Newbie....Advice Wanted on Movements

[michael_lowe]

Just decided to take a foray into large format after becoming fairly

proficient at 35mm. Recently bought a Wista DXll and two lensboards

on Ebay. Saving up to purchase 90mm and a 210mm lenses. This week

I'll go to Barnes and Noble to get a book on LF photography. I have a

couple of simple questions. When I get answers to them, I'll probably

go " Doh..I should have known that". Could someone please explain the

concept of having the lens "focused at infinity?" Secondly,say I'm

shooting a lighthouse scene with it on one side of the frame,rocky

shoreline in the middle, progressing to waves on the other side with

a clearly visible ocean horizon line.With my 24mm EOS lens, if I

level the horizon, the light looks like the leaning Tower of Pisa.

What movements, if any in LF, will correct this? Thanks to any and

all respondents in advance. Hope I haven't wasted too much bandwidth.

[steve_baggett]

(1) When focused at infinity, the lens is as close to the film plane as it will ever be and the bellows extension is the least (most compressed, which can sometimes limit rise/fall/tilt movements of the lens.). As you focus closer, the lens moves away from the film plane.

(2) This depends on what lens and how close you are to the lighthouse. Generally keep the film plane parallel to the lighthouse (preventing the Keystone-effect = leaning effect) and use front rise (and possibly front tilt) to get the image framed properly and everything in focus. But keep the film plane (camera back) parallel with the lighthouse.

(3) You definitely need a book. A proper answer can't be given here. Practice focusing and composing on the ground-glass before going off on a real shoot. Consider getting a Polaroid holder and shoot some Polaroid's to learn the effect of movements. I'm sure you will get much other good advice in this thread.

 

Here are some book reccomendations, but this list is not exhaustive:

 

Using the View Camera - Simmons

The View Camera - Shaman

View Camera Technique - Stroebel (This is a text and reference and I have edition #7. This book is very thorough, but may be too much for a beginner.)

 

Good Luck.

[ellis_vener_photography]

1.) infinity in photographic terms, starts when the objectfocused on is at about

1,000x distance from the nodal point of the lens, x = focal length. At least that is

what I dimly remember, so infinity for a 90mm lens would start at 90 meters.

 

2.) You need to level the camera from side to side and front to back. the later gets

your verticals vertical. With a view camera you need to level the back along both

axises.

 

the best learning tool you can have with 4x5 photography is Polaroid 545 (any

variation) and a couple of boxes of Type 55 film. Type 55 because you can directly

inspect the negative.

[roger_hicks1]

Dear Michael,

 

In this context, 'infinity' is simply 'a very long way away'. Unless you are using a VERY long lens (well over 300mm), a couple of hundred yards is plenty. When something at that distance is sharp on the ground glass, the lens is focused on 'infinity' (of course, you can also use the moon or stars, which are REALLY far away). With most lenses (not telephotos or reverse-telephotos), the bellows extension at 'infinity'(distance between lens board and ground glass) is equal to the focal length of the lens e.g. 150mm for a 150mm lens, 250mm for a 250mm lens.

 

Sorry, but it's nothing to do with the bellows being fully compressed unless you are using a VERY short lens, for example 47mm.

 

To get the lighthouse right, you'll need rise. This just means jacking the front up (with the camera level) until you've got the composition you want. The degree of rise is limited by the circle of coverage of the lens -- sooner or later, the corners will start to cut off -- and by the design of the camera (it won't go any further, or the bellows start binding, or you get bellows cut-off...)

Some lenses can 'run the camera out of movements' and some cameras can 'run the lens out of movements' -- it depends on the camera and the lens.

 

Stroebel is good but rather dry. You might also want to look at 'Medium and Large Format Photography' by Roger Hicks (me) and Frances Schultz (my wife) which was especially written for those wishing to move up from 35mm. Publishers are Amphoto (USA), David & Charles (UK), 2001. It's also available in Chinese!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[roger_hicks1]

Apologies to Steve -- if I gave the impression that you said the bellows were fully compressed at infinity, that was my stupidity, not yours: your statements were entirely accurate. But of course I realized this just after I had confirmed the message!

 

Groveling once again,

 

Roger

[jbq]

Welcome to LF photography!

 

To keep the verticals vertical, you need to apply front rise, so that the horizon is shot through the optical axis of the lens.

 

Start with the camera level, with zero movements. The horizon should be in the center of the frame. To move the horizon "down" to 1/3rd of the plane (which is up on the ground glass), apply 16mm of front rise. To move it "up", 16mm of front drop or 16mm of rear rise.

 

(I personally think of rise/shift as cropping: there's an image that's bigger than my film, and I'll position the film to capture the part that I want. If I want my verticals to be vertical, I'll leave the lens vertical, and then I'll move my film in that image to get the framing that I want. Imagine that you shot your EOS scene with a 18mm, enlarged to 5x7, and then cut an off-center 4x6 from that print. This is essentially what LF will let you achieve).

 

The exact tilt/swing is tricky to figure out "just like that". You want to pay slightly closer attention to the focus in the foreground than in the background. With a 90mm 5ft from the ground, I'd probably start with 3 to 4 degrees of front tilt, lens pointing down. If the sea level is far below, or if the lighthouse towers really high above the horizon, you may need slightly less (in the case of the lighthouse being really high you may also want to apply some very slight front swing to make the lens point very slightly toward the lighthouse).

 

My rule of thumb with tilts and swings is that I need to make the lens point very slightly towards the closest part of the scene.

[d_poinsett]

Lens orientation relative to the film plane and scene will primarily affect image framing and plane of focus. To keep the lighthouse from "leaning" in the resulting image, the vertical axis of the film plane must be parallel with the vertical axis of the lighthouse regardless of lens orientation.