Just received the Alpa 12+ from CI. Thanks Steve! Here is a first impressions review. There are many things I really like, and a few things I don’t.
First, why? I’ve been raving and loving my STC for the last 9 years. Not to worry, the STC will still get plenty of work. There are three reasons for my interest in the 12+:
- Shift and rise/fall together: The STC can do both, but not at the same time. As most of you know, I like doing 2-image stitches to make panoramas. That means the STC is oriented for shift. If I want to keep things vertical while shifting and move the horizon up or down, I am forced to point the camera up or down with the STC.
- Another 2mm: The STC movement is +-18mm. 12+ is +-20mm. That changes the pano dimension from 9:4 to 7:3 (2.25:1 vs 2.33:1). Not a big difference, and certainly within cropping range. But, I hope to put those 2mm to good use with the imminent (?) arrival of the 138 float.
- My STC is getting long in the tooth: It still works fine with no issues, but I want it to outlast me; I can’t imagine ever parting with it. I’ve often thought about getting a second one (right, Steve Hendrix?) but getting the 12+ instead seemed to make more sense. The STC will become my backpacking/long hike kit. STC, IQ back, 60xl and 138 float. The 12+ will be for most everything else.
First Impressions
Comes with a very nice Optech pouch. Really cool. Too bad it will sit in my closet except when the 12+ goes back to the mother ship for cleaning/calibration 5 years from now. That new plastic cover is really light. 16 grams light. Much better than the old flat covers @ 54 grams. I will apologize upfront for being a gram counter; more on that later.
(it doesn’t come with that ugly bright orange cord; I added that)
That stitching adapter is one serious block of aluminum. I was debating whether to get it or not, but I am glad I did. It tops the scales at only 72 grams and it does not create problems for my packing arrangement. It will essentially be permanently mounted.
As usual, well-designed and beautifully made. Each movement has some sort of bump-stop dampener that seems to work really well. Reminds me of new cabinets that you can throw shut and they put the brakes on just before closing. We will see how they fare over time with saltwater, sand and cold.
The dampeners
Packing
I was worried about the added size and weight of the 12+, especially size. I was hoping it would fit vertically in the backpack, and it does, barely! It is a square 184mm / 7-1/4”. For this kit I will use the ThinkTank/MindShift “Stash Master 13L." Essentially a F-stop ICU that is just slightly deeper at 7.1 inches vs the pro ICU’s at 6.5 inches. The pack I use is plenty deep enough to handle the fraction of an inch it sticks up above the insert. However, if you look at how the wooden grips are mounted on the 12+, they add significant width because they wrap around the edge of the camera. Alas, no rosewood in this Alpa’s future. Now you understand why I added the ugly orange cord. With bare hands there are plenty of handholds for good grip. On the other hand, mittens are warm but not known for their tenacious grip on expensive hunks of aluminum.
Here is the kit in the backpack. Clockwise from top left: IQ4150 w/17mm adapter, towels, sk60xl, Rodenstock loupe, sk150, 12+ with 17mm tilt adapter, 35xl under the sk90, 17mm adapter (for the 138mm). The 138 float will replace the sk150 in the bottom right corner – it stands almost exactly as tall as the 150mm: ~5-1//4”. It uses a total 51mm of adapters, so the 17mm tilt (already on the front of the 12+) and the 34mm added to the back of the 12+ will get me there and should be pretty well balanced.
The bubble levels at each corner are nice and add a finishing touch to the symmetrical design of the 12+. One of my pet peeves is bubble levels that are not well calibrated. The levels in my Arca Swiss Cube are accurate, but not on my tripods or on the Alpa STC. I am happy to report all four levels on this 12+ are dead on. Well done!
