Arca Swiss F-Line Metric vs Metric C Field for architecture

Hi,

I've been shooting architecture with DSLR's and tilt shift lenses as well as medium format film for many years but am new to large format photography. I'm looking at buying either the Arca Swiss F-Line Metric or the Field version to shoot mainly architecture plus some landscapes. I plan to shoot 5x4 as well as some 6x7 with the roll back. A digital back is a possibility in the future but it will be all film for now.

I'm leaning towards the Field version because of the reduced weight/size and the universal bellows allows for greater lens flexibility without switching bellows around. My only concern is the reduced front rise on the field. The field camera has "Front: 25mm rise, 35mm fall Rear: 100mm rise only" whereas the regular metric has "Front and Rear: 3.9" (100mm) geared rise". I expect that when shooting architecture front rise will be my most used movement so am I limiting myself too much with the field version? I realise you can incline the bed (tilt the whole camera) and re-level to get extra rise but is this going to be annoying if I'm doing it regularly? 25mm rise on the Field doesn't sound like much but maybe it is? Being new to Large format I have no idea.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Tom

;

Tom,

Here's my, admittedly biased, opinion:

If weight and portability are an issue, the field camera may be the better choice.

Certainly, working with extreme movements with large lenses with lots of coverage is easier on a monorail camera. If you plan on working with lenses like the Schneider 72mm Super Angulon XL or similar very short focal-length lenses and utilizing all of their available coverage, then the monorail will be easier to deal with. (Think close interiors or close-quarters work outdoors with lots of movements needed.)

However, if you plan on using, say, a 90mm lens with lots of coverage and then shorter lenses using fewer movements, then you can accomplish all of what you need to do with a lighter-weight field camera.

You should be aware that you can add extra effective rise by simply pointing the camera up and then tilting both standards back parallel with each other. That, in conjunction with the available rise on the front standard of many field cameras, will give you more rise than you can use for lots of lenses, even the short focal-length, large-coverage lenses.

Here's a photo of my Wista SW, with the wide-angle bellows and a Wide Field Ektar 135mm lens with a 229mm image circle. I've used both front standard rise plus pointing the camera up and tilting the standards back parallel to get more effective front rise than I could get with the rise movement alone. I've also tilted the front standard a bit forward to position the plane of sharp focus where I wanted and I've used rear shift and swings on both standards to frame the image since the ideal camera position was not available. I used just about all of the coverage this great little lens has to offer. FWIW, the shot was a close-quarters outdoor architectural shot.

Hope this helps,

Doremus

Arca does (or at least did) make a little device that fits between the function carrier and the format frame just to raise up the front format frame. I think it was sized for the 171mm front paired with an 8x10 back. That might take care of rise issues, but if it's a concern, go for the "regular" f-line. I have had an F-line camera since 1999 and it's super nice to work with and really folds up small.

The Arca part is 069000 Extender for front format frame (8x10“) -- from a relatively old catalog.