Cambo W RS with Rodenstock 40mm HR Digaron in TS mount

[Jack Flesher]

Thanks to our good friends at Capture Integration, I was able to borrow their Cambo W-RS tech camera with a Rodenstock Digaron HR lens mounted in a Cambo TS lensmount for a quick field test.

Some background. I have avoided investing in a tech camera kit since one of the main features I wanted was separate tilts and swings up front with rise, fall and shifts at the back, and only recently has that option become (readily) available. Sinar released the Arctech about a year ago, and to date I have not been able to even look at one, though I understand there are a few floating around. Arca recently introduced their RM3D tech camera that incorporates a front standard tilt with rear rise/fall and shifts, all while using a dedicated focusing helical on the camera for all lenses. Without going into laborious detail, both of the aforementioned solutions will accomodate my desires, but if I understand their operation correctly, require some added camera gymnastics to get a combination of swing, tilt, rise and focus at the same time. For me, that trio is an often desired combination of movements when photographing three-dimensional subjects with broad near-far subject distances. Which brings me to the main feature that intrigued me about Cambo's TS lensmount solution -- it allows separate tilt and swing adjustments up front on the lens axis while allowing rise, fall and shifts at the rear. (There are a few excellent view camera choices which offer all of these movements, even independently at both ends, which is an obvious advantage for precise adjustments. However a view camera makes for a significantly larger package to transport, is more complicated to set up and use, and is virtually impossible to use hand-held, so I leave them out of the tech camera discussion.)

So armed with the Cambo and 40 HR, I mounted my P65+ back and set out to photograph a decent test subject. In this case, an old passenger train car. I'm going to get straight to picture examples showing results, and leave out all the preparatory discussion on how to use a tech or view camera. While the how-to portion is a worthwhile discussion, it's lengthy, and most folks considering a tech camera purchase will already know the basics of working them. For those of you who don't, you'll hopefully at least be able to see why a camera with movements is worth considering.

Here's the "normal" shot. For this one, the Cambo is leveled and zeroed, meaning no movements of any kind have been made:



The first problem we note is my shadow is in the image, which is an absolute no-no. So the first movement I make is rise, or back fall. Here I used 5mm rise, and note it has the effect of moving the camera to a shooting position several feet higher -- note that the camera has not moved at all, the only adjustment is 5mm of rise:


Note that my shadow is gone, and I have more room over the train car, all good things. The three red squares indicate where I'll be pulling crops from. The far left is the "near" subject point, the center is the "focus" point and the far right is the "far" subject point. Our goal is to get all of them into acceptable focus. I shot all of these frame at f10 as that is near the ideal performance aperture for the lens before diffraction starts deteriorating the fine detail. Here are the crops from the frame with no tilts or swings and only the 5mm rise:

First the focus area, and as you can see we have good focus:


Next the far end, and you can see we are well out of focus, having run out of DoF:


Finally the near end -- and note it is in good focus as well. This is because it happens to lie in the same plane as my main focus area:


Next let's take a look at what happens when I add one degree of swing toward the train car. (Note that from years of experience of shooting Large Format view cameras and tilt-shift lenses, I have a pretty good idea how much tilt or or swing I am likely to need to solve most problems, so I had a good idea where to start for this one.) Anyway, as you can see, focus has clearly improved over the frame above, though still a bit soft for my tastes:


Now for the near zone. Unfortunately our swing has moved the plane of focus closer to the camera at this side of the frame and now our near end is seriously out of focus:


Here is where the "magic" of having tilts and swings comes into play. Let's take a look at what happens to the image when I now add one degree of forward tilt while keeping the one degree of swing.

First the far end. Wow, pretty darn sharp!:


But what about our near end? Well, presto, it popped back significantly too. Not perfect, but all-in-all a very good compromise IMO:


Note that I also took a set using 1/2 degree of tilt and 1/2 degree of swing. This combination ended up favoring the near end slightly at the expense of a slightly softer far end, for roughly the same final result. I opted for this version as it worked best for the entire side of the car, keeping critically sharp along it's entire length, which I felt was the more important subject. As with most things, there are compromises, and it's physically impossible to render all points on a three-dimensional subject in perfect focus on a two-dimensional sensor. But at least with some minor camera movements, we can get a lot closer than we can without them.

