903 SWC - sample images using digital back

Does anyone have any sample images from a SWC using a digital back?

Is the digital back even out yet?

What do you mean, "out yet"?<br>There have been digital backs that fit any Hasselblad for many, many years.<br><br>Whether any digital back will work well with a lens sitting so near it, corners rays hitting the sensor under quite an angle, is another matter.<br>However, since sensors still are small, and don't actually reach into the corners, it may be o.k. to use a digital back on a SWC. I don't know. Sorry!

I took my SWC to the Photokina to try just that. But no manufacturer was nice enough to let me test it with their backs. It will come down to what Q.G. said, the larger the sensor, the bigger the vignetting problem may be.

 

Ulrik

Unless it is a full-frame 6x6 sensor--and there aren't any of those available yet--what

would be the point? The reduced FOV that would result from using a smaller than full-

size sensor would eliminate one of the most desirable qualities of this lens-camera, its

wide field of view and its remarkable edge-to-edge sharpness with minimal distortion.

Chris,<br><br>The limited sensor size will indeed lead to a smaller FOV. But it does that with all lenses. Would that make using <i>any</i> lens pointless? ;-)<br><br>Think of it this way, to get the widest possible field of view, you will have to use the shortest lens available. No matter how wide, or narrow that widest possible field of view may be.<br>Since the 38 mm Biogon or the 40 mm Distagon are the shortest (rectilinear) lenses available, they are the obvious things to use.<br>So there's the point. And i can't help it, but it makes a lot of sense to me. ;-)

I don't doubt that it could be done, or that even a useful and pleasing result could be

obtained from that sort of combination, but the result would necessarily lose the one great

advantage of the 38mm Biogon unless, of course, there is available a full-frame sensor.

The same could be said of any lens combined with a digital sensor (or for that matter,

even a film format) that is less in area than the film format for which the lens has been

designed. You get the FOV of a longer focal length (with the DOF of shorter focal length),

a center crop. It is probably going to be as wide an angle view as is possible for the

format in digital, if that is any comfort. But it won't have the dramatic effect of the 90 deg.

FOV on film. Don't get me wrong, I really like digital, but the SWC is still in its fullest

capacity a film camera.

 

I can see one advantage: framing with a digital sensor is WYSIWYG, something that

requires a ground glass back and a back swap to accomplish.

The thing is that to get a wide field of view when using a smaller sensor and when (!) using film alike, you will have to use a lens that has a wide field of view.<br>Sure, you lose field of view, it get narrower, when using a smaller sensor. But to get the widest possible field of view, you will have to use a lens that provides the widest possible field of view.<br>It is as simple as that. ;-)<br><br>Yes, the excellent corner quality of a Biogon is lost.<br>But you'll lose even more if because of that you decide to use, say, an 80 mm lens instead. With the sensor narrowing it's field of view too, by the same factor, where's that wide field of view you'd get would you use a lens half as long instead?<br>See?

I actually have done this with my 903 SWC and other Hassy lenses with a Kodak digital

back that I recently purchased...the Kodak ProBack Plus...the interesting thing abotu the

903 was that its resolution was immediately apparent in the files when you pulled them up

on the computer...I shot some "goofing around" test shots in the back yard with the 30mm

distagon, the SWC and the 80mm planar...all were of course sharp but the SWC really

stood out...there was a woman painting a table in front of her garage about 2 blocks away

and it was amazing how much you could zoom in on her and the details that were pulled

out...I'll have to try to dig up what I did with those shots...

George

I would really be interested in seeing those pictures!

Yes, Please Post!

I got the Imacon/Hassy v96c and below have posted images, plus 100% crops from the

SWC. The approximate 1.5 "factor" means the lens is more like a 60mm, but it seems a it

wider. The back works well with SWC; there is a bit of moire and color fringing on high

contrast lines, which I tried to show. The "superslide" finder marks are a bit bigger than

the image sensor and are OK for basic framing. One can look at the back to see exact

framing once pictures is taken.

 

I made a presentation here:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/presentation.tcl?presentation_id=267637