Why Flex the camera?

Hi, I'm about to jump into LF. I'm wondering what the point is to

bend the camera in various directions. It looks like something I'd

see in my nightmares. I sure there's a great reason. I also notice

that some cameras really stretchhhh. Does this mean they're

better? I'm thinking of starting with a Shen-Hao, which doesn't

seem to stretch as much. Thanks for help.

 

Steve

You need to 'stretch' the camera to focus it. Large format lenses do not have a focusing ring. The more the camera 'stretches', the closer you can focus and the longer focal length lens you can use.

 

'Bending' the front and rear standards to different directions controls where the plane of sharp focus is located. In normal cameras the plane is always parallel to the film plane. In large format cameras the plane can be moved to better correspond with the subject.

 

Before 'jumping' to large format, I would strongly suggest first reading a basic book on large format photography and then renting or borrowing some equipment to try it out.

In smaller cameras the lens is fixed to be centered on the film and the optical axis perpendicular to the film. Cameras that allow the photographer to violate these contraints allow additional control of the image that are sometimes useful. Ads from camera manufacturers frequently exaggerate the extent of camera movements that are actually used in practice. Photographers rarely setup the "pretzels" that some of the ads show. For example, I rarely use a front tilt of more than several degrees.

 

The creative possiblities camera movements are much easier to understand from example photographs than descriptions. Ilkka's suggestion to read a book is very good.

 

Besides the movements that view cameras offer, other advantages are the large ground glass on which to accurately view and compose the photo, and the large film.

take a magnifying glass and look down the lines on a sheet of ruled paper.. youl notice when you tilt the magnifying glass that the lines will not stay parralel.. when you look at a long building the top and botom of the building converges as they approach infinity.. when you tilt the lens this can reverse the converging of the building and make it appear square on film.. if you want to correct two converging lines such as horizontal and verticle the lens must be twisted so both these conditions are met.. this is oversimplification and probably not actually correct, but it gives you an idea of why the lens is twisted as you say.. i think you will like lf photography, if you can afford it,, id not spend a whole lot of money to start off to see if it suits you. but youll get all the freindly help youll need here.. and do go to the lybrary and check out some ansil adams books and other photography books on the subject.. dont rush into choosing equipment until you do understand what you really want.. good luck dave

Stephen,

 

Do yourself a huge favor and go rent a large format camera for a weekend or two. Play

with it, read books on the subject matter, and above all... have fun experimenting!

 

Once you get into it... you'll find it's a totally different ball game compared to using a

35mm or medium format camera.

 

Play with the movements (i.e.; stretch the bellows, tilt the standards, and swing them as

well) and observe the results of these adjustments on the groundglass.

 

To see examples of these movements that will be discussed in most large format books...

pick up a book by Jack Dykinga. In the book... he shows pictures that result from the

various movements and, as interesting, he describes some of the reasons/thoughts behind

using the different movements. And, the pictures are pretty nice to look at too! :)

 

Hope this helps...

 

Cheers

In addition to the book by Jack Dykinga, the books by Jim Stone and Steve Simmons are excellent. The definitive book is View Camera Technique by Leslie Stroebel, but most beginners will probably find that one a bit too much to start with.

Before you take the leap, better spend some time learning what you're leaping into. Here are some freebies:<P>

<a href="http://www.largeformatphotography.info/">http://www.largeformatphotography.info/</A><P>

<a href="http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/HMbook18.html">http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/HMbook18.html</A><P>

<a href="http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/HMbook14.html">http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/HMbook14.html</A>

If you use 35mm, you are probably familiar with the shallow depth of field of a telephoto lens like a 150mm. With 4x5, 150mm is in fact a normal lens, and you have the exact same depth of field as you do with the equivalent tele in 35mm!

 

You need the movements (flex) quite often to change the plane of focus to get everything that you need sharp.

I'll give you 90% of the technology (I've been involved with Calumet, B&J, Wista, Cambo, etc, manufacturing, import, export, and/or distribution).

 

Back section, swings and tilts adjust for paralellism or deliberate lack thereof of the major lines.

 

Front section, swings and tilts adjust for the plane of focus without altering the function of the back.

 

Front or rear lateral shift or rise/fall re-frame the image without changing anything else.

 

Others uses such as Scheimpfluging you can look in some book which will probably be so confusing that neither you nor the author knows what the heck he is doing.

 

Lynn

Yes Lynn, it's very easy to practice corrected photography without going to the extremes that articles and book "authors" try to convince you of, with measuring rules, geometry, etc.

<I>Others uses such as Scheimpfluging you can look in some book...</I><P>

Scheimpfluging? (Nice word) Other? How is this different from the uses of tilts and swings you gave? :P

Hi Alan,

 

Scheimpflug was a WWI (Dutch I think) combat pilot who loved view camera photography and he wrote about the type movement called swing opposite. The is what is called (but is incorrectly termed) depth of field extension.

 

Lynn

Thanks a million, folks! I'm going to rent some equipment from Adorama (down the street from me)...and then head up to New Hampshire. Thanks again for advice. -Steve