[Jack Flesher]

Here is a shot of the tilt/swing side of the Cambo, taken when the settings were at the 1/2 degree points:


Here's a closer shot of the scale at the 1 degree marks:


Here's the rise/fall side of the Cambo showing my 5mm of rear fall:


Tip: If you shoot a tech or view camera, you will probably want some type of hand-held meter and some kind of viewing device or optical finder. Sure you can guess the exposure, then use the histo on your back to get it nailed, but we usually want to get closer to start. You can pay upwards of $500 for a good spot meter, then spend another 20 hours really learning how to use it properly, and you can also pay several hundred dollars for a good viewfinder with masks for your lens focal lengths -- and I do own both. Or alternatively, you can do what I did for these images -- carry a small digital camera and use it as both a meter and a finder! In this case, I used my GF1. For my P65+ I divide the mounted focal by three to get the GF1 focal -- in this case the 40 needs a 13mm on the GF1, so the wide end of my 14-45 was near perfect. By pointing the GF1 at the train with the lens set at 14mm, I was quickly able to determine the ideal position for the tripod with the tech camera, as well as the proper direction to point it. Next we have exposure. Really easy, just set the GF1 to ISO 100 and using Av mode with the appropriate aperture plus a one stop correction for the P65+ being at ISO 50 and we're done! To wit, the very first frame I took with the Cambo was the frame I used above with my shadow in it -- I was that close out of the gate! If you use a DSLR, you could also use the lens distance scale to help judge the focus setting for your tech lens, but that's a much heavier and larger solution. In the case above I just estimated my desired focus distance figuring my desired focus point on the train was about 5 meters away. So I just set the Digiron's scale to 5 M and fired, hitting it right on.

Conclusion. I like this camera a lot. A whole lot. It is easy and intuitive to use and relatively compact and thus easy to transport. Plus it's fast to set up and adjust. And I really like that Rodenstock Digiron HR! It is stunningly crisp to the corners of my P65+ frame, which is a tough oder to fill for any lens. I suspect the 70 is equally as good as this 40, and my preferred trio would be those and a 135 in the TS mounts.

So is there any bad news? Yes, at least for me, and that's the groundglass. Estimation in the field is fine when distances are long, as you rarely need more than a degree or two of tilts with an 80mm lens, or half that with a 40 and twice that with a 150. But when distances get closer and lenses get shorter, movements and focus becomes far more critical and even minute changes can impart a significant change in the image. Thus for critical work, I absolutely need to be able to compose on a ground glass. To use a GG on the Cambo W RS, you need to remove the digital back and mount the GG. Once you have composed, you remove the GG and remount your digital back. I have an aversion to mounting and unmounting a digital back in the field, especially in cold or wet conditions when I am likely wearing gloves. A dropped back during that transfer seems a likely accident waiting to happen, and that will be an expensive accident when it does happen.

Here is where the aforementioned Sinar and Arca tech cameras have an advantage -- both have sliding backs available as options. Here you mount your back and the GG on a slide which you simply move to position back or GG behind the camera. When the GG is in viewing mode, the back is protected by a cover on the slide. Very cool. But it also adds weight, and size and cost, and all of a sudden your compact tech camera isn't so compact.

On the upside, for my uses in the field I think I can get away with estimation probably 80% of the time. For critical work, I'll usually be in the studio where swapping out GG's and backs is less of a hazard, so maybe I could live with the Cambo GG arrangement -- but it sure would be nice to have a sliding back option... I think I'd really like to test drive the Arca with it's sliding back and the same 40 Digiron before I make my investment -- switching platforms is expensive -- but the Cambo is definitely a compelling solution as it sits.

An added note on the Cambo leveling/pan base. If you look at the last image above, you can see the base under the camera. It is a very elegant affair, quite compact for what it does, and also extremely rigid. The base has three leveling screws, two situated at the rear to the sides, and one up front on axis. To level it, you simply dial one of the rear knobs to get side-side (roll) level. Then you either adjust the front knob or move both rear knobs the same direction to get fore-aft (pitch) level. And you're done, easy. The head pans about the lensplate axis, which I assume is going to be very close to nodal for most of the lenses you'd mount. FInally, it is topped off with a degree wheel for reference and even has a set of adjustable click-stop indents you can set for 15, 30 or 180 degree intervals.

Here's a closer shot of the base showing the two rear adjusting wheels and the three-position click-stop selector. Note that I have a generic Arca-style plate mounted to the bottom so I could more easily mount it to my existing Cube. And obviously, if you already have a head like the Cube, this leveling base is somewhat superfluous. But if not, this is a good option for this tech body:


Cheers,

[Don Libby]

Jack - outstanding my friend! You hit the nail on the head on all points.

