Does anyone with more than my zero knowledge of Large Format know if this is a good camera/price? What is the Fresnel Screen that is not included? Any help appreciated. Thanks, Tristan
A good entry camera with movements. Accuracy of the adjustments and longevity of parts (i.e build quality) is typical of most chinese goods these days......a bit hit or miss.
The difference in price between a new one and this one makes the new option look much better, especially when you consider the guarantee and dealer back up when buying new.
Fresnel screen is a screen that goes over the ground glass to magnify the projected image........like a full screen loupe, only not as accurate as a good loupe. If you have a Better Beamer for your camera flash you will have a fresnel screen to go in front of your flash lens
John
PS if the wide bellows is included as an extra along with the standard bellows it is a good freebie, but if it is only the wide bellows then it is a bit limiting.
Posted by Tom Perkins on October 13, 2007 at 5:51 AM
Hi Tristan,
Seems to have a reasonable amount of movements, however you would find the limit of a 135mm as your longest lens very limiting. I find my camera limiting in this department and mine does up to a 180mm. I have a 120mm and it is still really quite wide. You won't be able to take close ups with this camera very easily either. It might be worth finding out if it will do longer lenses without the wide angle bellows, but it looks like the camera has a very short base, which suggests not. If 135mm is really the limit I wouldn't recommend this model.
The shen-hao cameras are supposed to be quite good for the price though, so they are one of the brands to look into for getting into LF on a budget.
Posted by John Varley on October 13, 2007 at 7:19 AM
Thanks Tom P and John M. I've since come across a second hand Ebony RSW45 which I think I'll be going for if possible. I believe Tom has one already. It may have limited movements but it sounds to be one of the lightest around and sounds quick and easy to setup. I have no desire to use anything but wide angle lens so that limitation doesn’t worry me much. I'm certainly not abandoning my 5D - LF will only be used for very specific images that I have in mind. Thanks all, Tristan
Hi just get a very good loupe and use it on the ground glass, I do have a Rodenstock aspherical six times magnification with adjustable focus that I used when I used large format if you're interested it was very expensive at the time but is of very high-quality.
Phillip.
Posted by Tom Perkins on October 13, 2007 at 1:58 PM
Hi Tristan, yes, I am using the RSW45, and I highly recommend it, a great camera, there is a review by Joe C on the Ebony website if you haven't seen it, he basically covers everything. Hope you enjoy LF as much as I am .
Lens wise just look for any newish f/5.6 Schneider/rodenstock/nikon models on copal shutters on Ebay, I got all of my 3 lenses (90mm, 120mm, 210mm) on Ebay and they work great.
By the way I just sold my d200, the RSW is now my only camera .
Thanks Tom - have decided to go for the RSW45. On lenses I'm thinking really wide - perhaps something like 58mm or 65mm. Does the wide apeture make focusing much easier? Thanks, Tristan
Posted by Tom Perkins on October 13, 2007 at 3:15 PM
Yes wide apertures make focusing much easier, especially on a wide angle you want to get as wide an aperture as you can (only downside is weight). With longer lenses it is less of a problem, but personally I wouldn't want to use anything smaller than a f/5.6 at any focal length. Others though are happy to use a 90mm f/8, so I guess its just down to the individual.
Remember a 58mm or 65mm will need an expensive center filter, to counter vignetting, and you will need to compensate for this in the exposure. The RSW45 is a great camera for super wides though, you couldn't really have chosen a better model.
I have an Ebony, you cannot go wrong. As for lenses, as Tom_P says be careful of anything over 90mm as they most definately will need a CF for transparency, you may get away with out one in BW if you don't mind the light roll of a bit.
Thanks guys, I got the Ebony. Looking forward to using it when I eventually get the rest of the bits I need. Thanks for the advice to get wide aperture on lens. Will try without center filter first (b&w) as I personally love images to get darker towards the edges.
Tom_P: What do you to scan your negs with? Look forward to seeing some more of your images.
Thanks for the offer Tom, much appreciated, but I just need to save up a bit as the main thing I'm missing is a lens. The rest are cheap things like double dark slides, film, developing tank etc that I'll easily pick up on ebay. Tristan
I can offer you the loan of a 150mm or a 210mm Fujinon W on a Ebony board to get you up and running in the short-term.