My primary criticism is the “flippers” on the camera are difficult to reach compared to the long-wing design on the STC. Especially on the front where I have the 17mm tilt adapter mounted. The only time I will remove it is with the 35xl, which I don’t use all that much. Still, my fat fingers really have to work at getting them open. I don’t think gloves will work well at all. The flippers on the back side are a bit more accessible, but still takes some dexterity and care. And, that’s the DB mount that I prefer not to drop. Part of my difficulty is because the flippers are on the right side, which means holding the DB in your left hand while operating the flippers with your right. I am right-handed, so picking up the DB in my left hand will take some re-training. I don’t like swapping anything from one hand to another; that is when things tend to take flight.
Also, the rear shift mechanism is inverted from the STC. The 12+ controls are bottom left; STC top right:
Nothing wrong with that, just more work re-training my hands. I keep trying to push the brass lever up to disengage the gear.
It’s already up – push it down, Dave. I could flip the camera around and rotate it 90 degrees; that would place the horizontal shift mechanism on top. Hmm…
Very thoughtful adding rise/fall mm scale to the back of the stitching adapter. Makes the Shift Scale Stick unnecessary (I wouldn’t use it anyway). For those not familiar, the stitching adapter is not required to shift-rise/fall, but helpful. It moves the tripod mount from the camera to the “front standard” so when implementing rise/fall, the lens stays in place while the camera / DB moves up and down. It helps with a few things:
- Just like with mirrorless or DSLR cameras, long lenses should be mounted directly to the tripod, not hanging off the front of the camera mount. Kind of like a tripod foot.
- Although only a few millimeters, the lens doesn’t move when implementing rise fall or horizontal shift, so perspective never changes.
- As mentioned above, there is a scale on the stitching adapter, so you know how much rise/fall is dialed in without having to walk around to the front of the camera.
There are two disadvantages to using the stitching adapter: The previously mentioned weight, and the real estate it takes up in the pack. It would not be practical to attach / detach it every time, so you have to figure out how to pack the camera with it mounted. Compared to a typical RRS mount it sticks out an additional ~3/4”. That dedicates 8-1/2” x 7-1/4” for the camera. If you want to keep the DB mounted it is going to take up a lot of room.
Weight
I’ve dedicated the last 9 years to keeping my kit on a strict diet. A lot of that just went out the window:
- STC vs 12+: 712 grams to 1144 grams. That’s basically a pound. Those are “pack weights,” meaning it includes covers, straps, grips, RRS plates, stitching plates, everything. Because I could carry the STC with 60xl and DB mounted, I didn’t need extra covers. That makes it worse for the 12+.
- The 138 float will add another pound. All that pushes my camera equipment from 4623 to 5481 grams (not counting tripod, pack and non-camera equipment). 12 lbs isn’t bad, but it is a big step in the wrong direction. Again, long hikes and overnights will still be the STC’s job.
Workflow
Changes to my workflow are solely relative to the STC:
The primary change is packing the camera with nothing attached. The STC had the 60xl/17t adapter and DB mounted in the pack. Looking back at 2019, my lens choice is split pretty evenly between 60, 90 and 150mm. That means two-thirds of the time I was removing the 60xl, mounting the 90 or 150mm, and adding a second 17mm adapter to the back of the camera. Storing the camera disassembled will actually reduce the steps I go through to take images when using longer lenses. Obviously, the 60xl will now require complete assembly.
No more having to rotate the camera to perform horizontal shifts vs rise/fall. That should be a welcome change, although with the RRS quick release clamp it is pretty effortless to rotate the STC. Of course, camera rotation often means DB rotation to get back to landscape orientation. I should be rotating the DB less often.
STC oriented for front rise/fall vs 12+; no need to rotate!
I am looking forward to employing both horizontal back shift for panos and using rise/fall to keep the perspective aligned. The sk90 will be limited by the image circle, but the 60xl and the future 138 float should be fine shifting L/R 20mm combined with up to 10mm of rise/fall. That would be an IC of 107mm.
Dave
I will probably live though haha. Looking forward to seeing some pics with it, and pics of that 138 when it comes in too 
