Fotoman 4x5 PS with Fuji 400T/8

[tony_black1]

Anybody used this tele lens with Fotoman 45 PS?

 

Im curious how is this combination works?

 

What are the disadvantages or advantages?

[tedharris]

Well, considering the size of the 135 mm cone I imagine you would be dealing with a very

long lens cone that would make the camera rather unblalnced. OTOH if you are going to do

all your shooting on a tripod then it could work just fine. Dorsn't seem like a combo that I

would consider though. What would you use it for?

[tony_black1]

What camera would you advise to use this lens?

 

I posted several questions regarding telephotoshooting with 4x5 camera and it looks like large format is not an ideal format to shoot with long lenses because of the physical issues.

 

I shoot nite time long exposures with my mamiya rz67 with 350mm apo lens. It works great but i need a big negative to print really big. thats all.

[tedharris]

Tony,

 

Lf wowrks fine with long lenses and if all you are going to do is a specific sort of night

photography then a Fotoman setup such as you describe might work well but I still have

my doubts about the length of the cone. You need a camera that has enough bellows

extension to accomodate the Fuji 400T. IIRC you will need about 350mm (maybe a bit

less) bellows extension to accommodate that lens. Bellows extension such as this is radily

available on many 4x5 field cameras and on most rail cameras.

 

I know those who specialize in night photography and use LF all the time. In fact, in the

next issue of View Camera Magazine there will be an article on this very subject by Tom

Paiva. Tom will also be speaking and leading a workshop on this subject at this year's

View Camera Conference in Louisville, KY at the end of June.

 

For more information you might want to check in at the LF Forum

www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/.

[paul.droluk]

To clarify the issue of balance with a long Fotoman Cone Assembly... for longer lenses

(270mm+), we use a moderately long Cone and a lengthy Spacer, rather than just a very long

Cone. This allows us to machine tripod mounts for both axis into the Spacer, positioned to

balance the entire Lens/Cone Assembly/Camera Body.

[michael_briggs2]

"I posted several questions regarding telephotoshooting with 4x5 camera and it looks like large format is not an ideal format to shoot with long lenses because of the physical issues." You don't seem to be understanding our answers, because we have told you how to use long lenses. As I explained in answer to one of your previous questions, there are many cameras that will take 450 mm non-telephoto lenses / 600 mm telephoto lenses. The 4x5 camera that I use that can do this is the Linhof Technikardan. I have used it many times with the 450 mm Fuji-C lens. This combination works very well. If you will browse or search the archives of this forum, you will find other discussions on this camera and this lens.

 

"Well, considering the size of the 135 mm cone I imagine you would be dealing with a very long lens cone that would make the camera rather unblalnced". This comment of Ted's may have been based on thinking that you wanted to use the camera hand-held, which is a reason to get a camera like the Fotoman PS. For night photography, you can use a more traditional bellows camera. You will certainly be using it on a tripod.

 

The 400 mm Fuji-T lens has a Flange Focal distance of 259 mm. The main market for this lens is people who have cameras with a maximum bellows extension of 300 mm and want a longer lens than about 250 -- they have to go to a telephoto design. With your strong interest in long lenses, it would make more sense for you to get a field camera from the class that has bellows extension up to approx. 500 mm, which would allow you to focus a non-telephoto 450 mm lens, such as the Fuji-C (Flange focal length 259 mm), and telephoto 600 mm lenses. Cameras in this group include Canham DLC, Linhof Technikardan, Arca-Swiss F, etc. You could get an Arca-Swiss and some accessories and go even longer. Or you could get a less portable studio camera (e.g., Sinar, as suggested in a previous answer) and go even longer.

[michael_briggs2]

"What are the disadvantages or advantages?"

 

The main advantage of this camera is that you can shoot handheld, but since you have previously said that you always use a tripod for your night photography, this advantage doesn't matter for you. A second advantage could be superior rigidity, if you were going to be shooting in high wind conditions. But there are bellows 4x5 cameras with sufficient rigidity, short of a severe storm.

 

The main disadvantage is the inability to do movements, such as front rise, tilts, swings, shift. In my opinion, this is one of the main reasons to use a LF camera, so, since you are already using a tripod, I don't see why you would give this up.

[tedharris]

With Paul's explanation the Fotomanwould do fine IMO.

[tony_black1]

Paul,

 

what about if i put a much thicker spacer to use much longer lenses like 450mm or 600mm?