Arca-Swiss Wide Angle Bellows

In an older post I wrote about the wide angle leather bellows that Arca-Swiss makes and how fine a piece of equipment it is.  I also picked up a used synthetic wade angle bellows and that is the subject of this post.


The nutshell review is to skip this and go for the leather one.  Yes, it costs more but it is more functional, easier to work with, and let's face it-just looks cooler.


Unlike the soft supple qualities of the leather bellows, the synthetic is stiff.  I am sure that helps keep the light path open but it also makes it more fiddly to work with.  Even changing the bellows which is literally a two second affair with the leather or standard bellows takes a while as the bag like qualities keep getting in the way.


It puffs up when in use and can act more like a sail than the other bellows.  Being a landscape guy who frequents west Texas, wind is a common element I deal with.  Adding any more features that catch wind is not something I like to do.

Even storage of the camera becomes more of a pain as the bellows sticks out on three sides from the camera meaning you have to carefully wrap it around the frame prior to putting it in your pack.  This is the exact opposite of how the accordion folds of the leather and regular bellows fit nicely within the frame.  I worry that heavy, long term use will weaken the material and potentially cause a light leak.


Then that cool factor.  The leather bellows would get the approval of the Fonz, it is a finely crafted piece of leather.  The synthetic bellows, on the other hand, has about zero cool factor.  


So, yes the synthetic bellows will work, I just think an Arca-Swiss owner ought to just get a bellows that matches the engineering quality of the rest of the camera.


My final thought on it is I keep mine as somewhat of an insurance policy for my good leather bellows.  I also now have a bellows frame I could send to the UK and see if the folks at Custom Bellows could make me something of a universal style bellows for my Arca.


Both images here have me set up in a local park, with a 125mm lens and the compendium.  I think you might be able to see how stiff and sail like the synthetic bellows can be.  Also note the Crown Graphic in the background.

4x5 + DSLR An Experiment

I did an experiment recently to see if I could use my DSLR with my view camera.

I have seen the digital scanning backs or medium format digital backs people have purchased but the several kilobuck price tags places them clearly out of my budget.

Then I saw that some people were buying adapters to allow the use of their DSLR with their view camera. The price was only a couple of hundred, so it was of more real potential.

Then the brainstorm happened....

The modular nature of an Arca-Swiss camera means the ground glass uses the same frame as a lensboard. Meaning I thought I could mount the camera to a flat lens board and use it in place of the ground glass.

I had a flat lensboard so I bought a cheap $15 set of extension tubes off ebay. A buddy took the flat lensboard, took the #1 sized lensboard hole and widened it a bit. Then he epoxied the extension tubes to it.

Viola!-an instant digital camera mount.

The only thing we had to do was play with the extension tube pieces until we got right distance so the camera prism could clear the board.

Once we had that, all I had to do was pop off the ground glass, pop on the new lens board, and mount my Canon DSLR on the extension tubes.

It fit great.

Then with live view I could now compose and focus!

I was able to use both my 210mm and 125mm lens. Although it was a squeeze to make the 125mm work and in this setup anything shorter was out of the question. Remember since I am using the DSLR sensor the lenses act like they would on the DSLR too. So 125mm is slightly wide on the 4x5 but fairly long on the DSLR.

I was still using the large format lenses, still setting the aperture on them, still using movements too. I had just replaced film with a digital sensor. Albeit, a tiny one.

By using Aperture Priority mode on the camera plus live view, it was easy to focus and the camera could still get the exposure!

Images were sharp and had good color.

This not only worked, it had potential.

Then I expanded into what I was really hoping to do-use the movement features of the camera to stitch images into panoramas.

That was when I found the limits.

The Arca-Swiss model I have-the Discovery has all that Arca modularity but it also has friction movements.

Meaning that to shift, I have to loosen a knob, slide the frame, and retighten the knob. What I found was there was ever so slight focus shift when I did that.

So the stitching of panos was lost. Or at least I found it was much easier just to hand hold and use the DSLR as opposed to using the view camera and DSLR to try to stitch.

So an experiment that kinda worked.

I can use it and get an image. however I think you would need a camera with geared movements to take advantage of the shift and stitch.

So the merger of digital and large format is still not happening for me. I'll just do hand held stitches with the DSLR and stick to film with the view camera.

Arca-Swiss Discovery-Going Long

Have I ever mentioned in this blog how much I like the modular aspect of Arca-Swiss cameras?

Well, if I have not, let me tell you about that now. The Arca system is amazingly modular. In fact the entire system is so modular there are no serial numbers on cameras since an Arca-Swiss camera is really just a collection of whatever modular parts you currently have on a rail.

