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Hasselblad x2d with Arca Swiss Rotafoot questions

Tashat

Member
The other thing to consider if going either the GFX or X2D with adapted lenses (without a tech cam), is that you do not get "independent" shift left/right and rise/fall. It is one or the other or the strange (to me) diagonal combo of both. Not independent though. Initially coming from a 5x4 camera, this was definitely a negative that these lenses did not and still do not offer. Obviously with any sort of tech camera, this is not the case.

Is going the route of a GFX and Canon 24mm TS-E II and GFX 30mm TS-E AND a Universalis with lenses above 50mm (without rotafoot) or 60mm (with rotafoot) an absolutely bonkers option? Both in terms of weight and practicality? :)
That is true with the independent movements, I haven't been using a lot of shift with my arca classic 6x9, as I only have the non metric version and the shift is very clunky manually. Hoping to one day upgrade to geared so I actually use it! on my toyo vx125 it is something that I use but am now selling this camera.

I think a bit bonkers, haha imagine changing from the 24mm to a 60mm and back and then back again, you would have to reassemble your whole setup each shot, or have two tripods that you swap between? anytime i've had two cameras as such, one gets forgotten about when i'm running around chasing the light! good suggestion though!
 

Paul Spinnler

Well-known member
Hi Paul, yes I use the arca binoflex already, it is lovely to use. and have the rz67 viewfinder too! I think its now hard to find a digital option that compares to the experience. I had a horseman folding version on my 4x5 which was also lovely, makes for the best composing experience, apart from in dark spaces with a wide lens! 😓 Great option! yes I know he tried that out, I have a feeling something wasn't great about the rotaslide but I can't remember what it was.

by other files do you mean from other film scanners? flextights just give a good quality raw scan to work from, and flexcolor is a great place to convert them. Converting fully in photoshop is also ok just very time consuming. I haven't used nikon coolscan, but that's probably the next best option (apart from drum scans) then lab noritsu or frontiers are good if you have the control.
Well then you are covered if you already use the AS binoflex et al. – difficult to top!

I guess the problem with the rotaslide is that it is more clumsy and you'd want a very stable tripod – anyhow, curious to see what you'll end up with.

On the flextight – I just wonder if there's something special about the colour reproduction, but I think the point here is that if you tweak channels on top of the scanner's inversion profile combined with the light source it uses you can get a sought after muted look which is more difficult to achieve in PS or when you DSLR scan as the saturation will look different then when using a pre-engineered good system.

At least I can see a clear difference when scanning negs with the IQ4 that the colours just look different even after careful work in post.
 

corvus

Active member
Hi tashat,
with great interest I have followed this further thread on Arca Swiss solutions, and I am also still quite new here on the forum ;) I find your website and your photographs very inspiring, being an architect myself - very nice shots!
I bought the F-Universalis myself and I'm currently in the process of gaining my first experience with it - initially in FF with my Canon R, which is of course compromised. Regardless of whether I will switch to medium format at some point, after many discussions and contributions I think that for architectural photography in conjunction with a view camera digital backs make the most sense (since you don't have the restriction due to the flange focal length). The experienced participants here who have already replied to you offer a great treasure with their shared knowledge!!!
A digital back is also the most costly solution. To be honest, this is also holding me back at the moment. I sometimes wonder why there are actually no backs in FF yet - Sigma is closest with the modular FP. The concept would just need some expansion - similar to the Hasselblad principle of the 907X+CFV ... that would be interesting.
Until then I tinker and stitch diligently ;)

Greetings Torsten
 

Paul Spinnler

Well-known member
Hi tashat,
with great interest I have followed this further thread on Arca Swiss solutions, and I am also still quite new here on the forum ;) I find your website and your photographs very inspiring, being an architect myself - very nice shots!
I bought the F-Universalis myself and I'm currently in the process of gaining my first experience with it - initially in FF with my Canon R, which is of course compromised. Regardless of whether I will switch to medium format at some point, after many discussions and contributions I think that for architectural photography in conjunction with a view camera digital backs make the most sense (since you don't have the restriction due to the flange focal length). The experienced participants here who have already replied to you offer a great treasure with their shared knowledge!!!
A digital back is also the most costly solution. To be honest, this is also holding me back at the moment. I sometimes wonder why there are actually no backs in FF yet - Sigma is closest with the modular FP. The concept would just need some expansion - similar to the Hasselblad principle of the 907X+CFV ... that would be interesting.
Until then I tinker and stitch diligently ;)

Greetings Torsten
A 50/60 megapixel back can be had for a bargain; 100 clocks in at 8k ish ... ie a tack sharp 60 megapixel P1 image is something quite nice to work with!
 

corvus

Active member
Do you mean like Phase One IQ1 or IQ2?
I have not (yet) worked with backs. Can I assume similar handling and functionality as with DSLM bodies? I mean something like battery life, liveview, precise focusing ... or do I need additional equipment? Where can I find good ways of getting to know something? I'm a bit in the dark here - unfortunately photokina & Co. don't exist any more and there are no special seminars in my area either.
 

