Monorail of Field - sharpness is the issue here

[david_grandy1]

I got into in order to use the big negative. I thought about the

camera movements, and even talked about those movement possibilities;

but the whole LF process was intimidating at best and I was certain

that like a VCR I'd use about 10% of the camera's capabilities, and

be happy with it. (Hinge rule? Sheesh!) And that big neg is nothing

to sneer about - 35mm to medium format to LF - and that alone will

improve the image.

 

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But after I had the thing for awhile I started to play, and that front

tilt got used. It affected sharpness as much as a good tripod. To

tilt the front and get the same effective depth of field as a small

aperture meant a faster shutterspeed instead of f32. I "swung" the

front to create the same "sharpening" affect on a building. And

sometimes I'd do both. Rise straightened not only buildings, but trees

and I started using that.

 

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My point is that after you have whatever camera you buy, you will use

it in ways you haven't even thought about. So when you look at lenses,

and cameras, try to buy MORE than you need right now, just so you

don't get frustrated by small image circles (yielding limited

movements) or short bellows, or cameras with lack of movements. You

can always choose not to use them.

[erik_ryberg]

Marcus,

 

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I have an enormous Pentax 67 kit and it is my most used camera. I use

it professionally for documentary purposes. I also use a Crown

Graphic and a Deardorff 8x10. I am very happy with the quality of the

prints I get from my P67. I shoot only black and white and develop my

own negatives and print my own prints.

 

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But when I have time to compose a shot that I care about I will go for

the Crown Graphic or Deardorff every time. I can recognize the

difference from the 4x5 at an 11x14 print size. Perhaps I have a

screwy Pentax body or poor skills or something but even with somewhat

old lenses I get slightly better results from the 4x5 image size

assuming I don't mess something up along the way (which is very easy

to do). Even after some years of shooting I still botch a shot with

some regularity due to a film holder problem, development problem, or

other user error. The P67 on the other hand gets the shot every time

and for most applications is sharper than necessary anyway.

 

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But the real problem with using the P67 is lack of movements. I know

you don't think you need them, but once you have them and learn to use

them I bet you will wonder how you ever got along without them. For

much landscape photography you will use a little bit of rise and a

little bit of tilt. The Crown Graphic provides this. The Arca-Swiss

provides it in spades. A high quality field camera will almost

certainly give you all you need.

 

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Lack of movements are the biggest limitation of the pentax in my

opinion. Ease of use, outstanding image quality for a hand-held

camera, and reliability are the reasons to keep using it. I would be

prepared to notice a slight improvement in sharpness and grain, a huge

increase in cost and botched shots (at least at first), a lot more

difficulty in set-up, a lot more frustration, and a whole new world

opened up for your work in terms of movements. The question about

monorail v. field camera is mostly a question of style, portability,

and desire for movements. I doubt you will need the movements a

monorail will give you, but some do.

[al camp]

Those using a medium format camera could adapt a bellows

from close up photography that would give them tilt. Lee Mann,

Washington State photographer, did this decades ago. It worked

great.

 

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I tend to use the back to get my depth, as I like the distortion.

 

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I started with a graphic, moved to a wista and finally to a Linhof.

You could do the same or learn from others' mistakes, and get a

good 4x5 right off. But it won't be inexpensive.

 

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The only thing I did right was buying good lenses, which I still

use. Some of those lenses I probably could not afford to own

now, like the Nikon Ts.

 

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I don't know if anyone is still reading this thread, but hey, what

the heck