Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: iven-t on December 04, 2011, 08:39:12 am

Title: technikardan vs techno
Post by: iven-t on December 04, 2011, 08:39:12 am
Hello everybody,

I'm new on this forum.

Actual I do all my jobs with an Mamiya 645 and a Mamiya DM 22. Problem there is actual no Schneider PC tilt/shift with wide angel. Because of that I'm looking for a field camera for shifting and tilting and stitching.

I will use it for architecture, landscape as well as products. In 90-100 percent of usage it´ll be digital.

Because I´m just a beginner in field cameras I don´t want to invest 10 thousands of € at the moment. So I thought I will buy a used Technikardan and looking for digital lenses. After a few years, I could check for an used Techno.

What do you think. Is it a possible way?

Thx for your help.

iven-t
Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: Peter Devos on December 04, 2011, 08:44:34 am
Forget the TK. Just go for a used Cambo WDS. They go for peanuts and are really really good. I know Arca and Alpa are suposed to be better but you will never ever see the difference in a picture. In fact, all that pixelpeeping between this or that lens on this or that camera is futile. Most photographers i know who make a good living in photography ( support their family and never need to wait to buy stuff they like :-)  ) do not care about what lens or camera they use. As long as it fits the job it is OK. :P
Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: iven-t on December 04, 2011, 09:06:07 am
Thx Peter,

I just checked for used cambo wide ds. The only what I found are about 1199 and more. They all have older lenses. So the body is as much as a TK. Is the Cambo Wide DS also good for Products?

Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: Peter Devos on December 04, 2011, 09:15:39 am
No, for products i is not suited. But a TK is not made for wide angle digital neither.....  :(
Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: IanB on December 04, 2011, 09:27:30 am
I use a Technikardan 23S for medium format film work in B&W, and it's a pretty good camera for that -at least, I like it a lot now that I have it set up and modified to suit my way of working. I'm not sure it's all that suitable for digital, though. In particular the rear standard has a tendency to flex a bit (I stop it moving with little rubber wedges when I need to), and the design of the support 'L' means that you can't fit a sliding back. If you did use a TK for digital, I think you would want one of the new Phase One backs with live(ish) view for focus checking. If you can afford one of those you might as well buy an Alpa or Arca to put it on - it's almost petty cash by comparison.

The Techno, however, does look pretty good, and I suspect is underrated. Those few people I've talked to who have used one seem to think it is well up to the job.

Do bear in mind that the smaller field cameras are in many ways more difficult to use than bigger ones - in particular they are more difficult to focus, because it is more critical. The naked Mk 1 human eyeball is not always up to the job - hence my TK has an Arca binocular viewer fitted and a depth-of-field indicator on the focusing knob. It's a bit of a pain without those mods, but very good with them.

For MF digital use I'd really recommend a pancake shift camera with helical focusing of some kind. That's probably why you can buy cheap used TKs now...
Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: iven-t on December 04, 2011, 09:27:59 am
On the Linhof website there is no limitation of wide angel for TK?

Which camera would you prefer in my situation? Cambo was xxx
Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: iven-t on December 04, 2011, 09:41:17 am
@IanB
Thx for your reply.

Which used pancake cam would you prefer for digital use? Actual I cannot invest too much about (3-5 thousands including one/two lenses).

Digital Back already exist.
Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: IanB on December 04, 2011, 09:51:03 am
TKs will take 35mm lens with recessed lens board and bag bellows - limitations on movement are optical, not in the camera.

Recommendations are difficult I'm afraid - and others here have much more MF digital experience than I do. I don't do product work - mostly architectural.
Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: JohnTodd on December 04, 2011, 10:43:30 am
Iven - may I ask where you're seeing these used Cambo cameras?
Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: iven-t on December 04, 2011, 11:00:50 am
Hi John,

look here

http://www.ebay.de/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l2736&_nkw=cambo+wide
Title: Re: technikardan vs techno
Post by: Peter Devos on December 04, 2011, 11:58:23 am
A technikardan is a film kamera, developed in the late seventies of lst milenium. It has no proper zero settings, no real scaled movements, no precision needed for digital at all. Maybe a Cambo Ultima will do a better job. At least these are geared, made for digital and really affordable. I have one that i use from time to time. Altough it is not a Linhof 679cc or cs, it certainly is more precise than any camera made for film use.