Arca-Swiss F-Universalis with GFX: revised review published

[rdeloe]

Earlier in 2023 I put up a short post about the Arca-Swiss F-Universalis, and linked to a "working review": a PDF printout on my Google Drive site.

I've had the chance to work the F-Universalis hard, and to use it in combination with the GFX 100S. The time seemed right to put up a proper review that is easier to read, and which reflects a lot more hands-on experience.

Rather than burying a note in the previous thread, I've started a new one here.

If you're interested in this tool, the review is posted here: https://www.robdeloephotography.com/Pages/Arca-Swiss-F-Universalis-Review

I'm happy to answer any questions via this thread.

 

[rdeloe]

[I'll use this post to note updates.]

1. Speaking of updates, I forgot to mention the front shift trick. I've added that to the review.

 

[vjbelle]

Lots of effort..... Well Done. Hope others appreciate your incredible contribution.

Victor B.

 

[4x5Australian]

Rob, your review of the F-Universalis is nicely sequenced, easy to follow and comprehensive without being overwhelming.

Helpfully, it doesn't assume a working knowledge of the Arca-Swiss eco-system.

And I like the way it described the various peculiarities and gave me a good sense of how the controls feel.

 

[rdeloe]

Thanks for the feedback Rod and Victor. My main motivation for writing it all down was in case I forget. The day is coming when I'll need notes...

 

[corvus]

Rob, in June I had already written to you in view of the first version of your work report that it was an important impetus for me to make a decision to buy the F. At the same time, I took the opportunity to try out the camera at my arca-swiss dealer.
Now you have created a wonderful instruction manual with your 2nd version. I would like to thank you very much for that. These are very helpful insights. Arca-Swiss should hire you as a freelancer
Now I am looking forward to my order finally arriving in the next few days after some waiting time. I am full of anticipation

Torsten

 

[rdeloe]

Hi Torsten. I am so happy that you find some value in this review. Don't hesitate to follow-up with questions I haven't answered. I often learn something I didn't know when trying to answer someone else's question!

I hope your camera arrives soon, and that it's everything you hoped it would be for your work.

 

[John Leathwick]

Rob, in June I had already written to you in view of the first version of your work report that it was an important impetus for me to make a decision to buy the F. I had already taken the opportunity to try out the camera at my arca-swiss dealer. At the same time, I took the opportunity to try out the camera at my arca-swiss dealer.
Now you have created a wonderful instruction manual with your 2nd version. I would like to thank you very much for that. These are very helpful insights. Arca-Swiss should hire you as a freelancer
Now I am looking forward to my order finally arriving in the next few days after some waiting time. I am full of anticipation

Torsten

Hi Torsten,

I'm sure that you'll be pleased with it. I bought one after reading the first version of Rob's post, and while it has had a steep learning curve, I'm loving the opportunities that it creates. Here's an image of mine in a slightly unusual configuration - suspended upside down so that I could get close to the ground for a closeup stack that I took this morning. I should add that it took me some time to work out a feasible way to achieve this, but the flexibility of the Universalis, and particularly the rotating lens boards and rotafoot made this very achievable once I got my head around the problem. I also have a Fuji extension tube in play here to increase the extension for the Mamiya RZ 140mm Macro lens that I'm using, but in time will probably buy a longer rail and bellows for this type of shot. BTW, I'm very impressed with this lens, which has a huge image circle and good sharpness provided that its floating element is correctly adjusted.

-John

 

[corvus]

Thank you, John, that gives me further encouragement. Your picture suggests a passionate photographer...
And without passion there is no genius [ "Ohne Leidenschaft gibt es keine Genialität." // Theodor Mommsen ]

 

[John Leathwick]

I've been continuing to explore closeups with the suspended mode F-Universalis, and when coupled with the Mamiya RZ 140 macro, it seems very capable. This is one from this afternoon at about 0.5x magnification, 27 images taken with the focus nudged slightly back towards infinity between each image, and then stacked in Zerene Stacker. I was using swing, tilt and front standard fall in this to align the focus plane more across the tops of the flowers. There were a few issues with the left hand flower that was starting to close in response to a cold wind change, so its a less than perfect stack, but still demonstrates the power of the technique. My previous go to lens for this sort of image was a Schneider ApoComponon 90 in an enlarger lens mount - I did a head to head compare of them last night at 0.5x magnification, and the Mamiya came out out slightly ahead - the only downside is that it weighs more than 10x the weight!
-John

