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Leaf Credo leveling tool is off... anyway to fix it ?

archivue

Active member
i'm testing a credo 60 (second hand), but i've found out that the leveling tool is completely off by a wide margin... 99% of my images being levelled...

is there any way to fix it ? calibration ?
 

archivue

Active member
i've found this : but can't find the way to doing it !

Calibration of Virtual Level

One of the Credo’s best features is its virtual level with roll and pitch calculation. The Leaf Credo was also the first out of the current digital backs to allow for user calibration of the level: meaning if there is a specific angle which the photographer intends to take the image, the photographer can zero the level to that angle which allows for easy recognition of any deviation.
 

cly

Member
A curious question: Is the virtual horizon on the Credo working properly if you rotate the back on your tech cam? What I mean is: The back is mounted in landscape orientation, the camera is leveled, the virtual horizon is calibrated and shows 0/0. If you detach the back and remount it in portrait orientation - does the virtual horizon still say 0/0 (as it should)?

Chris
 

archivue

Active member
A curious question: Is the virtual horizon on the Credo working properly if you rotate the back on your tech cam? What I mean is: The back is mounted in landscape orientation, the camera is leveled, the virtual horizon is calibrated and shows 0/0. If you detach the back and remount it in portrait orientation - does the virtual horizon still say 0/0 (as it should)?

Chris
Nope !

Keep in mind, that it's really precise, and the sensor is mounted in the back / the back is mounted on a plate / the plate is mounted on the camera !
you can use virtual horizon... or value
when in vertical it says 90 and 0, the in horizontal = -0.6 and 1.2
 

cly

Member
Nope !

Keep in mind, that it's really precise, and the sensor is mounted in the back / the back is mounted on a plate / the plate is mounted on the camera !
you can use virtual horizon... or value
when in vertical it says 90 and 0, the in horizontal = -0.6 and 1.2
Thanks! It was like this on a couple of IQ140 I had access to, same on one IQ260, same on one IQ250. And it's not a mounting problem of the back which one can easily show by superimposing images made in the two orientations.

The virtual horizon is a great idea but meanwhile I'm quite sure that PhaseOne's technical implementation sucks. (I once shot myself into my foot by relying on the virtual horizon when working in near darkness. I use a small spirit level again :)

Chris
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
I found that the level on my IQ260 was way, way less stable and reliable than my IQ160 was. We even swapped out my first IQ260 under warranty because it would constantly wander and jump 1-2 degrees when securely mounted. The replacement was a little better but still not great and definitely unlike the IQ160 where I could set up the level once and in use it would stay at zero or at most slowly drift maybe 0.1 degrees. The new one seems over sensitive to me.

I fear that we hope for a bogus level of accuracy when using the fine digital display read out and it's best to be practical and use the larger graphical display.

If you want the ultimate definition of frustration then try matching your camera body level with the back, the tripod head and tripod levels. Consistently. You might do it once but I challenge you to do it again.
 

cly

Member
If you want the ultimate definition of frustration then try matching your camera body level with the back, the tripod head and tripod levels. Consistently. You might do it once but I challenge you to do it again.
no no no, been there ...

(One of the levels of my cube is off by a few degrees, so it's useless. One of the levels in my Max isn't terribly accurate as well. But, much to my surprise, the levels in the RRS clamps, small as they are, are pretty much in agreement with the small spirit level I regularly put on top of the Max.)

Chris
 

archivue

Active member
The virtual horizon is a great idea but meanwhile I'm quite sure that PhaseOne's technical implementation sucks.

Chris
Do you think that the sensor isn't totally align with the back itself ? or the level isn't perfect ?
 

cly

Member
Do you think that the sensor isn't totally align with the back itself ? or the level isn't perfect ?
To me, it's clearly a problem of the sensor(s) in the back which is/are measuring the orientation. I have no idea why they are off if you rotate the back by 90 degrees. I can't imagine that they can move inside the back :)

It's definitely not a problem of the back mount or the adapter, at least on my camera. If it was, this would be visible when overlaying images taken in both orientations as they would not align.

Chris
 

archivue

Active member
It's definitely not a problem of the back mount or the adapter, at least on my camera. If it was, this would be visible when overlaying images taken in both orientations as they would not align.

Chris
things are complicate at the top ;-)
 

yaya

Active member
Chances are that when you remove and remount the back you are moving the camera a bit, which will explain small errors.
 

cly

Member
Chances are that when you remove and remount the back you are moving the camera a bit, which will explain small errors.
Sure, but the problem is replicable and got nothing to do with a possibly moving tripod or camera. There are user errors which are quite easy to check :)

Chris
 
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