tilts

[putri]

can u explain how i should use the back tilts AND the front tilts.i shoot landscapes and some buildings.

[michael_briggs2]

You don't have to use both, or even either. It depends on your goals.

 

A front tilt changes the plane of best focus.

 

A back tilt changes the plane of best focus and also the rendition perspective, i.e., the 2D shapes in the image will change as you tilt the back.

 

So if you like the perspective, but want to change the plane of best focus, the use a front tilt. The classic example is a landscape with flowers in the foreground and distant tall trees or mountains in the background. A front tilt can run the plane of best focus at a slant through these objects without changing the rendition of perspective.

 

You can use both if you have adjusted the back tilt for the perspective effect that you want, but the plane of focus isn't where you want it to be.

 

Front tilts require that your lens have excess coverage above the size of your film, since they move the lens axis off center.

 

Try some experiments with your camera, observing the ground glass. Or buy a book which has example photos.

[pvp]

Michael's response covers the bases pretty well. The choice is yours.

 

Consider the routine that many use when setting up: the first thing to do is to zero all movements and accurately level the camera. At this point, the film plane is vertical, the front and rear standards are parallel and the lens axis passes through the exact center of the film.

 

If you then tilt the lens, the plane of focus (in the subject space) will be changed according to the amount of tilt. However, the spacial relationships between items in the scene will not change.

 

If you tilt the camera back (film plane) then the apparent sizes of items will be recorded differently on the film. The top of the film (bottom of the final image) will now be farther from the lens, so subjects in the bottom of the final image will appear to be larger. Objects may appear to be distorted.

 

Rule of thumb: if there are vertical lines in the subject, which must remain vertical in the final print, then the film plane must be vertical so you can't use back tilt.

 

Trust the groundglass. It's the original WYSIWYG interface.

[pete_andrews10]

As a rule-of-thumb, the back should always stay plumb vertical. I was taught: "Use the back to control geometry, and the front to control focus.", and as someone else just said, you can easily check on the ground glass exactly what effect your movements are having.

 

Incidentally, I just read a useful tip, (new to me, anyway). If you're photographing buildings at an oblique angle with a wide-angle lens, then, as we've all seen, the perspective can get rather steep-looking. Now if you apply some cross-front, and then swing the camera round to re-centre the image, the perspective is made a whole lot shallower and more natural looking. That tallies with what I just said about the back controlling geometry, because what you're doing is getting the camera back more parallel to the subject (the front of the buildings in this case).

[randall ellis]

Pick up a copy of Steve Simmons' "USing the View Camera" for $15. It give visual examples of all movement and will serve as a handy reference in the future. For $15, you can't go wrong. ISBN: 0817463534

 

- Randy

[brian_ellis16]

One of the big differences between front and back tilt (or swing) is in the risk of vignetting. Any swing or tilt that moves the axis of the lens away from the center of the film creates a risk that you'll move the image outside the lens' image circle or outside its circle of good definition. That can result in vignetting or a loss of sharpness in the corners and edges of the image. Swings and tilts of the back don't generally create this same risk because the axis of the lens stays fixed in relation to the film when only the back is tilted or swung (all rises and shifts, whether of the front or the back, also create this risk but you asked only about tilts).

 

This difference between tilting (or swinging)the front vs the back can be very important if you're using a lens with a small image circle or circle of good definition or need to use extensive tilts or swings. In general, the change in the shape of foreground objects caused by tilting or swinging the back as compared to the front isn't important with landscape and many other types of subjects so back tilts or swings may be prefereable if your lens has a small image circle or circle of good definition.

[melvin_h_j_tan]

The only reason you would use both front and back tilts is that you want to pretty much compose the image with all the convergences, then bring both elements upright to correct the perspective.

For architecture, i usually keep the camera level, then use the front or back rise/falls to get the image centred, so to speak. I'm in singapore, would love to chat with you and talk shop with one of the world's leading photographers.

 

Melvin

[justinblack]

I think of front and rear tilts and swings as part of the same step in camera set-up, I

strongly recommend buying a copy of Jack Dykinga's "Large Format Nature Photograhpy."

In my opinion, it is THE book on practical application of the view camera to the landscape.

Jack completely demystifies the capabilities of the view camera.

 

Have fun!

 

- Justin