 

[corvus]

The F-Universalis arrived at my place these days. Full of anticipation, I looked at all the modules and put them together. I mounted the camera on the Rotafoot and the first (rebuilt) lens on the format frame ... *** ... but my mood dimmed, because something was not right:
- after mounting the two function carriers on the optical bench/monorail and placing and aligning Rotafoot and lens format frame at the corresponding centered markings, there is a visible deviation from Rotafoot to lens frame with respect to the center axis
- I repeated the setup 2 times and always got the same result
- according to my inspection and assumption, a slight deviation from the perpendicular arrangement above the monorail at the function carrier(s) could be a possible cause
- the Rotafoot also has different gap dimensions at the foot to the left and right of the height-adjustable bayonet carrier (slight eccentricity)
- further points I have not recognized or checked
- it did not feel like precision at all

After consultation with my dealer, the camera must now be sent back to Arca for inspection and, if necessary, readjustment. But before the end of August no one will be able to look at it, because until August 21 are company vacations. Now I am totally slowed down and a bit frustrated, because the next considerations and decisions about the discussed lenses do not bring me any further for the time being (https://www.getdpi.com/forum/index.php?threads/pentax-645-35mm-lenses.72379/).

Too bad, probably again at least 4 weeks will pass. Hopefully with a precise result !

 

[rdeloe]

That is really disappointing. I hope they can sort it out for you quickly.

 

[corvus]

Thanks, Rob!

 

[corvus]

I would like to add something to my post from yesterday and correct it:
It was not my intention to speak badly about anything. It was just the initial disappointment after waiting so long now to wait a few more weeks before I can get going. I am confident that my dealer and Arca have the correction and solution ready. That has already been set in motion.

Torsten

 

[wallpaperviking]

Wowsers, what an amazingly in-depth review! Thanks, appreciate your time and effort!

I was wondering if you still ran into the "shutter" issue with your GFX 100S, where you were only confident in using the electronic shutter? Was the issue resolved by replacing the faulty part? If the issue is still there, that seems like quite a significant flaw, as ES is not suitable in some situations..

Was also wondering about the rear stitching capabilities when using the widest "tech" style lenses? Can you use the image circle of say a Rodenstock 55mm and use the rear movements to get a wider F.O.V?

Thanks again Rob, great work!

 

[John Leathwick]

Was also wondering about the rear stitching capabilities when using the widest "tech" style lenses? Can you use the image circle of say a Rodenstock 55mm and use the rear movements to get a wider F.O.V?

I can chip in on this one - I recently bought an F-Universalis, largely as a consequence of reading the earlier version of Rob's review. I went with mamiya RZ lenses because of the difficulty in finding someone in New Zealand (or close by) who could open up the shutters on Mamiya 6 or 7 lenses like Rob's. With the RZ 50mm ULD I can easily use rear movements of +/- 15 mm, and out to 20mm at a stretch if I stop down to F/16. It requires careful focus with the 50mm as even the tiniest mis-alignment between the front and rear standards can cause havoc, but its very workable. The longer RZ lenses I have (75, 110, 140 Macro) will easily deliver out to 20mm either side and focus is less demanding. My 210mm Apo although the sharpest centrally, struggles with more than 15mm of shift, but within that range is stunningly sharp.
-John

 

[wallpaperviking]

Thanks John, good to hear your thoughts working with the RZ lenses.. Am curious about the shorter flange Schneider/Rodenstock lenses that just work on the Universalis at infinity.

Can these then be stitched to get a wider F.O.V?

Sorry, my question may not have been clear..


With regards to my other question, did your experience with using the focal plane shutter match that of Robs?

Thanks

 

[John Leathwick]

Thanks John, good to hear your thoughts working with the RZ lenses.. Am curious about the shorter flange Schneider/Rodenstock lenses that just work on the Universalis at infinity.

