Acra-Swiss Pico Lens Mount Recommendation

[vjbelle]

I think you would be much happier purchasing a 907 and using it with your Universalis. As good as the GFX is, in its current state it is just too limiting. I have used DBs for over 20 years and there just is no comparison with any mirrorless adaptation. Even the HB X2D would give you an extra 10mm to work with which is a lot in the mirrorless adaptation world but still not enough to match what can be used with a true DB.

I have not adapted my Pico to mirrorless. My M-two is both mirrorless and DB adapted. I shot my GFX on it a lot until I finally bit the bullet and bought a 907. If you ever make the leap you will wonder why you waited so long...

Victor B.

 

[rdeloe]

I think you would be much happier purchasing a 907 and using it with your Universalis. As good as the GFX is, in its current state it is just too limiting. I have used DBs for over 20 years and there just is no comparison with any mirrorless adaptation. Even the HB X2D would give you an extra 10mm to work with which is a lot in the mirrorless adaptation world but still not enough to match what can be used with a true DB.

I have not adapted my Pico to mirrorless. My M-two is both mirrorless and DB adapted. I shot my GFX on it a lot until I finally bit the bullet and bought a 907. If you ever make the leap you will wonder why you waited so long...

Victor B.

I have thought about it -- a lot. I even worked out a budget a few months ago to make it happen, and started looking for a good deal!

But then I did a hard-headed assessment of what I really need versus what I might want. If I wanted to shoot wider than 35mm more than once in a blue moon, I think I would have made the switch already. But for how I see the world, 35mm is already wide enough. I can only shift 7.5mm with my 35mm lens, but even that is not a serious limitation. Interestingly, the Hasselblad X2D doesn't make a difference in terms of which lenses I could use, with the exception of the S-K APO-Digitar 47mm, which would be unrestricted. Again though, my Mamiya G 50mm is so good, and is unrestricted on my GFX, that the juice isn't worth the squeeze. The only way to open the door to the wide Rodenstock HR lenses and the wider S-K lenses is to use a proper back.

There are a few other practical things that have cooled my interest in the CFV 100C. They seem like minor things to a lot of people, but for me and how I work they're quite significant. From my reading of the CFV 100C manual, these functions don't exist.

• The ability to record a voice memo alongside a file is important for me. It makes a huge difference for keeping track of lens settings, decisions I made during the shoot, etc.
• Because I only use adapted lenses, another "mission critical" function for me is having lens information written into every file.
• I've just discovered that the custom (C1..C6) settings function actually works now on GFX (years after everyone else did apparently). That's making it so easy to switch between using the 100S as a medium format back and as a hand held camera with my Mamiya 7 lenses, which I now only use in that way. All the settings I need for the former are under C1, and the latter C2.
• There's also a very practical consideration, which is the replacement cost. Where I work, and how I work, dropping gear off a cliff or into a bog is always a possibility. It's a lot cheaper to buy another used 100S than another CFV 100C.

My spring field season is up and running again, and I'm deep into shooting for a project that is coming to a head. I love this stage because any and all fussing about gear just disappears. Everything works, and none of the equipment is getting in my way. It's all good. I may come back to this question at the end of the year, based on how things go between now and December.

 

[jng]

I have thought about it -- a lot. I even worked out a budget a few months ago to make it happen, and started looking for a good deal!

But then I did a hard-headed assessment of what I really need versus what I might want. If I wanted to shoot wider than 35mm more than once in a blue moon, I think I would have made the switch already. But for how I see the world, 35mm is already wide enough. I can only shift 7.5mm with my 35mm lens, but even that is not a serious limitation. Interestingly, the Hasselblad X2D doesn't make a difference in terms of which lenses I could use, with the exception of the S-K APO-Digitar 47mm, which would be unrestricted. Again though, my Mamiya G 50mm is so good, and is unrestricted on my GFX, that the juice isn't worth the squeeze. The only way to open the door to the wide Rodenstock HR lenses and the wider S-K lenses is to use a proper back.

There are a few other practical things that have cooled my interest in the CFV 100C. They seem like minor things to a lot of people, but for me and how I work they're quite significant. From my reading of the CFV 100C manual, these functions don't exist.

• The ability to record a voice memo alongside a file is important for me. It makes a huge difference for keeping track of lens settings, decisions I made during the shoot, etc.
• Because I only use adapted lenses, another "mission critical" function for me is having lens information written into every file.
• I've just discovered that the custom (C1..C6) settings function actually works now on GFX (years after everyone else did apparently). That's making it so easy to switch between using the 100S as a medium format back and as a hand held camera with my Mamiya 7 lenses, which I now only use in that way. All the settings I need for the former are under C1, and the latter C2.
• There's also a very practical consideration, which is the replacement cost. Where I work, and how I work, dropping gear off a cliff or into a bog is always a possibility. It's a lot cheaper to buy another used 100S than another CFV 100C.

