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Author Topic: What is this camera rig?  (Read 2783 times)

Redcrown

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What is this camera rig?
« on: December 17, 2015, 03:48:11 pm »

Was in Tokyo last week. Sunday afternoon at a temple where traditional Japanese weddings are held. Continuous, one after another. Three went buy in the one hour I was there.

I was amazed at the pro photographers. The one I studied closely had a staff of 7. Three shooters with two cameras each, plus 4 assistants. And enough equipment to fill a small truck.

Wasn't till I got home and looked at my shots that I noticed this rig. I'm curious what it is used for? It's two medium format bodies mounted side-by-side. Anybody know it's purpose?

https://kellyphoto.smugmug.com/photos/i-DRZ2X8P/0/O/i-DRZ2X8P.jpg
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kirkt

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2015, 03:51:52 pm »

Stereo rig?
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Jimbo57

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2015, 03:53:37 pm »

Purely a guess - for producing 3-D photographs?

Did you notice if one had a red filter and the other a green filter in front of the lens?
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TonyW

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2015, 04:49:00 pm »

If I am not mistaken those are Mamiya RB67's with motor drives.  The backs are for that antique stuff called film.

I suppose that they could be for stereo but think there may be another explanation.  Being 6x7 format they can only shoot either 10 or 20 shots per roll film (120 /220 film).  Both cameras triggered by a separate bulb release.

All this suggests to me that the cameras used individually for shooting weddings when one runs out of film the other used while photog or assistant quickly removes film back and replaces with fresh
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sniper

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2015, 05:16:55 pm »

Purely a guess - for producing 3-D photographs?

Did you notice if one had a red filter and the other a green filter in front of the lens?
Thats Anaglyph 3D, it's and old process but it's starting to come back recently.
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Ellis Vener

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #5 on: December 18, 2015, 06:28:25 pm »

Was in Tokyo last week. Sunday afternoon at a temple where traditional Japanese weddings are held. Continuous, one after another. Three went buy in the one hour I was there.

I was amazed at the pro photographers. The one I studied closely had a staff of 7. Three shooters with two cameras each, plus 4 assistants. And enough equipment to fill a small truck.

Wasn't till I got home and looked at my shots that I noticed this rig. I'm curious what it is used for? It's two medium format bodies mounted side-by-side. Anybody know it's purpose?

https://kellyphoto.smugmug.com/photos/i-DRZ2X8P/0/O/i-DRZ2X8P.jpg


it is two Mamiya RZ67 (not RB67)  bodies with their accessory motor drives and the photographer is as others have pointed out, shooting film.

My guess is that the photographer is either:

-  shooting with both cameras so he has back up in case the camera, he, or the lab screw-up (a belt, suspenders and safety pins approach to not being caught with your pants down!); 

-He is alternating between cameras so there is always a fresh back ready.

-Or one camera has one focal length lens mounted  and the other has either a shorter or longer lens mounted.
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Martin Kristiansen

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2015, 02:38:53 am »

I don't think it's a 3D rig because the cameras have individual bulb triggers. Three d would require the cameras to be fired together. Don't think it's because of the small amount of frames on a roll of film. Easy to have have cassettes preloaded and quick to change from one to the other.

Think it's most likely different film. We used to tear off the box end and put it in a holder on the film back to indicate the film being used. Hard to see in this image but looks like different film loaded in those two cameras,
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Wayne Fox

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2015, 10:27:26 am »

If I am not mistaken those are Mamiya RB67's with motor drives.  The backs are for that antique stuff called film.

I suppose that they could be for stereo but think there may be another explanation.  Being 6x7 format they can only shoot either 10 or 20 shots per roll film (120 /220 film).  Both cameras triggered by a separate bulb release.

All this suggests to me that the cameras used individually for shooting weddings when one runs out of film the other used while photog or assistant quickly removes film back and replaces with fresh
seems it would be easier for the assistant to just hand him a second tripod with camera while the assistant change the film. You can change the film magazine in a couple of seconds, but maybe the weddings are time sensitive enough?

Maybe it’s a digital shooter switched to film ... so he sprays and prays, firing both cameras at the same time to get as many frames/seccond as he can.

 I would guess 3d too, maybe he can fire each camera individually but can also fire them together somehow.  I can’t imagine any other useful purpose other than 3d.
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Redcrown

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2015, 02:01:18 pm »

Thanks for the speculations. Interesting. The following image shows where that rig was being used. These weddings are first a private ceremony, then a formal procession through the main temple grounds, then a retreat to side areas for staged group shots. This rig was in the latter, so it was being used for carefully staged and static stills. Just out of frame are about 20 people from the wedding party, waiting their turn.

I was in Japan for the wedding of a friend. But that one was a "western style", held in a hotel that caters to weddings. The hotel (Westin) had a special wedding chapel and a special photography studio.

After the ceremony, family and close friends were herded into the studio for group shots. I counted 8 strobes, permanently mounted to the ceiling and walls. There were 5 cameras on tripods, a mix of Nikon and Canon, all digital.

My friend, the bride, told me earlier that they could have bought a new car for what the photography was costing. I don't think she was joking. Before the wedding, she showed me a photo album of her and the husband. All "wedding" shots, but taken a month before the actual wedding. The quality was outstanding. During the actual wedding and reception party there were 3 shooters plus assistants. The whole affair lasted 7 hours.


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Damon Lynch

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2015, 11:57:51 am »

My friend, the bride, told me earlier that they could have bought a new car for what the photography was costing.

I got married earlier this year, in Iran. It seems our wedding photography experience was the total opposite. It was difficult to finding a decent wedding photographer. Due to cultural reasons, the majority of photographers and most families don't like to display their wedding photos on websites or share them with strangers. That makes evaluating a photographer's work difficult. As it turned out, the one we chose still had much to learn. During our wedding I had little choice but to put a lot of work into the photography, which was not at all easy. In fact it was exhausting. We even had to redo one complete set by ourselves a few days later because the photographer failed to achieve focus. It was challenging using the 10 second self-timer again and again. On a more positive note, the cost of the photos was low enough that the money spent could not have purchased even a beat up old car!





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sniper

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Re: What is this camera rig?
« Reply #10 on: December 22, 2015, 06:34:21 am »

Price is not a guide with wedding photography sadly. I'm a wedding and studio photographer myself and in my area about the dearest photographer by a large margin is also about the worst. Yet another in the bottom price range is really superb, top class work.
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