Don

[thomas]

Jack, many thanks for the great review!
Could you outline how Cambo designed the zero locking on the TS lens panel?

[archivue]

what about distorsion with the 40 digAron ?

[darr]

Thanks Jack! Great review. Love the idea of using a small digital camera for metering and composition.

Darr

[jlm]

i'm not sure why you used tilt right after the swing to correct for near focus, obviously it increases near-far focus, but my approach would have been to re-focus the lens right after the swing, tweaking back and forth, swing and focus, then going for the tilt. makes me remember the Sinar P witht he swing/tilt axes rignt in the ground glass and off center.

[David K]

Jack, you are really getting good at these reviews. Even a non-tech camera guy like me understood it

[Jack Flesher]

Originally Posted by thomas

Jack, many thanks for the great review!
Could you outline how Cambo designed the zero locking on the TS lens panel?

Hi Thomas:

It's just strong detents, and in the case of this lens they were dead on zero as far as I could tell. There is a tiny bit of gear-lash play in the tilt and swing movements so you can feel a positive zero, but also enough friction to hold the adjustments wherever you set them, even if it's only 1/2 degree off zero. Make sense?

[Jack Flesher]

Originally Posted by archivue

what about distorsion with the 40 digAron ?

I did not shoot a brick wall, but it seems very well controlled based on what I shot. I am sure the manufacturer has some specs listed for it that would provide more data than an informal test.

[Jack Flesher]

Originally Posted by jlm

i'm not sure why you used tilt right after the swing to correct for near focus, obviously it increases near-far focus, but my approach would have been to re-focus the lens right after the swing, tweaking back and forth, swing and focus, then going for the tilt. makes me remember the Sinar P witht he swing/tilt axes rignt in the ground glass and off center.

Hi John:

Yes, and that's probably what most people would do, not realizing there was need for swing in combination with tilts for this composition . The problem is considering all of the physics and understanding why you still do not have the PoF set for maximum advantage until you add the tilt -- we would not have had enough DoF to carry the image using just swings and refocus. In this image, my focus point is close enough to the axis of swing that the minor swing I imparted does not significantly alter the point of focus. To take full advantage of the PoF available at the selected aperture, this image also needed the tilt. as you know, by combining equal amounts of tilt and swing, we have set the PoF to run diagonally, approximately from from Lower-Left corner to the Upper-Right corner. Thus, for this image, this combination of rise, swing and tilt gave me a PoF axis that basically ran along the side of the train that is facing me, or roughly in line with the three red boxes to the point that DoF could carry though the image, which is exactly what I wanted. And of course why it popped both ends of the focus so significantly! (Actually for this image, it would probably have been ideal had I used 1 degree swing with a 3/4 degree of tilt, but that is splitting hairs and the existing DoF was adequate to carry the image as set.) Make sense?

[Jack Flesher]

Originally Posted by David K

Jack, you are really getting good at these reviews. Even a non-tech camera guy like me understood it

Thanks David -- that is about the best compliment I could get!

[Don Libby]

Originally Posted by jlm

i'm not sure why you used tilt right after the swing to correct for near focus, obviously it increases near-far focus, but my approach would have been to re-focus the lens right after the swing, tweaking back and forth, swing and focus, then going for the tilt. makes me remember the Sinar P witht he swing/tilt axes rignt in the ground glass and off center.

While your method may have worked just as well I believe the way Jack did it saved time as there was not change in the focus. Each time you re-focus you bring in a different set of problems. Jack’s first focus was “good enough” that all he had to do was tweak the camera positioning first with the rise then with the t/s.

I haven’t used the newer lens (yet) but I have used the groundglass. I’ve found the groundglass useful to get me in the neighborhood so to speak however it sucks at any real attempt to achieve spot on focus. Jack also brings up a valid complaint about the effort needed to remove the back (and plate) to use the groundglass. The best thing that could happen would be for Cambo to offer a plate cover to protect the back while it’s attached to the plate. I’ve been complaining about this one aspect for a very long time.

Don

[Don Libby]

Okay – just saw Jack’s response which make more sense than mine did. I’m still on my second cup of coffee…

[thomas]

Originally Posted by Jack Flesher

Hi Thomas:

It's just strong detents, and in the case of this lens they were dead on zero as far as I could tell. There is a tiny bit of gear-lash play in the tilt and swing movements so you can feel a positive zero, but also enough friction to hold the adjustments wherever you set them, even if it's only 1/2 degree off zero. Make sense?

