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4x5 adapter for graflok back for use with sony a7r

psy501

New member
..hello to all..

..maybe i should post this in the large format department, but i try to start here..
..it is a coincidence that chiek shows this http://www.getdpi.com/forum/sony/49962-making-compact-technical-camera-a7-a7r.html in his thread..by the way..impressive idea..

..as i own a speed graphic camera and have been looking for a while now to get an adapter that allows me to use my a7r to stitch (most of) the 4x5 photo area i only could find some that allow to stitch one row which results in a remarkably smaller scan area from some chinese sellers on the bay..there also is a back from fotodiox which allows to scan two rows including some overlap, but firstly the scanned area is also not enough for me as i want to capture the character of the lens used in the format the lens was calculated for and secondly its quite expensive for about 500 dollars..

..so i am highly interested in chieks product and am thinking about ordering one but having the speed graphic in my drawer i would prefer to use that one..given there is an adapter that i can really work with..

..oh, and i know there are the betterlight scanning backs, but they are much too expensive for me..:(..and also not that convenient to use in the field..

..all thoughts and suggestions highly welcome..

..thx a lot in advance, erik..
 

W.Utsch

Member
Thats what i am looking for too.
Have a Linhof 4x5 and International Back and searching a back for the A7R, something like the Rhionocam, which seems not to work with the A7.
 

psy501

New member
..hmmm..thx for the link..but if i get it right it also only allows to stitch horizontally..what i am looking for or also am willing to try to build is an adapter that allows for scanning (almost) the full 4x5 area that is projected onto the ground glass..



I think that this 4x5 model is now available for Sony E mount cameras. I recently ordered a similar Sony E mount plate for my 6x9 field camera.

https://www.badgergraphic.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=2859
 

psy501

New member
..as far as i know not one that lets you get near the area that is projected onto e ground glass..unfortunately..it just doesnt make sense to me to stitch a 6x9 cm image if the 4x5 inch image is what delivers the characteristics of the lens used..



Are there any made for other cameras that you can use with an adaptor?
 

psy501

New member
..yes..something like the rhinocam with an (almost) 4x5 inch stitching area..thats what i am looking for..:)

Thats what i am looking for too.
Have a Linhof 4x5 and International Back and searching a back for the A7R, something like the Rhionocam, which seems not to work with the A7.
 

scho

Well-known member
The A7r can be mounted to a Rhinocam plate in landscape orientation, but the larger grip does not allow rotation for portrait mode shooting. I was able to shoot 8 images (4x2) in landscape orientation which yielded a 148 mp (15601x9505) stitched image file. Used a Hasselblad 80mm f/2.8 Planar on the Rhinocam.
Stitched image from Autopano Pro 3, each exposure was 4sec @ f/11, iso 100.



Three 100% crops:





 

psy501

New member
..i had thought about the rhinocam for a long time, but as i own a chamonix f1 and some decent lenses for it i let the rhinocam be..

..i see the technical troubles in contructing a 4x5 adapter that lets you stitch the whole (or most of) the 4x5 area and also fitting it into a graflok back..

..but hey..we have been to the moon (at least they tell us so..:D) so there must be a solution possible..i am just not very gifted in mechanics and building things..:angel:
 

f6cvalkyrie

Well-known member
Hi,

I use one of these on my SINAR f (4x5) :
Widepan 4 X 5 Large Format TO Digital Capture Back Adapter FOR Cannon | eBay

I adapt my E-M5 via a Nikon F adapter, cheap from EBay
I use the vertical shift from the SINAR backpost to create 3 horizontal rows and I need 6 shots (portrait position of the E-M5) to cover the width of the 4x5

Thus, in 18 shots, I cover more or less the whole 4x5 area.

This is an example, the original shot is 14733 x 8792 pixel and "weight" is 926 MB, resized for the purpose of sharing ...



and 100% crop


(Quick and dirty shot in the garden, taken all of 15min for shooting and PP)

C U
Rafael
 

psy501

New member
..well..thats great..
..i had not wasted a thought on rear movements..
..but what if my camera doesnt provide rear shift..?..:facesmack: ;)

..over in chieks thread there is an alpa stitching adapter mentioned..

..well..maybe i just should use FILM..:D
 

Stefan Steib

Active member
I had a nostalgic push recently when I saw Chiek cutting the GX680, so I pulled out my largeformat (Plaubel peco Profia Z) stuff and brought it (well at least my smallest, the 4x5" back to life after maybe 10 years in the storage.

I found this Nex to 4x5 sliding adapter for a good price from china

Moveable Camera Adapter F Sony Nex To Linhof Sinar Toyo Wista Horseman 4*5 | eBay

this has the adavantage to save another 26mm of adapter depth if you use another DSLR sliding adapter. I have rebought a full bag of japanese Nikkor W´s and Fuji SWD´s now to rerun the LF I am also looking for an RZ adapter.
(I had sold all my LF Rodie glass long ago when they were still expensive....)

