The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Mirrorless body for stitching

Not sure if this is the right part of the forum, but...

I am contemplating getting a body for use with my telescope and for attaching to a 5x4 lens panel to try my hand at stitching. My 'scope won't focus close enough to allow a DSLR to be used, but I should be OK with a mirrorless body.

I started to wonder if there was any particular body that would be better for stitching than others. Some of the parameters I came up with were:

1) Sensor size/Flange distance/Mount internal diameter.
Which would be the best system/format to use? I am thinking along the lines of achieving the most movement; which system allows greatest sensor visibility when shifted? I am struggling to find data related to bayonet sizes. Maybe I just haven't looked in the right place yet!
Is this even relevant? Does the colour shift caused by the microprisms come into effect far before vignetting becomes a problem?

2) Related to point 1, to get the best angles it would need as thin a grip as possible so it can be mounted as close to the lens board as it can. The smaller an extension tube I can get away with the better.

3) Resolution isn't really important; I'll be using film lenses anyway. Perhaps bigger pixels would be more appropriate.

Any recommendations?
Am I overthinking the whole thing and I should just get on with it? :)
 

foveon

Member
I started to wonder if there was any particular body that would be better for stitching than others
Maybe I dont get you, but you need a kind of shifting back, stiching is done by shifting the back and not the camera.
Also I am not clear with My 'scope won't focus close enough to allow a DSLR to be used the flange distance of mirrorless bodies is maybe the half of an SLR.
 
My apologies for being terse, it is my way. I frequently don't say enough to make myself understood properly!

Maybe I dont get you, but you need a kind of shifting back, stiching is done by shifting the back and not the camera.
I'll be using a 'full' 5x4, so I can just use a lens panel and make use of the normal back shift.

Also I am not clear with My 'scope won't focus close enough to allow a DSLR to be used the flange distance of mirrorless bodies is maybe the half of an SLR.
The problem with the 'scope is that it won't allow a DSLR to move close enough to the tube to achieve infinity focus without taking a saw to the focussing rack. A mirrorless body should give me an extra 20mm or so over a DSLR.
 

foveon

Member
So, I am here again with some basic sketches to understand your goal.
first one showes the parts of a 4x5 camera, second one shows what I think your intention is.

Without closer information I see the main problem will be the "image circle" which depends on the adapter between scope and 4x5 camera.

But before more discussion look at my sketches and tell me if my interpretation of your intention is is correct and what parts of the 4x5 camera you want to use.
 
I'm afraid my lack of explanation has struck once again... :eek:

The question is merely to find the most appropriate mirrorless back for use with a 5x4 camera under *normal* stitching usage.

The only reason I mentioned the telescope was to give the reason why it had to be a mirrorless back, and not a DSLR. Perhaps I should have left that out of the original question.

Sorry for any confusion caused. :eek: :eek: :eek:
 

foveon

Member
LF guys are used to confusion^^,
so I am still a liitle confused.
You want "a body for (........) attaching to a 5x4 lens panel".
So where will you shift?
I just looked at my Cambo studio camera, its 5x7 and has shift about 2 cm in all directions, so with shifting the back you cannot fill the 4x5 frame.
To shift more around on your back you need an adapter between back and camera instead of the filmholder.
If you just look for a flat camera that you can easy attach to whatever you want, look for a Sony A 5100 eg.
 
I hadn't considered that. I was thinking the shift adapter was for cameras with little rear movement, not that it was to be used in addition to the camera movement.

My Toyo G would give me 70mm of horizontal movement, to which you would add 2 half sensor widths (one for each side).
That would give me about 94mm of horizontal image (assuming APS-C) without the shift adapter.

What effective sensor sizes are others achieving using this technique, before they run into vignetting or colour shift problems?
 
...of course I mean vignetting caused by the bayonet mount. ;)

Maybe it's not an issue - as I said, I'm having difficulty finding the specifications.
 

scho

Well-known member
You could also consider using something like the Cambo Actus with a digital mirrorless body and either LF or MF lenses. Gives you shift/tilt/swing capability and 80+ MP output using a Sony A7r.
 
You could also consider using something like the Cambo Actus with a digital mirrorless body and either LF or MF lenses. Gives you shift/tilt/swing capability and 80+ MP output using a Sony A7r.
I haven't seen that before. That's really cute! Not badly priced, either.
And looks a great deal easier to carry in the field!

I might still have to experiment with my own kit first, though - to make sure it is something I want to be doing, and results are what I expect.
 
You can use it with a Nikon/Canon adapter with pretty much any of the mirrorless cameras such as the A7 series if you want the megapixels.
I don't think I need mega megapixels, but thinking about it an FF might be better from the point of view of pixel size. Using FF would also mean having less shots to take to cover the same image area.
I would still like to be sure, however, that vignetting from the bayonet mount (+ whatever is required to mount it) isn't a problem.
 
I would still like to be sure, however, that vignetting from the bayonet mount ... isn't a problem.
Looking at front view piccies of the A7R, it looks like you can't even see the whole of the sensor from the front (at 90 degrees) without the bayonet getting in the way.
 
foveon said:
IMO just lense issues^^
I've just realised that foveon's post about vignetting will be correct.

The further off centre the sensor is moved, the more <mount> vignetting will occur on the inner edge of the sensor, and LESS on the edge further away from the lens. This means of course that the info lost on the inner edge will be covered by the stitched shot alongside.

Phew! I think my brain has finally caught up.

Only took a few days. :facesmack:
 

foveon

Member
I have tried a Nikon DSLR with a homemade adapter on my Cambo and there was no vignetting from the mount; to be on the safe side use an APS-C body with full-format mount.
 
Top