Thanks Jack!
I've played around with the prototype of the TS panel last summer. At that moment there was no locking.
The guys at Cambo told me they were planning to incorporate a small globule to lock zero.
Sounds like that's what they finally did.

As to the Leveling base some additional notes:
The actual WRS body is square so without that little extension at the bottom (see attachment at the end of my post).
But without this extension you can't use the full amount of rise (i.e. back fall)… so if you don't shoot handheld you are probably always mounting the extension.
So like here:



If you use the leveling base this extension is already part of the leveling base:


Secondly you would normally mount the leveling base directly on the tripod (not on an existing tripod head).
So the leveling base de facto replaces a tripod head and the extension on the WRS body. And it is a natural extension… so camera and leveling base are one piece.
This makes the leveling base something seriously to consider for this particular camera. It's simply great to work just with the leveling base given that you use a tripod either with rotatable middle column or - if you want to point the camera regularly - with turnable middle column and with an additional ball in the top of the tripod, like here:


Another nice little thing is the pan of the leveling base has a soft lock at zero degree. So you can compose the image and in case that you want to adjust something on the front of the camera you don't have to walk around the tripod - you just pan the camera 180° to adjust whatever you want to and then turn it back. As it snaps in at 0° it's back again at the position you were starting from.

[jlm]

it all makes sense, and like you say, is splitting hairs. the way i see it is tilts and swings rotate the plane of focus about two perpendicular axes until you get the plane of focus parallel to some plane in the image (side of the train, eg.) then you use lens focus to move that plane in and out and land it right on the train.
of course with a 4x5 gg you could actually see what you were doing...

[Don Libby]

Jack – I completely overlooked the fact you were using the new Cambo leveling base thinking instead you were on the Cube. What are your thoughts on the leveling base as compared to the cube?

Don

[Jack Flesher]

Originally Posted by thomas

Another nice little thing is the pan of the leveling base has a soft lock at zero degree. So you can compose the image and in case that you want to adjust something on the front of the camera you don't have to walk around the tripod - you just pan the camera 180° to adjust whatever you want to and then turn it back. As it snaps in at 0° it's back again at the position you were starting from.

Actually, the model I had was user-settable for 0 and 180 detents, 0, 60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 detents, or 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270 and 315 detents on the pan

[Jack Flesher]

Originally Posted by Don Libby

Jack – I completely overlooked the fact you were using the new Cambo leveling base thinking instead you were on the Cube. What are your thoughts on the leveling base as compared to the cube?

Don

The Cube is faster, and especially if you already own a Cube, I would probably not bother with the Cambo head . But as Thomas mentioned, you do need the spacer for rise.

[chmilar]

It looks like each lens must have its own TS mount.

You cannot buy one TS mount, and interchange lenses on it.

Is this correct?

[Don Libby]

Originally Posted by chmilar

It looks like each lens must have its own TS mount.

You cannot buy one TS mount, and interchange lenses on it.

Is this correct?

Sadly that’s correct. Currently there are only five lenses are available, 28, 40, 47,72, and 90

Don

[Don Libby]

Originally Posted by Jack Flesher

The Cube is faster, and especially if you already own a Cube, I would probably not bother with the Cambo head . But as Thomas mentioned, you do need the spacer for rise.

Thanks Jack. I've never removed the spacer and of course never had a problem using it on the Cube.

Don

[thomas]

Originally Posted by Jack Flesher

Actually, the model I had was user-settable for 0 and 180 detents, 0, 60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 detents, or 0, 45, 90, 135, 180, 225, 270 and 315 detents on the pan

that's good. I've bought a preproduction model; there's just the 0° lock.
Interesstingly my model has a different shape... the bottom piece has the same diameter as the middle piece whilst yours has a smaller bottom piece.

[PeterA]

Nice review Jack as usual concise and clear.

Can't help but say that (for me) the ability to control what is made intentionally blurred or out of focus in a big way is as important as the ability to design a POF diagonal that maximises 'acceptable' focus across the plane - I use this feature in portraiture and more abstract landscapes.

As for critical focus I agree that the use of a ground glass is a must. Here Sinar is winner - especially since it also comes with an inbuilt 'hood and magnifyer that slides around teh ground glass.

I await a non Sinar back mounting solution before commiting to the system.

Th eweak link for Sinar is the non centered mounting base - easilly fixed with a Novaflex or RRS sliding mount on a Cube - but a frustrating lack of attention to detail nontheless.