Get in touch via email if you want to do this.
T
Posted by Tom Perkins on October 17, 2007 at 2:55 PM
Hi Tristan, if you take up Tom_W's offer of the 210mm, you will need a top-hat panel, which you can get from robert white - without you can't get an image in focus on the RSW (nice focal length though).
For scanning I am currently using the epson v700 flatbed, which does an ok job (any of my images that you have seen were scanned with it), and is really cheap and quick to use. If you go down this route I recommend getting yourself a copy of Vuescan, which is a nice simple but effective piece of software for running the scanner.
The main problems I have found with this machine is that it is impossible to get the image perfectly in focus (can be solved by the purchase of the betterscanning film holder). And the dmax is also not ideal. If your image is a bit underexposed you are likely to get blocked up shadows and some noise issues.
Otherwise I am quite happy with it, and once an image is properly sharpened etc, I think I could get very nice 20x25in prints from v700 scans, probarbly larger. Don't be put off if you get terrible results for a few weeks, there is a bit of skill involved in getting a good scan and also processing it right, but before to long you should be getting some goods results, its not too difficult once you build up a smooth work-flow.
Discussion
15 replieshttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SHEN-HAO-TFC-45B-MINT-WITH-CASE-AND-SATIN-SNOW-GG_W0QQitemZ160168138716QQihZ006QQcategoryZ627QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The difference in price between a new one and this one makes the new option look much better, especially when you consider the guarantee and dealer back up when buying new.
Fresnel screen is a screen that goes over the ground glass to magnify the projected image........like a full screen loupe, only not as accurate as a good loupe. If you have a Better Beamer for your camera flash you will have a fresnel screen to go in front of your flash lens
John
PS if the wide bellows is included as an extra along with the standard bellows it is a good freebie, but if it is only the wide bellows then it is a bit limiting.
Seems to have a reasonable amount of movements, however you would find the limit of a 135mm as your longest lens very limiting. I find my camera limiting in this department and mine does up to a 180mm. I have a 120mm and it is still really quite wide. You won't be able to take close ups with this camera very easily either. It might be worth finding out if it will do longer lenses without the wide angle bellows, but it looks like the camera has a very short base, which suggests not. If 135mm is really the limit I wouldn't recommend this model.
The shen-hao cameras are supposed to be quite good for the price though, so they are one of the brands to look into for getting into LF on a budget.
John V: I think it is very much Raw. :-)
Jo
Phillip.
Lens wise just look for any newish f/5.6 Schneider/rodenstock/nikon models on copal shutters on Ebay, I got all of my 3 lenses (90mm, 120mm, 210mm) on Ebay and they work great.
By the way I just sold my d200, the RSW is now my only camera
Remember a 58mm or 65mm will need an expensive center filter, to counter vignetting, and you will need to compensate for this in the exposure. The RSW45 is a great camera for super wides though, you couldn't really have chosen a better model.
I have an Ebony, you cannot go wrong. As for lenses, as Tom_P says be careful of anything over 90mm as they most definately will need a CF for transparency, you may get away with out one in BW if you don't mind the light roll of a bit.
T
Tom_P: What do you to scan your negs with? Look forward to seeing some more of your images.
What are you missing? Its just I have some spares which you could borrow.
T
I can offer you the loan of a 150mm or a 210mm Fujinon W on a Ebony board to get you up and running in the short-term.
Get in touch via email if you want to do this.
T
For scanning I am currently using the epson v700 flatbed, which does an ok job (any of my images that you have seen were scanned with it), and is really cheap and quick to use. If you go down this route I recommend getting yourself a copy of Vuescan, which is a nice simple but effective piece of software for running the scanner.
The main problems I have found with this machine is that it is impossible to get the image perfectly in focus (can be solved by the purchase of the betterscanning film holder). And the dmax is also not ideal. If your image is a bit underexposed you are likely to get blocked up shadows and some noise issues.
Otherwise I am quite happy with it, and once an image is properly sharpened etc, I think I could get very nice 20x25in prints from v700 scans, probarbly larger. Don't be put off if you get terrible results for a few weeks, there is a bit of skill involved in getting a good scan and also processing it right, but before to long you should be getting some goods results, its not too difficult once you build up a smooth work-flow.