Paul Spinnler

Well-known member
Do you mean like Phase One IQ1 or IQ2?
I have not (yet) worked with backs. Can I assume similar handling and functionality as with DSLM bodies? I mean something like battery life, liveview, precise focusing ... or do I need additional equipment? Where can I find good ways of getting to know something? I'm a bit in the dark here - unfortunately photokina & Co. don't exist any more and there are no special seminars in my area either.
Talk to Capture Integration. They can help.
 

guphotography

Well-known member
Do you mean like Phase One IQ1 or IQ2?
I have not (yet) worked with backs. Can I assume similar handling and functionality as with DSLM bodies? I mean something like battery life, liveview, precise focusing ... or do I need additional equipment? Where can I find good ways of getting to know something? I'm a bit in the dark here - unfortunately photokina & Co. don't exist any more and there are no special seminars in my area either.
CCD backs would rely on ground glass for composing and focusing but results are worth the effort, as the tone is akin to film if that floats your boat, anything other than 50/100/150 mp backs are most likely CCD based.

CMOS back will give you the similar functions as DLSM bodies, liveview, phase detect focus etc., but trade off are the extra work needed for the less clinical look. Hasselblad has great colours in this regard but Phocus could be another headache if you are used to C1.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
CCD backs would rely on ground glass for composing and focusing but results are worth the effort, as the tone is akin to film if that floats your boat, anything other than 50/100/150 mp backs are most likely CCD based.
One BIG difference between digital and film is the ability to compose and focus by iteration. When I was using a CCD back, it was guess-shoot-examine-repeat. It worked surprisingly quickly and well, even with tilt, specially as the captured image could be examined at 100% on the back's LCD. Phase One backs also have a focus mask that is focus peaking, but only applied to the captured image.
 
Thanks Stefan, that's really kind of you. Yes I think maybe sticking with film feels easier at this point 😅 and seems to be working well for me, maybe an x2d for jobs where I don't need movements will work for now. I might go into digidirect and compare the 100s and 100ii this week and see if i feel like it could work for me, the 100s would certainly save me some money if I do like it, I just feel like the x2d would be more of a nice experience to use vs just being a tool. But I could be wrong!
yes i went into specular the other week and they said they should have a 30mm to test out soon, they just don't have a 100s body to compare. i don't really care too much about the autofocus on the new version but i have to work out if the viewfinder is worth an extra $6K
How do you find the quality of the canon tilt shifts adapted vs the native 32-64mm?
No worries at all, the offer is there if you want to test it out.. :)

Not sure if it has been mentioned here but I thought that the Canon TS-E lenses could be used on the X1D?


You are limited to Electronic Shutter but would possibly be ok for your style of work.

You of course miss the 30mm TS-E of the GFX, which is a pretty useful focal length..

Like many others on here, you can also hope/wait that Hassy brings out their 100mpx backlit sensor DB sometime soon.
 

corvus

Active member
One BIG difference between digital and film is the ability to compose and focus by iteration. When I was using a CCD back, it was guess-shoot-examine-repeat. It worked surprisingly quickly and well, even with tilt, specially as the captured image could be examined at 100% on the back's LCD. Phase One backs also have a focus mask that is focus peaking, but only applied to the captured image.
I would like to pick up here again. Thanks to this exciting tread, I've started to look into digital backs a bit more so that I might one day trade in my FF-DSLM - I've read instructions and searched for videos. What is not quite clear to me is the handling of the lenses/lens shutters in relation to the respective DB. As far as I know, the electronic shutter is only available from IQ3 (only at 100MP), with which each lens can be used independently or the liveview works like with a DSLM. But what about IQ1 and IQ2 models or the hasselblad CFV? Would this always require synchronization via cable - both for copal and Schneider-ES?
 

diggles

Well-known member
The HBLD CFV II 50C has electronic shutter capability, I would assume that the 100C will as well. As far as I know, with Phase One, only the IQ3 100 and IQ4 150 have electronic shutter.
 

RodK

Active member
thanks Victor

Hi Victor, great, what lenses are you using with your M-Two? I have read that with my f classic by removing the rear standard to put the rotafoot on I will then loose fall as it’s located on the rear standard vs beneath. With the M-Two and universalis can you shoot film too? Might mean swapping the body out.
They do look larger and heavier than the 6x9 classic so it’s interesting that they are lighter.

do you know what the widest lens is for achieving infinity focus?
 
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