My spring field season is up and running again, and I'm deep into shooting for a project that is coming to a head. I love this stage because any and all fussing about gear just disappears. Everything works, and none of the equipment is getting in my way. It's all good. I may come back to this question at the end of the year, based on how things go between now and December.

Indeed, the CFV-100C is not for everybody (including you!) but just to note that it is possible to enter metadata on lens focal length, aperture, and focus distance when using adapted lenses. That said, said metadata recently seems to have gone the way of all those lost socks, as they no longer appear for me in Phocus. I’m guessing that I could probably fix this latest bug by updating the software, but haven’t been bothered enough to do so.

John

 

[rdeloe]

Indeed, the CFV-100C is not for everybody (including you!) but just to note that it is possible to enter metadata on lens focal length, aperture, and focus distance when using adapted lenses. That said, said metadata recently seems to have gone the way of all those lost socks, as they no longer appear for me in Phocus. I’m guessing that I could probably fix this latest bug by updating the software, but haven’t been bothered enough to do so.

John

Thanks John. I did see that you could enter metadata, but unless I'm mistaken, the approach is you do it after you make the picture. With GFX cameras, you choose your lens, and the information is written into each file automatically.

One thing I forgot to mention in my response to Victor is that I think I would be very happy with Hasselblad's output (although from working with HB files in Phocus I also know I would not be happy with having to develop the file in Phocus and then bring it into LR as a large TIFF!)

 

[ruebe]

I have never heard of anyone using a Pico with WA lenses and having the rail show. The camera is supplied with two rails and I only use the long one and have never seen the rail when using my Schneider 35XL - which is my widest WA lens.

I mentioned that earlier in this thread and is Schneider 28XL related. The 15cm rail shows up in the frame (10cm rail is no problem), also the rear element gets blocked by the belows frame after approx. 15/16mm shift vertically and approx. 12/13mm horizontal shift with the 28.

 

[vjbelle]

Seems very lens specific but if that is a lens that is important to the shooter then I suppose it can be a slight fly in the ointment. I don't get too much hung up on the wides as along with Rob I find 35mm to be as wide as I could ever need. Beyond that I find the added distortions to be visually very distractive and because of that I go out of my way to be creative with shifting my Rody 40 which has a fair amount of shift room. But those are kind of rare occasions as I find myself usually shooting 50mm and longer.

Victor B.

 

[Destin]

Thanks for chiming in @vjbelle, this is the type of reassurance I was looking for and it sounds like we're quite aligned in what we appreciate in a camera. Can I please ask what mount is fitted to your lenses and also, do you use any 6x4in Graduated Filters on the front of your lenses? If so, do you experience an issues with the bottom of the filter hitting the camera?

 

[vjbelle]

The mount fitted to all of my lenses is the Pico mount which is the only mount that can be used with the Pico camera. It is a new design with a quarter turn for locking/unlocking to the camera.

I do use 100mm ND filters and if I use my Schneider 72XL lens the filter can hit the top of the tilt mechanism because the lens fits so far back on the camera. I do not have this issue with any of my Rody lenses. You can see images of this from this link: https://www.getdpi.com/forum/index....o-lens-compatibility.76467/page-3#post-913807. Scroll around a little and you will see both an image with the 72mm and an image with my Rody 40mm.

In practical terms this limitation with the 72mm is fairly moot. I did increase the density of my ND to a '3' just to have a little more flexibility with the 72mm but in hindsight it really wasn't necessarry.

Victor B.

 

[Destin]

Thanks for your reply, can I ask how much it cost to have your lens mounted to B-Mount (Pico)?

 

[vjbelle]

I don't know what you are referring to. All of my lenses including the 138 float were mounted by me. All of my lenses except for the 138 float are copal '0' lenses.

Victor B.

 

[diggles]

Thanks for your reply, can I ask how much it cost to have your lens mounted to B-Mount (Pico)?

The Pico uses a standard Copal 0 board. No need to send your lenses in to get them mounted because you can do it yourself.

Pico lens board #0

Pico system flat lens board for use with Rodenstock or Schneider digital lenses. Standard flat, size 0 B-board bayonet mounts to Pico front frame For ARCA-SWISS Pico view cameras only Black anodized aluminum SKU: 010900

arca-swiss-usa.com

 

[vjbelle]

Thank you Warren for the further clarification.

Victor B.