotate the sensor.

If you buy a Phase one back. you'll want to buy a wake up grip or the Katpure group wake up cable set. THe alpa grips are more expensive but they are beautiful on the SWA. The wake up cable will save you a lot of power because you don't need to keep the back on zero latency. ( I happen to be selling my two pairs since I moved out of Phase one, let me know if you need).
 

weinlamm

Member
from what I have read the 40 is not very good on a tech camera because of the micro lenses and colour shifts etc, otherwise I would be happy to use it :)
I can't really say anything about any Hasselblad on a tec cam - but I would say "try out!". Much/Most of the 'problems' you should solve with a LCC-shoot.
And if you after a tryout have to say "it's not good enough for me" - then you should start think about an other back. Not previously.
 
yeah thats not a bad idea but I might need to sell the hasselblad to fund the new camera, after looking at those images I want a SWA haha, wondering how much I would use the different shifts for my landscape work, considering you can get some very wide lenses for these cameras anyways.
 

dchew

Well-known member
I'll stick up for the homely STC.(!) :thumbup:

If you are normally working on a tripod the STC is more versitile. I don't like flipping the camera, lens and back on it's side 90 degrees with a ballhead. Doing it frequently with the cube is not all that fun either. Not so bad maybe with the D4...?

If you want to merge images into a panorama or stitch two verticals together, it is more straight forward with the STC.

The STC is lighter, but also smaller so it packs more efficiently.

SWA=Ginger, STC=MaryAnn for those of you Gilligan's Island fans.
:)

Dave
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
People with STC cameras take pictures with it.

People with SWA's can't help but take pictures OF it! :ROTFL: it is an achingly beautiful camera as you've seen here.
 

stephengilbert

Active member
And another thing: do people really use the two hand grips on the SWA? When hand holding a camera, I usually have my left hand under the camera.

Not that the SWA isn't beautiful, but the STC is pretty nice, too.
 

Steve Hendrix

Well-known member
yeah thats not a bad idea but I might need to sell the hasselblad to fund the new camera, after looking at those images I want a SWA haha, wondering how much I would use the different shifts for my landscape work, considering you can get some very wide lenses for these cameras anyways.
Will - you're inclinations are correct on a number of fronts.

The 40 megapixel Kodak sensor used by the Hasselblad H4D-40 has enlarged micro-lenses that can produce limitations and anomalies similar to the 31 megapixel Kodak sensors.

But also, you'll have to come up with a creative portable power solution, either tether to a laptop, or use perhaps one of the Silvestri firewire-enabled battery solutions. There is now a shipping battery extension from Hasselblad, but it's almost $1,200 and there is not an option for this with H4D, other than the H4D-60.

So - all in all, H4D-40 with tech camera, yes there are some limitations.


Steve Hendrix
Capture Integration
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
People with STC cameras take pictures with it.

People with SWA's can't help but take pictures OF it! :ROTFL: it is an achingly beautiful camera as you've seen here.
And another thing: do people really use the two hand grips on the SWA? When hand holding a camera, I usually have my left hand under the camera.

Not that the SWA isn't beautiful, but the STC is pretty nice, too.
:ROTFL: :salute:
 
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