This is a reminiscence to my first self made Digitalcamera back in 1996, glad I had all this stuff hangin around, cause I was not able to sell it, would have broken my heart.

so that should enable multishots with minimum 60x80mm (probably 8shots) on the RZ lenses and 100x200mm (and more- probably28-30 shots) with a whopping over 1 Gigapixel)..........:cool:

I´ll report about the results.
Nothing for a hurry, but will come steadily....
 

chiek

New member
wow, leaf DCB2 and tricolor wheel !
It's my first digital back, However actually the first was scanback.

I've designed similar project yours. but just only my heads..
after my gx680/a7 project, I will make it.

I'm looking forward your project.
thanks,
JK
 

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
If you don't mind me saying so, I have a feeling it could be a mutually very beneficial cooperation if you both, Stefan and Chiek, would consider throwing both your brains into a common project/business proposal.

Now, where is Thierry Hagenauer?

Get him on board as well!

...ahem... cough cough... I am serious! :)
 

Stefan Steib

Active member
what you don´t see there: this Plaubel had an electronic Horseman ISS backlens shutter - using size 3 - that was state of the art at that time,easily matching the sinar but for maybe 1/3 the price. I could use Pentax 6/7 or Hasselblad lenses. The possible Movements were quite spectacular and- the DCBII Live was only a small chip, so only the very center of the lenses was used.

Sweetspotting...... :)

Georg, I had contacted Chiek the moment I saw his 680 !! ....:)
And Thierry lives close to my place in Schaffhausen, we do FB regularly...
Even Better I am now in close contact with Markus Michelberger from Mirex and I do work with Novoflex in memmingen for some years now.

We are breeding.....

Greetings from beautiful Allgäu
Stefan
 

scho

Well-known member
The A7r can be mounted to a Rhinocam plate in landscape orientation, but the larger grip does not allow rotation for portrait mode shooting. I was able to shoot 8 images (4x2) in landscape orientation which yielded a 148 mp (15601x9505) stitched image file. Used a Hasselblad 80mm f/2.8 Planar on the Rhinocam.
Stitched image from Autopano Pro 3, each exposure was 4sec @ f/11, iso 100.
I removed the Rhinocam ground glass preview screen that was obstructing the A7r and now it works fine. Simply remove 4 small screws and the ground glass unit pops right off. If you need the screen for composition it can easily be put back on after mounting and rotating the A7r into shooting position. I posted a test sample pano consisting of 8 shots stitched and cropped to produce a 133 MP file.
 

psy501

New member
I had a nostalgic push recently when I saw Chiek cutting the GX680, so I pulled out my largeformat (Plaubel peco Profia Z) stuff and brought it (well at least my smallest, the 4x5" back to life after maybe 10 years in the storage.

I found this Nex to 4x5 sliding adapter for a good price from china

Moveable Camera Adapter F Sony Nex To Linhof Sinar Toyo Wista Horseman 4*5 | eBay

this has the adavantage to save another 26mm of adapter depth if you use another DSLR sliding adapter. I have rebought a full bag of japanese Nikkor W´s and Fuji SWD´s now to rerun the LF I am also looking for an RZ adapter.
(I had sold all my LF Rodie glass long ago when they were still expensive....)

This is a reminiscence to my first self made Digitalcamera back in 1996, glad I had all this stuff hangin around, cause I was not able to sell it, would have broken my heart.

so that should enable multishots with minimum 60x80mm (probably 8shots) on the RZ lenses and 100x200mm (and more- probably28-30 shots) with a whopping over 1 Gigapixel)..........:cool:

I´ll report about the results.
Nothing for a hurry, but will come steadily....
..very, very cool indeed..

..thx for the link to the ebay adapter..i had seen that one also..
..problem for me is that instead of shifting the front to get most of the 4x5 area i would hihgly prefer to find a solution to get (most) of the picture composition i have on the gg of my chamonix into the a7 without altering the lenses characteristics by shifting..
..but this seems to not be so easy..

..anyway, shifting for multirows of course works..

..looking forward to the results of the breeding..:)..
 
Hi Scho,
With regards to the Rhinocam, I am just wondering how the alignment points work given that it is using the larger full frame A7R?

Do you require less stitches? Or do you do the same amount of stitches and there is just more overlap?

If using the Groundglass, is the image seen in the GG the same?

Ok, thanks so much.
 

scho

Well-known member
Hi Scho,
With regards to the Rhinocam, I am just wondering how the alignment points work given that it is using the larger full frame A7R?

Do you require less stitches? Or do you do the same amount of stitches and there is just more overlap?

If using the Groundglass, is the image seen in the GG the same?

Ok, thanks so much.
I just used the marked set points for portrait orientation shooting, 4 images in two rows. Since the points are calibrated for the smaller NEX sensor there is more overlap between frames. I didn't use the ground glass for previewing this first test, but I will do a comparison later.
 
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