Re: [Leica] Re: shift bellows

[CHKARNES <CHKARNES@aol.com>]

In a message dated 98-01-22 23:13:03 EST, donal wrote:

<< 
 charlie,
 We were discussing a bellows unit, so they won't even focus at
 infinity.  But even so, having a tilt shift for a telephoto is handy to
 get depth of field.  If you look at a current M6 brochure you will see a
 picture of a bunch of uncompleted Leica bodies lined up.  This was shot
 by Luis Castenada with an R7 and tilt/shift adapter and a viewcamera
 lens.  Almost imposible to do otherwise.  Imagine shooting a field of
 flower with a long lens, say a 180mm to get all that compression and
 then being able to tilt the front and get everything in focus.  The 90
 Canon is perfect for that.  I take my hat off to Canon for there three
 T/S lens and would like to have all three.  A bellows with T/S help on
 macros by helping shift the plane of focus to compensate for minimized
 depth of field.  The shift works with the coin shot by letting you get
 off axis to the camera sees light reflected off the coin and from a
 position beside the camera so you can control the reflection.  Hard to
 describe. But try it with out bellow just by tilting camera and playing
 with a reflector card.  With shift you accomplish this while keeping
 perspective correct.
 
 Often in corporate settings I would like to have a 35mm T/S lens to do
 people and computers.  By use the tilt as a swing I minimize DOF needs,
 thus cutting computer screen burn in time down to 1/4 second, say,
 instead of 4 or 8 seconds, while keeping in focus what I want in focus. 
 Instead of setting strobes at f/11, say, I could shoot at f/5.6. Better
 for impatient models.  
 
 Mo' better.
 
 donal >>

Good point, donal. I guess I'm too accustomed to using my 4x5 view camera for
that purpose. And yes, I've taken photos of fields of wildflowers -- at 12000
ft altitude, and on 10-day backpack trips - among others, with my 4x5 and have
tilted the back to get all of it, including the mountains in the background,
in focus.

Charlie