Home-made Tilt Shift

[www.flickr.comphotostmcc]

Hey there, I have an SQ-Ai and an extra 80PS lens. Is there any way to use the

'plunger' method to make a tilt shift lens? Does the 1/500 default speed still

work on the Sq-ai or just the Sq-a? I don't need a lot of movement, but I would

consider buying a LF lens if this would work. I am assuming I would use a

Bronica body cap, attach the end of a plunger, then a lens. The problem I

suppose is using the electrical contacts to fire the shutter? Will even the

default 1/500 speed work without a lens really being "attached"? Thanks for any

input

[bueh]

A camera with a focal-plane shutter in the body is much better suited for this. Might even try this with an inexpensive Kiev-60 or similar camera.

[www.flickr.comphotostmcc]

I know a focal-plane shutter would be better, but I just wanted to know if it's possible on a bronica sqai. Does the mirror on a hasselblad fire without a lens attached?

[www.flickr.comphotostmcc]

What about using an extension tube instead of a body cap? Would this allow the shutter to be fired without a lens attached?

[bueh]

Tom, I am not familiar with the SQ-Ai, but isn't the shutter only in the lens? I am mean, if you release shutter without a lens on the body, how can have any meaninful shutter speeds (besides "B")? The camera doesn't have an instant return mirror, doesn't it, and even if it has one, how can you use this mechanism as a makeshift focal plane shutter?

[www.flickr.comphotostmcc]

Ahh right, haha, silly me.

[bueh]

Besides, you should try this with a lens for a larger format (e.g., Pentax 67 or LF lens) to have some spare room in the lens register for your DIY shift/tilt mechanism. I am glad you didn't take your lens or camera apart without thinking this through...

[www.flickr.comphotostmcc]

Haha, that would have been embarrassing. I always wondering what was so difficult about using it with leaf-shutter lenses, haha, it's quite obvious now that I think about it.

[jimmy_english]

I don't think this is that off base. I once had (but didn't use much) a Bronica SQ-A macro bellows. It has all the contacts needed for shutter control and appeture priority TTL if you have the metered auto finder. It would be fairly straight forward to remove the end stop and have a slide made for shift. Tilt would be somewhat more difficult - you would probably have to mount trunions on the side of the lens carrier centered on the lens axis and attach a yoke to the end slide. If you are or know a good machinist it would be an interesting project. The 2 down sides that I forsee would be that you would probably give up infinity focus because of the extension and the image circle that the lens would cover may not be enough.

[www.flickr.comphotostmcc]

Ahhh, the bellows, that is a splendid idea! My neighbor is a welder/handy man, so

that's a definite possibility!

[jimmy_english]

Actually it would be easier to buy an earlier model Bronica & attach this ---

 

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bronica-S-medium-format-close-up-bellows_W0QQitemZ260233523977QQihZ016QQcategoryZ3350QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem

[jean-louis llech]

All these "do-it-yourself" improvements have drawbacks. One of them is that people forget the simple basics of photography and optics : in order to have lenses focused to infinity, there is a lens-to-film-plane distance (flange focal distance) which must be always the same for a given camera and its lenses. That's why a 500mm lens is rather long and a 28mm rather short.<br>

On large format cameras, a 500mm tele lens is physically very small, about 1/5th of its real focal length. (It can have the same physical length that a wide angle lens). But when mounting the lens, the bellows extension sets the correct flange focal distance, and the lens is placed at about 500mm from the film plane.<br>

On MF and 24x36 cameras, as the housing is made of metal it cannot be shortened. And on all lenses the physical length is nearly the same that the focal length.<br>

For close focus photography, the distance between the film and the object must be lengthened : that's why we use macro rings or extension bellows.<br>

But when lenses are focused to infinity, all devices put between the lens and the camera body lengthen the focal distance of the lens. And consequently the lens cannot anymore be focused to infinity.<p>

 

Of course, only a LF lens will have an image circle large enough to cover all tilts and shifts. About the shutter, if you <i>"consider buying a LF lens"</i> it might be more simple to use the leaf shutter built in the lens and disengage the camera focal plane shutter if you can.<br>

And forget all electrical/electronical transmissions between the lens and the camera.<p>

 

Or buy an inexpensive used large format camera with a 120/220 rollfilm holder. Probably less expensive, and it will work !<br>

[max120]

The Seiko shutter used on Zenzanon lenses is mechanically cocked and fired; only the shutter times are electromechanically controlled. Consequence: without mechanical coupling between camera and lens the shutter doesn?t cock nor fire. For more information see the documents at www.buonaluce.com

Building a Tilt & Shift lens maintaining the mechanical coupling is not an easy task, the only T&S Zenzanon lens I know was the Schneider PCS-SUPER-ANGULON 55/4.5 (http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/archiv/pdf/pc_san_45_55.pdf) but it was manufactured only for the ETR family.

 

Max

[User_502260]

Even if you could get the lens to fire, it would default to 1/500 without the timing provided by the camera. Using a bellows would get the lens too far from the body for anything other than very close work. It would be less trouble to buy a used 4X5 view camera with a 120 roll film back. You could then find the right lens to accomplish each task. This would give you better perspective control than you would get with any PC type lens combined with the convenience of using roll film.

[xato]

I know you want to use your existing Bronica body. But if you like MF portability over a 4x5, get a Hartblei 45mm TS or SuperRotator and either a Mamiya 645 or Pentax 645 body (or a Contax).

[ptucci]

Look up Mark Tucker's beautiful plunger cam pictures, if you haven't already. He did exactly what you're thinking about, but on a Hasselblad and a loupe. The photos have a distint Holga-esque look, but I like it.