I normally work with wide to normal lenses on my one folding rail with my leather bellows. However since I have been playing around with the old Rapid Rectilinear lens I needed a way to try it in long configuration. The lens is not labeled with a length but my guess is about a 160mm or so which when you take off one element, you double that to about a 320mm.

Making use of that lens is not possible with my camera in it's "normal" configuration-I just do not have enough rail or bellows for anything over about 240mm. That is where Arca-Swiss modularity comes into play. My Discovery came with a non-folding 30cm rail and a standard bellows that Arca-Swiss says does 380mm.

I just simply put both mounting brackets on my ballhead (each only half way in) and butted the rails up end to end. Viola a 60cm rail! I swapped out the leather wide angle bellows for the standard accordion bellows and I now had a camera that had a long rail with a long bellows. Total time-about 15 seconds.

If you look at the top picture you can see that the mounting brackets each are only partially in the ballhead. That may not look like much but they are both in there rock solid. This set up is not going to move. Gotta love that Arca engineering!

The two rails now give me more length than my bellows can do. I am easily able to focus the RR in long set mode. I have plenty of rail and bellows.

The top image is with focus at infinity. there is still enough stretch in the bellows to do some close up work with this lens.

The bottom image gives you the front view on the lens. As an an aside you may notice that this lens is mounted on a Toyo board and that the holder looks odd. It is a 171mm Arca board cut to mount a Toyo board. Homebrew that I got with the camera. When I got the old RR lens I did not have an extra 110 Arca board with a #0 hole to mount it on. however, I still had this old adapter and a Toyo #0 board. So to save having to order a new board I just put it in that. So if I want to take and use this lens in long format I have to take it, the rail, the extra bellows and this adapter board. Not really that much extra weight when you already have a backpack.

And it is all possible with modular nature of Arca-Swiss cameras.

Swift

Being swift or quick is not really a large format thing. Slow and precise is more like it. But when I was photographing in the Fort Worth Stockyards near the ruins of the old Swift plant I could not resist working swift into an image.

The camera is set up with the 210mm lens and is all twisted up to photograph a window with very shallow DOF.

A Good Tripod

A good tripod is a must for large format photography. It is good for most any photographer, but when one starts playing around with a view camera they take on a whole new importance.

Most any tripod can hold a plastic DSLR with kit lens. It takes a beast of a tripod to work with an 8x10. Ok, maybe not a beast, but you need a solid support. That means no cheapies. Quality and solid support costs.

Here is mine in action. It is a Gitzo 1325 with a Kirk BH-1 ballhead. It is one rock solid combo. Take a look at the pose we have here.

Vertical camera with alot of extension for macro work. The Arca is bulky and weighs a fair amount. There is no extension on the legs, they are set to minimum height with no extra angle.

This aint moving.

Tour of an Arca-Swiss Discovery Part 4

The Wide Angle Leather Bellows is a perfect bellows for someone who sticks with just the 30cm sized rails. Go to a longer rail and you will need to go to a longer bellows, but for use with the 30cm rail the Wide Angle Bellows is all you need.

See these two images. The top one is the bag bellows on the 30cm rail focusing a 210mm lens at infinity.

As you can see the 30cm rail still has a bit of extra room and will probably do a 240mm lens.

Then the second image has the 210mm lens focused at infinity and about as much rise I feel comfortable with, and what is most of the rise possible on the 171mm standards.

Tour of an Arca-Swiss Discovery Part 3

The bag bellows may be the best accessory I added for the Discovery. The folding rail made it easier to carry but the bag bellows adding the flexibility to make images.

Arca-Swiss makes two types. I opted for the leather wide angle bellows. The specs gave it a slightly longer expansion which I wanted to make it usable with the 210mm.

This is another finely crafted piece of equipment from the folks at Arca-Swiss. Soft, supple, and sturdy are the words here. The Fonz would approve of this leather.

The bag bellows give much more movement with short lenses over the traditional accordion bellows. Example, with my 75mm lens-I have almost zero rise with the regular bellows (maybe a couple of millimeters). With the wide angle leather bag bellows I have all the rise the lens will do.

The great things about this bellows is I can use it for all my lenses. It will cover the 30cm rail that I have and even allows me rise at full extension. See my next post for those pics.

Here is the camera with the 75mm focused at infinity and just a slight rise. The bellows and lens can both do more than this.

Tour of an Arca-Swiss Discovery Part 2

The Discovery takes several optional add-ons. Here is one that many people seem to like-a Compendium Shade. Basically a bellows for the front of the camera it helps shade the lens.