[rhsu]

Nice... Brilliant field test with both P65+ and the HR40 T/S!

[routlaw]

Originally Posted by Jack Flesher

Some background. I have avoided investing in a tech camera kit since one of the main features I wanted was separate tilts and swings up front with rise, fall and shifts at the back, and only recently has that option become (readily) available. Sinar released the Arctech about a year ago, and to date I have not been able to even look at one, though I understand there are a few floating around. Arca recently introduced their RM3D tech camera that incorporates a front standard tilt with rear rise/fall and shifts, all while using a dedicated focusing helical on the camera for all lenses. Without going into laborious detail, both of the aforementioned solutions will accomodate my desires, but if I understand their operation correctly, require some added camera gymnastics to get a combination of swing, tilt, rise and focus at the same time. For me, that trio is an often desired combination of movements when photographing three-dimensional subjects with broad near-far subject distances.

Thanks for the review Jack. Are you aware of the Linhof Techno? It also has rear rise fall @ 20mm as well as front standard swing/tilt. It looks very nice and would be at the top of my list for a tech camera. Just over 4 lbs./1900 grams.

http://www.linhof.de/news-1_e.html

If you are interested the above link should get you to the pdf download.

Hope this helps.

Rob

[Jack Flesher]

Thanks Rob,

Yes I was aware of it, but like the Sinar Arctech, I cannot find ANYBODY ANYWHERE in the US that has one for me to look at. I'm also unclear as to whether there's a sliding back option, and unclear if the rear standard allows only shifts or rise/fall or allows both --- for stitching, I'd want it to do both...

[thomas]

Originally Posted by Jack Flesher

Yes I was aware of it, but like the Sinar Arctech, I cannot find ANYBODY ANYWHERE in the US that has one for me to look at. I'm also unclear as to whether there's a sliding back option, and unclear if the rear standard allows only shifts or rise/fall or allows both --- for stitching, I'd want it to do both...

Sliding back, yes:
http://www.linhofstudio.com/products...of/Techno.html

as to movements - on the rear vertical shift only:

TECHNICAL DATA LINHOF TECHNO
Camera dimensions in Height: 197 mm
basic position Width: 176 mm
Length: 120 mm
Weight ab. 1900 g
Maximum camera extension 240 mm
Minimum camera extension with recessed lensboard: 20 mm

Front standard
Horizontal parallel shift 10 mm left, 10 mm right
Vertical parallel shift 20 mm up
Swing ±10°
Tilts ±10°

Rear standard
Vertical parallel shift 20 mm up
20 mm down

see: http://www.linhofstudio.com/products...ochure_000.pdf

The Techno is compatible with a Hasselblad Finder System.

The arTec has shift rise/fall on the lens and lateral on the rear.
Of those small plate cameras 4 way shift on the rear is only provided by the Cambo WRS, the Arca Swiss Rm3D, the Horseman SW-D II Pro and the Alpas ... AFAIK.
But no sliding back for the Cambo, Horseman and Alpas.
And no Tilt/Swing on the Horseman (AFAIK).

[dtedesco@tnch.com]

Hi All,

I have been lurking in the shadows as a reader of this site for a long time, but this is my first post.

In response to the questions on the Linhof Techno, I have one here in the US (AZ). I am using it with a P65+ and a Kapture Group Sliding/Stitching back. I bought it from Steve Hendrix at Capture Integration, who sometimes posts here and is welcome to add to my comments.

I also own a Cambo RS. I shoot landscapes and love Tilt. I debated between getting some cambo T/S mount lenses or just moving to the Techno. I still own the RS, but ultimately cancelled an order I had in for a 47mm lens in Cambo T/S mount in favor of the Techno. The primary motivations in this decision stem from being a landscape photographer. As such, I have not been pleased with using the Cambo RS in rough conditions, due to the lack of a sliding back (having to expose the sensor/risk dropping the P65 in the field). Another factor was the much lower lens costs due to the use of standard Technika lensboards rather than the expensive (but nice) helical mount of the Cambo setup.

Now that I have the system, I can say that I like it a lot. However, it is a bit of a different animal than the cambo rather than a better one - much more like a traditional view camera in use. The Cambo setup is ultimately easier (when not using tilt/swing) if you can just use hyperfocal focusing and then work with the image on the back or with an OVF to perfect your framing.

However, I have never liked shooting that way - the interaction with the subject is simply too detached for my tastes while composing etc. Also, the "best guess" setup is very difficult to use with accuracy for tilt/swing movements.

