Types of view camera
View cameras use large format sheet film, using one sheet per photograph. Standard sizes in inches are: 4×5, 5×7, 4×10, 5×12, 8×10, 11×14, 7×17, 8×20, 12×20, 20×24, and 30×40. (It is usual to list the short side first in the Americas, and the long side in many other countries, thus 4×5 is the same as 5×4).) A similar, but not identical, range of metric sizes is used in many countries; thus 9×12 cm is similar to, but not interchangeable with, 4×5 inches. The most widely used format is 4×5, followed by 8×10.
A few rollfilm cameras have movements that make them as versatile as a sheet film view camera. Rollfilm and instant film backs are available to use in place of a sheetfilm holder on a single-film camera.
There are several types of view camera for different purposes and allowing different degrees of movement and portability. They include:
Monorail camera - This is the most common type of studio view camera, with the front and rear standards being mounted to a single rail that is fixed to a camera support. This design allows the greatest range of movements and flexibility, with both front and rear standards able to tilt, shift, rise, fall and swing in similar proportion. These are generally made of metal with leather or synthetic bellows, and are difficult to pack for travel. Sinar and Toyo are popular manufacturers of monorail view camera systems. ARCA-Swiss produces monorail cameras for field use in addition to models for the more conventional studio applications. Many manufacturers also offer monorail extensions, which permit the front or rear standards to move further away from each other, allowing for focus on very close objects (macrophotography). Bender Photographic produce relatively inexpensive kits to build a wooden 4×5 or 8×10 inch monorail camera.
Field camera - These have the front and rear standard mounted on sliding rails fixed to a hinged flat bed that is fixed to a camera support (tripod, etc.). These cameras are usually made of wood, or sometimes lightweight and strong composites such as carbon fiber. When the bellows is fully retracted the flat bed can be folded up, reducing the camera to a relatively small, light, and portable box. The price for this portability is that the standards are not as mobile or as adjustable as those of a monorail design; the rear standard, in particular, may be fixed and offer no movement. These large format but transportable cameras are popular with landscape photographers. Tachihara and Wisner are examples of modern field cameras at opposite ends of the price scale.
Extremely large field cameras using 11×14 film and larger, or panoramic film sizes such as 4×10 or 8×20, are sometimes referred to as banquet cameras, and were used to photograph large, posed groups of people to mark an occasion, such as a banquet or a wedding.
Studio and salon cameras are similar to field cameras, but do not fold up for portability.
Press and technical cameras are true view cameras, as almost all of them have a ground glass integral to the film-holder mechanism that allows critical focus and full use of the sometimes limited movements. More expensive examples had a wide array of movements, as well as focusing and compositing aids like rangefinders and viewfinders. They are most often made of metal, designed to fold up quickly for portability, used by press photographers before and during the second world war.
A more modern development in the highly portable Sinar arTec view camera which fails to fit within any of the above criteria and was designed primarilly to be used by achitectural photographers. It has the novel ability to take panoramic stitched images by means of built in step and repeat mechanism.
Movements
Photographers use view cameras to control focus and convergence of parallel lines. Image control is done by moving the front and/or rear standards. Movements are the ways the front and rear standards can be positioned to alter perspective and focus. The term can also refer to the mechanisms on the standards that allow the position to be achieved.
Not all cameras have all movements available to both the front and rear standards, and some cameras have more movements available than others. Some cameras have mechanisms that make intricate movement combinations easier for the photographer.
Some limited view camera-type movements are possible with SLR cameras using various perspective control lenses. Also, as use of view cameras declines in favor of digital photography, these movements are being simulated using computer software.
Rise and fall
Front Standard RiseRise and fall are the movements of either the front or rear standard vertically along a line in a plane parallel to the film plane. Rise is a very important movement especially in architectural photography. Generally, the lens is moved vertically—either up or down—along the lens plane in order to change the portion of the image that will be captured on the film.
In the 35mm format, special shift lenses emulate the rise or fall of view cameras.
The main effect of rise is to eliminate converging parallels when photographing tall buildings. If a camera without movements is pointed at a tall building, the top will be cut off; if the camera is tilted upwards to get it all in, the film plane will not be parallel to the building, and the building will seem narrower at the top than the bottom; lines which are parallel in the object will converge in the image.
To avoid this apparent distortion, a wide-angle lens will get more of the building in, but will include more of the foreground and alter the perspective.
A camera with rising front allows a normal lens to be raised to include the top of the building without tilting the camera.
This requires the image circle of the lens to be larger than is required to cover the film without use of movements. If the lens can produce a circular image just large enough to cover the film, it will no longer cover the bottom of the film as it rises. Consequently the lens coverage must be larger if rises (and falls, and shifts) are to be used.
In Figure a) below (images are upside down, as a photographer would see them on the ground glass of a view camera), the lens is in the “normal” position. Notice that much of the unwanted foreground is included, but not the top of the tower. In Figure b), the lens has been shifted up: the top of the tower is now inside the area captured on film, at the sacrifice of unwanted green foreground.
