Miniature View Camera

[ted_springer]

I was wondering if it would be possible to make a miniature view camera with all the movements and tiny bellows with a FX sensor back? Do

you think it would work?

[Ed_Ingold]

Nothing is impossible if you have enough time, talent and money. However, this wheel has already been invented.

 

All current FX sensors and associated electronics are embedded in camera bodies, and recessed 30 to 40 mm from the mounting flange. Current lenses mount directly to that flange, leaving little room for bellows, lens standards nor movements. You would need special lenses with enough backfocus distance to accommodate the mechanism. That means even stronger retrofocus design or longer focal lengths - maybe both. Calumet makes a view camera which does what you suggest, mounting a Nikon or Canon body and using special lenses on the front standard with a bellows in between.

 

There are several cameras designed for use with medium format backs, in which the sensor is flush with the mounting surface of the back. There are, in fact, two Hasselblad bodies with these features, the Flexbody (which uses conventional Hasselblad lenses) and the Arcbody which uses special Schneider lenses in lens boards. You could use a conventional view camera, but lenses shorter than about 75mm would present special problems. There are also miniature view cameras by Sinar, Calumet and Linhof with conventional front and back movements. Schneider makes a series of "Digitar" lenses for this purpose, but some conventional view camera lenses can also be used. Some have been reviewed at http://www.luminous-landscape.com.

[tommyinca]

Spiratone made a bellow with full front and rear movements. If you can find one cheap at ebay (rare), you can match it with an D700. With live view and HDMI out, I supose one can call it a digital 35mm view camera.

 

BTW: If you have the budget, there are Nikon F Mount adapter kit for existing Horseman L series view cameras with a slide-off rear standard.

 

Also noted, these bellow has minimum length. This limits the lens focal length that can be used. aka: 127mm and above likely.

[colin carron]

Do you mean the Ilford Kennedy K1 Monobar of 1958? :

 

http://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Ilford/KI_Monobar.html

 

but with a digital sensor instead of film?

 

Don't see why not if you have the skills and resources. Good lck!

[colin carron]

sorry.... that should read 'Do you mean like the.......'

[JDMvW]

>>Spiratone made a bellow with full front and rear movements. If you can find one cheap at ebay (rare)<<

 

Rare is not the word, and "cheap" is definitely not the word. I've been looking for one of these for a long time.

When they do show up, they go for fairly high prices. Nikon and a few other makers also made versions of this

sort of bellows, and they also go for high prices when they show up. Of course, what you have to do is also buy

the special short-barrel lenses made for macro work with a bellows.

 

It would be difficult to get a normal infinity focus with the tilts and shifts, I'm guessing, since I am still

looking for the device to try myself.

 

And no way am I going to give you the proper name for the device so you can add to the number of people looking

for one. :P

[jpo3136b]

The closest thing I could come up with, when I asked a similar question for myself, was the Horseman HD. It was a

bellows attachment that provided forward-style view camera movements. There was an adapter plate available to fit my

Pentax 645.

 

I suppose I could have used another step-down ring to get it to fit on my Pentax 35mms or DSLR body. The drawback

was that this attachment would require large format, view-camera lenses. Overall, this made the option too expensive

for what I thought I would achieve. The only benefit was that I would not have to upgrade my current medium format

enlarger.

 

Otherwise, this, and other medium format bellows kits, which I suppose could also be stepped down to small format,

were just as expensive as the initial costs for switching to a large format camera. I think I will want to do that in the

future anyway, but now is not the right time for me.

 

I suspect a good time to get into large format will be right on the cusp of large format film with large format digital sensor

backs. They'll come around sooner or later. When they do, I bet they'll be awesome. My guess is 2 to 5 years for an

economical one; already DSLR sensors are getting good enough to push the limits of the optics in many lenses.

 

You could also try Novoflex, Tilt/Shift bellows; I bet if you already had a medium format rig, and then stepped down to a

small format body with the medium format bellows kit, you would probably have a large enough image circle to get away

with some tilting and shifting. I couldn't advise you on the specifics of that, though. Also, this would still involve several

thousand dollars of equipment upgrades.

 

A good used 4X5 view camera, probably with lenses and an otherwise complete camera kit, could be found for a

competitive price.

[iversonwhite]

There is a modern piece of equipment that will attach to a digital camera. I saw it on either Freestyle, Calumet, or the Mac On Campus web site.

[iversonwhite]

calumetphoto.com: CAMB0 X2 PRO.