Arca Swiss F-Metric Questions

I just received a new ARCA SWISS F-METRIC 4*5 from BH PHOTO. I have

some questions about it:

 

1. There are a few scratches on the front and rear standard. And the

coating of the stardard base seems to be uneven and different from

the coating of the standard and the rail. Is this normal?

 

2. The F-metric comes with a telescopic rail. I find it difficult to

calculate the distance between the two standards when the two halves

of the ruler are apart. Is there any efficient way to do the

calculation?

 

3. I heard on the Arca Swiss Discover model there is sound to remind

the user when the standard returns to the "zero" position. But how

come there is no sound on the f-metric?

 

4. The rear standard tilts backward sometimes when I pull the back

to loading a film back. Am I loading the film back in the wrong way?

 

5. F-metric vs. Sinar P2 in shooting table top still life,

architecture and scenary, any opinion?

 

6. Will the MICRO-METRIC OBBIX bring me a lot of convenience?

 

I ordered this camera from BH Photo. The special order took 6 weeks.

It is my first time using a large format camera. Previously I used

Nikon F100, FM2 and Hasselblad 501cm. The impression f-metric gave

me is that its finish is not as good as expected, not as good as the

cameras I used before. Appreciate if any one can give me some useful

infomation. Thanks.

Pan, was the camera still sealed/plastic-wrapped in the original box? It sound like someone has has a good old play with it (and not gently). I haven't managed to cause any scratches in a year of use. Are the scratches actually through the coating or are they just marks that rub off? The anodised coating on the aluminium will look different to the coated steel components (none should be uneven). Machining/finish should be exceptional.

 

If your rear standard is moving, then you haven't locked down the rear base tilt. The orbix front axis tilt is one of best time-saving features on a view camera (equal perhaps to the reflex viewer), as dialling in a few degrees of front tilt takes almost no time and can be done wilst adjusting focus.

I agree with Steven. I have a Discovery, and the fit and finish is much better than I expected. I thought that as A/S's "economy" model, it might be manufactured to less exacting standards than the rest of the F-line, but it doesn't appear to be. It is machined extremely well, and the controls are all silky smooth except shift, which is a little clunkier than the other movements (and the Discovery standards have a different shift control than the regular F-line standards, so it might be smooth on the other models). They could charge 1.5x as much as they do for a Discovery and it would still be a terrific bargain.

 

To answer your questions from my perspective:

 

(1) I have no scratches on my front or rear standards that I'm aware of. Also, I haven't noticed anything about the coating of the standards versus that of the rail.

 

(2) I don't know about the telescoping rail. I considered it, but settled on the stock Discovery rail and a rail extension.

 

(3) There's no sound at the zero position, just a "feel-able" detent. The controls are nice and precise -- you can make a minute adjustment near the zero position and it doesn't spring back to zero, yet when you want to zero it, the detent is easy to feel. The Discovery has non-geared movements except rear focus. Perhaps for geared movements like on your F-metric there's no detent?

 

(4) It is not normal for the rear to tilt when you put in the film holder. It sounds like you've left rear tilt unlocked.

 

(5) and (6) No opinion on these, except that the F-metric and P2 seem a little heavy to be carrying around to shoot scenery.

I have a 4x5 F-metric, too - the finish is really nice, although IMHO it wears off (esp. at the edges) very easily - the old chromed cameras like e.g. Sinar Norma, Linhof Kardan Bi etc. seem to be much more robust in this respect.<br>

Another thing that gets off much too easy for such an expensive camera (IMHO, of course) is the metered scale on the rail for measuring standard extension - this scale is simply glued to the rail, and came off after short use. I've seen this on a few used F-line cameras, so it might be a common problem - but it can be fixed very easy by applying a bit of glue.<br>

The F-metric has of course zero detents for all movements, but they are only feelable and don't click. Just actuate the movement slowly, and you'll feel the soft click!<br>

I like the micrometer Orbix a lot, because it gives you center-tilt (which many believe a bit easier to adjust, depending on personal working habits), and it makes very tiny adjustments more precise.<br>

However, at my camera some screws at the bottom of the front standard came loose, leading to a feelable play in the front standard (this was also very easy to correct with a screw driver).<br>

In addition, the micro orbix dovetail itself had a tad too much play for my (rather stiff) taste, but this is also adjustable.<br>

If you prefer ultimate standard stability (e.g. for very heavy lenses), the camera w/o micro orbix might be better for you.<br>

Refering weight, I had an F-line basic before the metric, and I think the metric is at maximum 100g heavier - certainly much, much lighter than a P2 and absolutely portable!

Hi everyone thanks for the answer. After a careful check I found that the "scratches" are actually some kind of dirt sticked on the coating, looks like kind of rubber. And the "uneven coating" is because there was some lubricant went out to the surface. I easily got rid of both using a wet cloth.