View cameras use large format sheet film, using one sheet per photograph. Standard sizes in inches are: 4×5, 5×7, 4×10, 5×12, 8×10, 11×14, 7×17, 8×20, 12×20, 20×24, and 30×40. (It is usual to list the short side first in the Americas, and the long side in many other countries, thus 4×5 is the same as 5×4).) A similar, but not identical, range of metric sizes is used in many countries; thus 9×12 cm is similar to, but not interchangeable with, 4×5 inches. The most widely used format is 4×5, followed by 8×10.
A few rollfilm cameras have movements that make them as versatile as a sheet film view camera. Rollfilm and instant film backs are available to use in place of a sheetfilm holder on a single-film camera.
There are several types of view camera for different purposes and allowing different degrees of movement and portability. They include:
Monorail camera - This is the most common type of studio view camera, with the front and rear standards being mounted to a single rail that is fixed to a camera support. This design allows the greatest range of movements and flexibility, with both front and rear standards able to tilt, shift, rise, fall and swing in similar proportion. These are generally made of metal with leather or synthetic bellows, and are difficult to pack for travel. Sinar and Toyo are popular manufacturers of monorail view camera systems. ARCA-Swiss produces monorail cameras for field use in addition to models for the more conventional studio applications. Many manufacturers also offer monorail extensions, which permit the front or rear standards to move further away from each other, allowing for focus on very close objects (macrophotography). Bender Photographic produce relatively inexpensive kits to build a wooden 4×5 or 8×10 inch monorail camera.
Field camera - These have the front and rear standard mounted on sliding rails fixed to a hinged flat bed that is fixed to a camera support (tripod, etc.). These cameras are usually made of wood, or sometimes lightweight and strong composites such as carbon fiber. When the bellows is fully retracted the flat bed can be folded up, reducing the camera to a relatively small, light, and portable box. The price for this portability is that the standards are not as mobile or as adjustable as those of a monorail design; the rear standard, in particular, may be fixed and offer no movement. These large format but transportable cameras are popular with landscape photographers. Tachihara and Wisner are examples of modern field cameras at opposite ends of the price scale.
Extremely large field cameras using 11×14 film and larger, or panoramic film sizes such as 4×10 or 8×20, are sometimes referred to as banquet cameras, and were used to photograph large, posed groups of people to mark an occasion, such as a banquet or a wedding.
Studio and salon cameras are similar to field cameras, but do not fold up for portability.
Press and technical cameras are true view cameras, as almost all of them have a ground glass integral to the film-holder mechanism that allows critical focus and full use of the sometimes limited movements. More expensive examples had a wide array of movements, as well as focusing and compositing aids like rangefinders and viewfinders. They are most often made of metal, designed to fold up quickly for portability, used by press photographers before and during the second world war.
A more modern development in the highly portable Sinar arTec view camera which fails to fit within any of the above criteria and was designed primarilly to be used by achitectural photographers. It has the novel ability to take panoramic stitched images by means of built in step and repeat mechanism.
Movements
Photographers use view cameras to control focus and convergence of parallel lines. Image control is done by moving the front and/or rear standards. Movements are the ways the front and rear standards can be positioned to alter perspective and focus. The term can also refer to the mechanisms on the standards that allow the position to be achieved.
Not all cameras have all movements available to both the front and rear standards, and some cameras have more movements available than others. Some cameras have mechanisms that make intricate movement combinations easier for the photographer.
Some limited view camera-type movements are possible with SLR cameras using various perspective control lenses. Also, as use of view cameras declines in favor of digital photography, these movements are being simulated using computer software.
Rise and fall
Front Standard RiseRise and fall are the movements of either the front or rear standard vertically along a line in a plane parallel to the film plane. Rise is a very important movement especially in architectural photography. Generally, the lens is moved vertically—either up or down—along the lens plane in order to change the portion of the image that will be captured on the film.
In the 35mm format, special shift lenses emulate the rise or fall of view cameras.
The main effect of rise is to eliminate converging parallels when photographing tall buildings. If a camera without movements is pointed at a tall building, the top will be cut off; if the camera is tilted upwards to get it all in, the film plane will not be parallel to the building, and the building will seem narrower at the top than the bottom; lines which are parallel in the object will converge in the image.
To avoid this apparent distortion, a wide-angle lens will get more of the building in, but will include more of the foreground and alter the perspective.
A camera with rising front allows a normal lens to be raised to include the top of the building without tilting the camera.
This requires the image circle of the lens to be larger than is required to cover the film without use of movements. If the lens can produce a circular image just large enough to cover the film, it will no longer cover the bottom of the film as it rises. Consequently the lens coverage must be larger if rises (and falls, and shifts) are to be used.
In Figure a) below (images are upside down, as a photographer would see them on the ground glass of a view camera), the lens is in the “normal” position. Notice that much of the unwanted foreground is included, but not the top of the tower. In Figure b), the lens has been shifted up: the top of the tower is now inside the area captured on film, at the sacrifice of unwanted green foreground.
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