I found and added a used one to my kit. I find that it is a very flexible piece of equipment and usable with wide and long lenses.

Sadly I do not use it much. When I am out with landscape work I am often using the Singh Ray ND grad filters and those do not work with the Compendium Hood. As such I often just use my hat to shade the lens.

Tour of an Arca-Swiss Discovery Part 1

I thought I would take a slight departure from my usual location based posts and do a short series on the camera itself. Arca-Swiss makes several cameras and they all share some similar traits and qualities. Foremost is top notch design and engineering. This camera is brilliant in it's design and practically a work of art. You might use the analogy that an Arca-Swiss to any other camera is what a BMW is to a Pontiac. The ultimate camera.

I cannot say enough about the build quality. This is a rock solid camera. It has smooth controls. There are no gaps or looseness to this camera at all. The design and engineering-impeccable.

One last comment on the design, if you want to find out more, you really have to look as Arca-Swiss does not have a website. You can download some info in a couple locations but I think it adds to the cachet.

Here is the Discovery in basic configuration:

Start with a 30cm rail. The camera ships with a non folding rail. I find 30cm to be plenty long (and easily expandable) but the non folding rail make hauling it in a backpack a chore (note the Discovery has it's own very nice case that works for transportation, but I find less useful on the trail). I swapped out to a 30cm folding rail and now it goes into a backpack easily.

Two 171mm standards. These are large standards. The newer model F-Line cameras moved to a 141 frame which is more compact. I find the 171mm frames acceptable, but if you use the 171mm lensboards those are quite large and again carrying multiple lenses in the field is difficult. I added a 171 to Arca 110 front board adapter Now the lenses mount on a 110mm Arca board and pop onto the adapter. Again a huge improvement in carrying capability.

Finally note the standard bellows. It lists as good to about 380cm, but I think it can go at least 10% farther. This works well with 150 or 210mm lenses. It can work shorter than 150, but you will get limits in rise. For example, I use it with my 75mm lens. You can focus it, but back tilt is your only real movement.

So in it's basic configuration you have a solid and functional camera. I think in the basic set up it is more geared to the studio and maybe the location you drive right to. For me as a landscape photographer, the modifications I mention above improve the camera greatly as it becomes much more portable.

One of the things I found when sampling a metal flat bed camera was that the flatbed was easier to carry. The Arca is a bit bulkier and means a slightly bigger pack. BUT the Arca is significantly the easier and smoother camera to operate on the tripod. That ended up being one huge factor for me and the purchase. I'll gladly trade a slight extra weight and bulk in a pack for stability and ease of control on the tripod.

A couple of final notes. In the image I have a 210mm lens focused at infinity. I have a bit more room and can bring focus to under 5'. If you slightly overhang the ends (still locks down solid)you can do a 240mm lens. A 47mm lens also work with ease on this camera-even without a recessed lensboard.

The Camera in Action

People often want to know what it is like to work with a large format camera. I usually just smile and say it is about the same as a 35mm camera, just bigger.

But it is really so much more.

Large Format, gives you the ability to do more than any DSLR or 35mm could. I can make so many adjustments that I have full control of the image in a way you could never have with any other kind of camera.

As a landscape photographer that allows me to have what amounts to infinite focus-the rock at 6" to the mountain at 6 miles and everything in between. It allows me to keep lines straight on a tree trunk or to make them wonky. It puts the photographer farther into the realm of photography than anything else.

The image here is of the camera set up on Terlingua Creek in Big Bend National Park as I was photographing the creek. This somewhat of a 3/4ths view lets you see some of what the camera can do. I am using my longest lens, a 210mm (about equal to a 60mm if you use a 35mm camera or a full frame DSLR). Note I am using most of my rail and with this 30cm rail could not use a much longer lens. Also note the bellows is the soft leather wide angle bellows which works nicely with this lens although it is about the limit of length too. The camera is pointed slightly down as I am photographing the stream. The rear standard is raised-this lowers the view so I am seeing even more stream and less sky. The rear standard is also tilted back-this most basic of movements helps bring the entire stream into sharp focus. Finally note the Quickload holder is on the top. That means I unclipped and rotated the ground glass. This allows me to flip between vertical and horizontal compositions without moving the camera (can't do that in 35mm). It keeps the camera centered over the tripod too. It is also something that takes just about two seconds to do-so it is quick and easy.

I am ready to take the image. All I would need to do is set the lens and get a sheet of film.

Further note, this camera is entirely mechanical and manual. From focus to setting the lens, to using the cable release it is all manual. You even need a separate light meter. It does not get much simpler than this. It also does not get as much of open ended creativity as this.

You should try one.