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Sony A7R III with Canon Tilt Shift TS-E Lenses vs Cambo Actus

Hi All,

Just curious of anyones experience with and of these combos?

I've used various view cameras over the years fairly regularly in the studio. Lots of product photography.

I understand the pros and cons of each systems range of movements, etc. Will be shooting tethered to C1 most of the time.

Currently have an Actus DB for use with my IQ100 back...works pretty well.

Looking for a second setup to use with my Sony A7R III system.

There's two routes I'd consider going:

Option 1 - Newer style Canon TS-E lenses. 17mm, 24mm II, new 90mm II, 135mm. With the Metabones or Sigma adapter

Option 2 - Actus adapter with high quality Rodenstock (I have a 90mm HR and 72mm APO currently) or Schneider lenses.

Just hoping someone out there uses one of these options fairly regularly with no odd issues.

If the canon lenses work great (no weird color casts, micro lens issues, etc.), I might prefer this route. When I was a Canon shooter, I was impressed with the current gen TS-E lenses. I'm hoping they play well with the Sony.

I plan to do some renting and testing...but if one of these options is not ideal I'll cross it off the list.

Thanks!

Jordan
 

MrSmith

Member
i use a combo actus/sony A7RII with schneider digitars and some rodagon enlarging lenses, i also own the 24TSE II and older version of the T-SE90 (had the 45 too buts its rubbish so sold it)
i shoot mainly still life with it but have used it on location.

i feel the digitars despite being older lenses are far superior to any 35mm based prime from canon/nikon/sony-zeiss though i haven’t used an Otus or sigma art prime.
they are slightly more flare prone then a 35mm system prime. you will have to chose wisely around the 24-45mm range though due to infinity focus issues, i haven’t investigated the options at those lengths as i stop at 60mm (tried a 45 schneider but it will not focus) and have the 24TSE and sigma adapter if i want wide. i may try the new 50mm canon TSE and see how it holds up.
i always viewed the old 90 TSE as a very good lens and a cut above most other canon primes, i used to have different sharpening presets for that lens as it was sharper overall than anything i owned at the time.

i’m not after ‘character’ or bokeh just sharpness, low C/A and a big image circle, something schneider and rodenstock do well, and for my work a better option than system prime or shift lens as i do use swing/tilt/shift a lot plus close to near macro. its also very easy to stack with an actus, i do it manually and never get any gaps in the stack.

the actus is one of the best purchases i made for my work, great value too compared to the likes of alpa etc.
 
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