I generally shoot with wider lenses (28-47mm) and critical focusing at those focal lengths is challenging using a small ground glass and 7x loupe. However, I have found that - focused very carefully and stopped down a bit - it works well.

Other random thoughts are: The linhof is a larger setup, but only marginally so. Add in the sliding back and it gets bigger - but then you have a sliding back, which is obviously nice. My biggest criticism of the Linhof's design is that some of the movements - in particular the tilt movement, would benefit from finer threading. Tilt can be stiff and it can be difficult to make the sort of micro adjustments you need to make at times. Rise/Fall/Shift and swing are much more refined and smooth.

Last thought is that - today - the best critical focusing tilt solution for digital is a 5D Mark II w/24mm TS-E II lens/D3x w/24mm PC-E and 10x magnified LiveView on the LCD. If someone could write an iPhone App or create a small handheld device with an LCD that worked with the Phase One LiveView system (essentially mimicking what current dSLRs do on their LCD) it would be wonderful. Or, short of that, write some sort of LiveView firmware for the P series backs that either does real live view (maybe not possible due to sensor design), simulates it via a series of exposures or even does what the BetterLight backs do (basically tests a small point the user selects for accuracy while the users make adjustments), it would be wonderful. The first DB with real liveview or an accessory to offer it in the field without lugging a full firewire laptop about gets my $!

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will answer as best I can. Thanks for running such an informative online community!

Dave

[David Klepacki]

Hi Dave and welcome to the forum. What you ask for actually exists from Sinar, and is called the "Sinar Action Module". While I think it is no longer for sale, they can still be found in some rental houses, and they occasionally pop-up on ebay. And, who knows maybe Sinar will resurrect this product if there is enough demand for it. Here was their marketing release:

Sinar Action Module – The Photographer Needs 4"
The smallest computer, measuring only 14 x 11.5 x 4.3 cm (5 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄2 x 1 11/16 inches) (Length x Width x Height), offers practically everything that the mobile photographer desires.
The Sinar Action Module is the perfect solution for all photographers who do not want to be without absolute image control while on location, but who also feel burdened by having to carry along and set up a laptop. Every Sinarback with a Firewire connector can be upgraded with a handy Sinar Action Module to become a highly practical mobile system. Thanks to the reliable electronic components of the latest generation, the exposure performance of the Sinar Action Module can readily be compared to that of a well-equipped modern desktop computer. A highlight is the crystal-clear 4-inch monitor screen, whose area is approximately 4 times greater than those on hand cameras, so that they do justice to large format sensors. For optimal operation reliability, the system software is stored on an impact-proof chip that is separate from the image data storage. More than 1500 high-resolution images can be stored on the interchangeable hard disc. In order to prevent an interruption of work in progress because of the image data downloading, Sinar offers a Firewire/USB2 Docking Station for the interchangeable hard discs. With a blank interchangeable hard disc, the Sinar Action Module is quickly ready for action again. The Module can be operated with practically any 12 Volt direct current power source. A second monitor can be attached to the "Video Out" connector socket. The software of the Sinar Action Module offers Live Image, optical and acoustic exposure control, contact sheets, ICC Color Management, as well as direct communication possibilities with the Sinar m camera.

[karlfoto]

Hi Dave and grp.

I too have been a bit of a silent observer of this fine group. I practice architecture and interior photography for a living.

I have a question ito of these sliding back options for the cambo ws. When using the gg in the sliding plate, I assume that you are able to mimic what you would be doing with the db by dropping it (lens rise)to correct perspective, make sure all is the way you want the final shot, and then just slide the db into place and take your image?

I am at the stage of upgrading my gear from d2x, and am trying to decide if i should go d3x and 24pc or cambo and 35mm and a 22mp back. I also like to be able to see my final image before shooting, but this taking off and and putting on of gg and db is time consuming and obviously with it's dangers. I just wonder if i wld be able to compose and shoot the 20 odd images that i usually do during the 30/40 minutes of twilight time. The obvious advantage of the live and or normal view on the d3x is a definite plus here.

Is the gain in quality of a 22mp back (I also print fine art up to 17" and 39" longest dimension)over the d3x worth the added inconvenience, time and cost? Any ideas, this is open to the whole group, however i also might put this as a separate post to get peoples views on it.

Thanks
Karl

[marrydavidson101]

thanks for sharing this all with us its really helpful

[aprillove20]

Excellent review. Good job.