Not acquainted with it at all, but wouldn't have considered it at all without T/S. If the adapter gives you a lightweight field camera with those capabilities, then it is by all means noteworthy. T/S is the ONLY reason we use 4x5 these days.
Posted by Dan Borzynski on August 13, 2007 at 4:04 PM
For the price, I'd really look at a Shen Hao (which I own) or the Tachihara. The camera bodies are cheaper, you don't have to buy cones with each new lens, just a far cheaper lensboard, and you get all the LF movements as well. You don't *have* to use the movements and just use the camera as an overgrown point and shoot. But they are there if you want them.
Another alternative are the press cameras like the grafmatics. Cheaper than the above and a bit more functional than the fotoman. These are the cameras you see in the 50's movies where a bunch of press photographers are standing around shooting something.
Having said that, the Fotoman cameras are, from what I read, decent cameras for what they do. They will allow you to shoot a 4x5 piece of film, or larger dependingon the model, but they are still point and shoots.
For the tradeoffs on movements and cost, unless you have a definative reason for avoiding a field camera or monorail, I just don't see that they are worth the price.
I am not familiar with this camera, but I would never want a 4x5 without movements. The lenses are long, limiting depth of field. Without tilt and swing, it would be really tough. With tilt and swing, you can achieve great depth of focus.
Hey Hank, - "the ONLY reason we use 4 x 5 these days"??? I assume by "we" you mean "you and your compatriots"?? I use 4x5 for lots of reasons....!
Mike, I can't recall if you are using any 4x5 now, but I would second the suggestions to look into the Shen-Hao or Tachihara. One other very lightweight possibility is the Toho (not Toyo), which is a light monorail camera, though I don't know much about it. If you are thinking of going 4x5, you might as well get full functionality if possible, more than only tilt/shift....
Christopher, I think that Hank meant him and his wife.
For me point and shoot 5x4 is pointless. I went and took a look at Fotoman Dmax, and it's a technical camera. That means it was designed for architectural photographers and have some shift and rise/fall movements but not much (25 mm). Fotoman 45PS doesn't have any movement and PS could stand for point&shoot. On paper it is a light weight (1 kg), but ....the problem I find with these things is, that there is no tilt/swing and cones are much heavier than bellows, and you would need one cone per lens, while you would have only one bellows for all of them. And that means bulk. If you would like to go 5x4, I would also suggest you to take a look at wooden field cameras like Shen-Hao, Tachichara or Wista woodfield as was mentioned previously.
Cheers,
Marko
Posted by Tom Webster on August 16, 2007 at 2:30 AM
The Fotoman PS 4" x 5" camera would be a pretty nice camera for large format aerial photography. You want something very simple for that type of work.
Sorry Chris for unnecessary comment . Sometimes I'm not good at figuring out meanings in other languages (or meanings of phrases at all that is).
Pete, what would you like to ask? If you would like to know, if 4x5 can be distinguishly different from, let say 10MP digital on monitor, the answer is yes it can be. Especially above 50% view the lack of detail in digital image compared with 5x4 scan is quite obvious.
If you would like to know, if 4x5 can be distinguishly different from, let say 10MP digital on monitor, the answer is yes it can be. Especially above 50% view the lack of detail in digital image compared with 5x4 scan is quite obvious. >>>
I agree. And the prints look different even at A4 size.
Marko - no, I'm glad you commented in case anyone else was confused also. Online posting, especially of jokes, is frequently easy to misunderstand and I would not want anyone to think I was really being rude....
Pete - I agree with Marko that the point of your question isn't clear....
CJ
Posted by Mike Sellers on August 17, 2007 at 9:41 AM
On the plus side it has helical focus like an SLR which would be fast plus it has the optional tilt/shift adapter and it is light weight.
Based on recent experience with the Fuji 617, I'm curious about the viewfinder and the prospect of clipping and or paralax on the Fotoman, Mike. In a series of shoots I described in this post to the M&N gallery, paralax and clipping turned out to be sincere challenges. If they weren't really, really precise in where they held their heads when looking through the viewfinder, they either clipped mountain tops or added foreground they didn't want. In addition, the viewfinder coverage did not correspond as closely to film coverage as they would have liked.
I'm asking because careful comps and vigilance about the corners and edges are hallmarks of 4x5 techniques for me, and I would find the Fotoman really frustrating if it had similar issues to the 617.
Posted by Mike Sellers on August 19, 2007 at 9:16 AM
Hank,
Thanks for the heads up. I just assumed that since Linhof has a viewer for their cameras that there wouldn`t be any problems. I have never used this system before. The Fotoman does have ground glass viewing so maybe the viewfinder could be used for rough composition then use the groundglass for fine tuning before shooting.It is a lightweight camera and the older I get the lighter the better!
Discussion
15 repliesAnother alternative are the press cameras like the grafmatics. Cheaper than the above and a bit more functional than the fotoman. These are the cameras you see in the 50's movies where a bunch of press photographers are standing around shooting something.
Having said that, the Fotoman cameras are, from what I read, decent cameras for what they do. They will allow you to shoot a 4x5 piece of film, or larger dependingon the model, but they are still point and shoots.
For the tradeoffs on movements and cost, unless you have a definative reason for avoiding a field camera or monorail, I just don't see that they are worth the price.
Mike, I can't recall if you are using any 4x5 now, but I would second the suggestions to look into the Shen-Hao or Tachihara. One other very lightweight possibility is the Toho (not Toyo), which is a light monorail camera, though I don't know much about it. If you are thinking of going 4x5, you might as well get full functionality if possible, more than only tilt/shift....
CJ
For me point and shoot 5x4 is pointless. I went and took a look at Fotoman Dmax, and it's a technical camera. That means it was designed for architectural photographers and have some shift and rise/fall movements but not much (25 mm). Fotoman 45PS doesn't have any movement and PS could stand for point&shoot. On paper it is a light weight (1 kg), but ....the problem I find with these things is, that there is no tilt/swing and cones are much heavier than bellows, and you would need one cone per lens, while you would have only one bellows for all of them. And that means bulk. If you would like to go 5x4, I would also suggest you to take a look at wooden field cameras like Shen-Hao, Tachichara or Wista woodfield as was mentioned previously.
Cheers,
Marko
Pete D.
Pete, what would you like to ask? If you would like to know, if 4x5 can be distinguishly different from, let say 10MP digital on monitor, the answer is yes it can be. Especially above 50% view the lack of detail in digital image compared with 5x4 scan is quite obvious.
Cheers,
Marko
I agree. And the prints look different even at A4 size.
Pete - I agree with Marko that the point of your question isn't clear....
CJ
I'm asking because careful comps and vigilance about the corners and edges are hallmarks of 4x5 techniques for me, and I would find the Fotoman really frustrating if it had similar issues to the 617.
Thanks for the heads up. I just assumed that since Linhof has a viewer for their cameras that there wouldn`t be any problems. I have never used this system before. The Fotoman does have ground glass viewing so maybe the viewfinder could be used for rough composition then use the groundglass for fine tuning before shooting.It is a lightweight camera and the older I get the lighter the better!
Amen Brudda!!!!!