To gear or not to gear

After much consideration of features, weight, system versatility, etc, I've decided to make the switch from my beloved Linhof Kardan Bi to something in the Arca Swiss F-Line. My one remaining decision is how much I need geared movements. The cameras I've narrowed it down to are the F-Line Compact and the F-Metric Compact. I will be using the camera for landscape, architecture, and occasionally some stuff in the studio. Because I will be using this camera through the remainder of my college career and I'm assuming well into my professional career, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be worth the extra $705.00 to go for the F-Metric model so I could have geared rise and shift. Though my budget as a college student certainly doesn't allow a whole lot of room for that extra $705.00, I'm not sure that over time the convenience of geared movements wouldn't pay for themselves since I'll be using it to shoot architecture the majority of the time. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

David, I suppose you're the one who can best answer this, as $700 has

different significance to everyone, as does the convenience of geared

movements. FWIW, the non-geared rise on my Discovery is very smooth,

well damped, and usually goes exactly where I put it. The shift is

another story, with the smallish release knob usually stiff, but

again I can usually get it where I want with little trouble. I'm

assuming the F-Line shares similiar standards. If there was a geared

movement I'd want, it would be tilt/swing.

The student price on the Linhof Kardan M is $895.00 and the

street price is $1170.00.

 

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This camera uses all lensboards, backs, bellows, viewing

devices that your B uses and it has a fully geared monorail. It

also, except for the shift control, works like the B for rise, tilt,

swing. Shift is push rather then geared. It is axis tilt only rather

then base, yaw free base and axis like the GT.

 

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It can be converted to a GT.

 

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It can be converted to a telescopic monorail.

 

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If you are so use to the B why not look at another Kardan

Hi David,

Look for an old thread where I asked the same question. The person

who answered something like "it will only hurt to spend the money for

a minute, but you will thank goodness you have the geared movements

every day you use it" was completely right. I have nothing to compare

it to, but the geared rise & shift on the FC Metric are great,

especially because I have tendinitis in my index finger and too much

twisting is a bad thing.

David: I originally bought the Arca 4x5 F-compact, which comes

with a 30cm collapsible rail, but then switched out the compact

rail for the standard 3-piece, 30cm telescoping monorail. This

makes the camera slightly heavier, but has a couple

advantages: 1) I think it's a bit more solid, and 2) the telescoping

rail extends out to 40cm or so. (F-compacts used to come with

40cm rails, but these aren't that compact--so they've been

replaced with 30cm/12-inch versions, which I don't think is long

enough!)

 

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This telescoping assemblage, which I think is now called the

"F-classic," is almost as portable as the F-compact. To pack it,

you can simply run both camera standards onto one of two

6-inch rail sections, then remove the section from the lower,

longer "extension bracket." The camera then fits in the same

exact space as the F-compact; the longer extension bracket

stores flat nearby. (Does this make sense? It's late at night.) I

also don't think there's any appreciable difference in setup or

breakdown time between the two models.

 

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As to gear vs. no gears: Arca movements are very smooth. I don't

feel at all deprived without geared movements--but then, I haven't

tried them! Isn't the Metric version even taller and chunkier?