Are there any MF cameras with lens movements?

Dan Fromm

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TheFlyingCamera said:
Calumet also sold a 23 SF, which was a 4x5 view camera stuck in the dryer on high for a while.
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That's a Cambo, was never sold as a Calumet. Its predecessor is the Cambo SC-1. I seem to have a pair.

More to the point, KEH has one (Dead Link Removed) with bag bellows for $225. They also have a standard bellows for it and a couple of boards.
 

geostog

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Bronica S, S2, S2A all have bellows with movements.
Also I believe Kowa 6 has tilt-shift bellows but I am not totally sure.
 

baachitraka

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Holga 120 GFN, but its not just the lens that only move...
 

silbersalz

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Edit: that‘s not a good place to ask my questions.
 
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wiltw

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John Earley said:
Bronica ETR series had a the Bronica/Schneider 55mm tilt shift lens and though they are not very common they can be found.[h=2][/h]
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Bronica ETR 55mm f4.5 PE PCS Schneider Super Angulon Tilt Shift Lens

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Sirius Glass

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Some Rollei SRLs medium format cameras have lens movements are then best used on a tripod.
 

Anaxagore

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Rollei had the Schneider PCS Super-Angulon 4.5/55 for System 6000. Movements are limited like any TS lens vs full bellows camera. They also had the X-Act and X-Act2 cameras, but if weight it a problem with Fuji, it will also be a problem here. PhaseOne has an Apo-Digitar 5.6/120 that is also a TS lens.
 

Besk

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Dan Daniel said:
I picked up a Horseman VH, 6x9 field view camera. Works very well. Obviously you can't do much with lens movements without using a tripod, so you might as well do it right.
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Plus the VHR, 985, 980 - these have the movements plus rangefinder focusing using the correct cam.
Best usable with lens 65mm and longer.
 

DREW WILEY

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Most 4x5 view cameras accept roll film backs, and some brands also have scaled down models which only operate in MF mode. Any of these, in terms of movement versatility, are likely to run rings around half-baked absurdly overpriced options like a Hassie FlexBody or Arc body. Plus you can choose from all kinds of lenses with sufficient image circles. You'll get far more practical answers placing this kind of query in the large format column than under MF per se. You'll probably also end up with even a lighter more compact camera. Adapting MF SLR's is really the hard clumsy way to go about it.
 

BrianShaw

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I beg your pardon my kind sir… perchance have you actually used the words “half-baked” and ”Hassie” in the same declaration? “Absurdly overpriced “, however, is a quite appropriate description.
 

DREW WILEY

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Brian - by "half-baked" I meant that those particular Hassie accessories actually provide very little in relation to the asking price, which is more than many actual view cameras. I didn't imply "poorly machined". ... more like, expecting a chicken to quack like a duck, when it's not really a duck at all.

The Rollei SL66 system provided an amount of built-in rise and front tilt. My brother owned a couple of those, and even sold them. But he also owned and sold Linhof Technika gear. I inherited all his negatives and chromes, and am unaware of a single instance he even bothered with movements on the Rollei. It was so much easier on the Linhof - and even that was a technical camera with more limited movements than many lighter less expensive view cameras.

Same in my case. I have a pretty decent Pentax 6x7 system, but have never seen the need to acquire one of their shift lenses, because I have a lot of Sinar gear too, as well as a couple other view cameras, along with roll film backs as needed. The backpacking combination of my little Ebony 4x5 folder and a couple of 6x9 roll film backs, plus 3 or 4 lenses, actually weighs less than the P67 with just a couple ordinary lenses.
 

john_s

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The Rollei SL66 lens tilt is actually equivalent to rear tilt, because it does not need extra lens coverage. Rollei didn't want to get involved in a range of lenses with wider coverage.
It is useful for the "near-far" composition, and portraits with very out-of-focus backgrounds.
It does not have a lens rise or fall facility.
There is a lens (75mm if I remember correctly) and mount accessory that provides tilt sometimes seen on ebay.
 

DREW WILEY

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That's part of the crux of the problem. Actual view camera lenses can be selected based on a number of criteria, including size of the image circle, and also be used interchangeably on many different cameras. With MF SLR'S your options are quite limited, that is, unless you use an SLR body itself in the film plane position at the rear of an actual view or technical camera, which is sometimes done.

Rear tilt needs less image circle than front tilt; but it has a different effect. With a full-featured view camera you can do it all - rise/fall, shifts, swings, tilts, and combinations of these. Since none of that is realistic handheld, might as well use a real deal camera with movement capacity to begin with. It is possible to attach a reflex viewer to a view camera if you can't tolerate an upside-down image. ... Or just move to the southern hemisphere, where the image will be rightside-up, but you'll be standing upside down.
 

RalphLambrecht

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Jon Shiu said:
There was a rollei slr with lens tilt movements, but it was not thought to be very reliable. Also, you can get lenses with movements called Hartblei Superrotator for different cameras.

Jon
Click to expand...

The Rollei66 comes to mind and I'm not aware of reliability issues. It apparently was Barry Thornton's go-to camera, and he created amazing images with it.
 

Nokton48

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Another vote for the 6x9 Plaubel Peco Junior. A good platform for Galvin Back from Glenn, highly recommend. I think Galvin designed his back for Graflex XL Backs, which fit perfectly. Almost Leica like quality of manufacture, Plaubel used to advertise as "The Rolls Royce of Photography". Kinds True. I can shoot with mine handheld, without tripod and has enough movements for me. Like it so much I bought a second one, $70 from Adorama.

APSC Sony Nex C3 JB Welded to Peco Rear Standard Plate by Nokton48, on Flickr

I bought this Nex C3 16mp Body for Fifty Bucks at World of Photography. Then I JB Welded it to a flat scrap black metal Plaubel Plate from my junk box. Then JB Welded the flat plate/APSC Back to a flat revesible Peco Junior Rear Plate. VOILA! "Poor Man's Medium Format Digital Back". Great for testing and trying different OLDE lenses. This one is historically interesting, it was on the cover of the Peco Junior literature I have. It's the Plaubel 150mm F4.2 Orthometar, it takes the stock Plaubel Makina Hood on the front. So fully tricked out for digital fun. I finished this with a rubber magnifying Nex 3 hood $10 from Ebay.
 
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