Can these then be stitched to get a wider F.O.V?

Sorry, my question may not have been clear..


With regards to my other question, did your experience with using the focal plane shutter match that of Robs?

Thanks

I checked out a Sinar rebadged Sironar Digital 55mm with a green ring (earlier version) and it had similar sharpness centrally to the RZ 50mm, but because of its much shorter FFD, had less capacity to shift and more issues with colour shifting. I went with the RZ 50 because of its shorter focal length, and its much longer FFD (105mm) which allows greater shift without significant illumination and colour shift problems - the downside is the doubling in weight. The RZ shifted images stitch beautifully, and based on my experience with the Schneider ApoComponon 60mm and Pentax 645 35mm, I would imagine that the others would too.

Yes, I also use electronic shutter whenever I can. If I do need to use EFC, I try to use either very short or long exposures - the range 1-1/100th seems to be where it's worst.

-John

 

[wallpaperviking]

I checked out a Sinar rebadged Sironar Digital 55mm with a green ring (earlier version) and it had similar sharpness centrally to the RZ 50mm, but because of its much shorter FFD, had less capacity to shift and more issues with colour shifting. I went with the RZ 50 because of its shorter focal length, and its much longer FFD (105mm) which allows greater shift without significant illumination and colour shift problems - the downside is the doubling in weight. The RZ shifted images stitch beautifully, and based on my experience with the Schneider ApoComponon 60mm and Pentax 645 35mm, I would imagine that the others would too.

Yes, I also use electronic shutter whenever I can. If I do need to use EFC, I try to use either very short or long exposures - the range 1-1/100th seems to be where it's worst.

-John

Thanks John, appreciate the answer...

So do you see the issue with the GFX 100S as an issue with the Universalis or with the GFX 100S? I don't think I have noticed this issue when using the GFX 100S by itself?

Thanks

 

[rdeloe]

In my situation, the GFX 100S shutter shock issue is mostly due to the fact that it's on an F-Universalis. I turned on electronic shutter (ES) and haven't taken it off ES since. Given the kind of photography I'm doing with this outfit, I'm not seeing any issues (e.g., rolling shutter).

I expect shutter shock with a GFX 100S could happen on other digital view camera setups. You're attaching the GFX 100S to a device that is then attached to a tripod. There are lots of points for vibration. Keep in mind too that there's some shutter shock with certain long native GF lenses at specific shutter speeds. This is not uncommon; other cameras have shutter shock problems too under certain conditions.

Any time you're flat stitching, you're increasing the field of view. What you get depends on what you're trying to do. Panoramas are an obvious example of a much increased field of view. Some people want to keep the native aspect ratio, e.g., they shoot 4:3 and want a 4:3 image with a larger field of view. As a rough guide, if you flat stitch in portrait orientation with left and right shifts of 12.75mm on a 33mm x 44mm sensor, you will create a 4:3 aspect ratio image (same as native) with 0.75x the focal length. As an example, if you do this with a 50mm lens, you'll get a 4:3 image with the angle of view of a 37.5mm lens (but of course it's still a 50mm lens, so you get all the characteristics of a 50mm lens, including depth of field).

My Pentax-A 645 35/3.5 is a terrific little lens with an image circle that should just barely allow 12.75mm shifts for flat stitching to the original aspect ratio. However, I don't bother because it doesn't work well. The 645 image circle is technically around 69mm, so the 73mm needed for 12.75mm shifts is pushing it hard. At the edges the image quality isn't great. This is where John's RZ lenses, with their image circles designed for 6x7, do much better.

The other issue with trying to flat stitch to 4:3 with a lens like the Pentax-A 645 35/3.5 is you're fighting the distortion profile. A 33mm x 44mm frame in the centre of the Pentax-A 645 35/3.5 image circle is mostly barrel distortion; the moustache distortion is just starting at the very edges. However, if you left/right shift 12.75mm, you're getting the full moustache.

So for me, the bottom line is that if I need wider than 35mm, I'll try with my Leica PC Super-Angulon 28/2.8 rather than flat stitching the Pentax-A 645 35/3.5. I always get better, more reliable results even with its limitation.