Cambo Actus for the GFX

[Michael Erlewine]

Good news for me, an avid Cambo Actus user. I have all kinds of both front and rear boards or mounts. Capture Integration is carrying the the GFX version in this country, and I am told soon. I work with Steve Hendrix, whom many of us know. And there is some exciting news for me. This is not a complete new system for the Actus, but an add-on that will allow full GFX compatibility. Here is what I understand:

The upgrade is $1345. It adds a riser to the front standard, replaceable using a Star-Key Allen wrench, a T8. As for the rear standard, with a single T6 Star-Key screw, the existing rear standard can be removed and the new standard installed, which has a GFX board. Now for the great news, something I have asked for since the beginning.

The new rear standard is no longer something you screw on (with tiny screws), but rather on quick-release. And, for $215 you can have a Nikon board with quick release, meaning we can change cameras in seconds in the field. This is very handy.

Here is a photo of the two mounts sent to me by Steve Hendrix who, as usual, is totally helpful.

[alatreille]

Fantastic...each lens = two angles of view.

I hope arca will come up with something similiar.

[Michael Erlewine]

Fantastic...each lens = two angles of view.

I hope arca will come up with something similiar.

The Cambo system comes with a decent-sized rail with about a 5" bellows, which does most things. However, there are a variety of much longer bellows, which allows us to use many of the more exotic lenses (enlarger, LF, etc.). Here are some of them:

Cambo AC-210 Bellows 4.9s”

Cambo AC-214 Long Bellows (works with ACC-330 longer Monorail) 7.9” extension (200 mm) $450.00

Cambo AC-330 Longer Monorail (11.8” long) (300 mm), gets 1”1 magnification ration with a 120mm macro lens. $152.00

ACDB-256 Macro Bellows ($745) for Actus-DB 450mm bellows

Cambo AC-345 Macro Monorail (17.7”) (450mm) 1:1 Mag. Ratio with 180mm Macro Lens $195.00

Cambo AC-216 Macro Bellows (450mm)

I will be using the 300mm rail and bellows with the GFX and my Nikon D810

Cambo's U.S. distributor (I believe) is Capture Integration.

 

[Paul2660]

great solution for macro, however with movements you can expect quite a bit of extreme color cast and situation fall off, with Tech lenses, (Rodenstock or Schneider) especially the wides, 28mm (may not work) 32mm, 40 Rodies and 35mm Schneider. Shift past 5mm and you will have a huge amount of red color cast.

C1 has the best LCC correction process, and they are not going to support the camera.  LR/ACR is not that great, with their current solution but it might get revisited since the GFX shows great promise.

Paul Caldwell

[gebseng]

Can you switch the camera orientation to portrait?

best,

geb

[Doug Peterson]

Cambo's U.S. distributor (I believe) is Capture Integration.

Pardon the correction...

Cambo's distributor in the U.S. is aptly named Cambo USA which sells Cambo through a variety of local dealers. Capture Integration is one such dealer. Digital Transitions is another such dealer.

We have physical studios/offices in New York and LA and are glad to help anyone with Cambo questions, purchases, and support anywhere in the USA.

[vjbelle]

Can you switch the camera orientation to portrait?

best,

geb

The camera rotates to the portrait position with a lever release.

Victor

[gebseng]

The camera rotates to the portrait position with a lever release.

Victor

Thanks Victor!

So, the only wide angle lenses with large enough image circles to allow shifting on the GFX are the Actar-24, plus adapted DSLR T-S/PC lenses from Canon or Nikon, right?

best,

geb

[vjbelle]

I haven't checked the FFD for the Actor series of lenses as I have no interest in them.  I can use my Schneider 60XL but am limited to only 5mm of movements in only one direction at a time with my GFXs.  Anything from 72mm and longer has full movements.  In case you aren't already aware you may want to check out the NWS Instruments announcement which is very exciting. (http://www.nws-instruments.ch/).

FFD allows for full movements of at least 15mm and the resolving power of the two lenses is very high.  A V lens mount is readily available for the Actus.

Victor

[Steve Hendrix]

Pardon the correction...

Cambo's distributor in the U.S. is aptly named Cambo USA which sells Cambo through a variety of local dealers. Capture Integration is one such dealer. Digital Transitions is another such dealer.

We have physical studios/offices in New York and LA and are glad to help anyone with Cambo questions, purchases, and support anywhere in the USA.

This is correct.

Distributor is an entity that channels from manufacturer to dealer, often set up by country. Dealer receives either directly from manufacturer, or from distributor, and provides product and support for that product to end user. From that standpoint, Capture Integration and Digital Transitions are 2 examples of dealers.


Steve Hendrix/CI

[vjbelle]

For anyone using this system (either with a GFX or with a DB) it is critical that parallelism between the standards can be set.  I use Starrett No. 98 levels which are extremely accurate and extremely sensitive.  The setup shown is showing tilt - swing is accomplished by just moving the levels.  I am showing a DB rear mount but the GFX mount works the same way.  A Cube is not needed however it is necessary for a tripod head to somehow rotate the camera 90 degrees. 

Victor

Edit:  It is not necessary to use two levels as one can easily be moved from one standard to the other.  I use two as its just a little faster and the levels are calibrated so closely that the accuracy is sufficient.

[alan_b]

For anyone using this system (either with a GFX or with a DB) it is critical that parallelism between the standards can be set.

Victor,

Can you comment on tilt/swing detents on the Actus?  Are they adjustable?

[vjbelle]

The detents, if you can call them that, are very sloppy on the Actus.  To me that is a benefit.  True hard detents have to be absolutely accurate and really can never be - for the future.  So..... no detents is better.  To achieve 'true' parallelism with the Actus is very easy with my way of doing it.  The gearing in the Actus is fine enough for critical adjustments in the 100MP area and beyond.

With the advancement of 'focus shift' in the GFX and other cameras tilt and swing will be needed less except for specialized needs. 

Regards....

Victor

[Steve Hendrix]

The detents, if you can call them that, are very sloppy on the Actus.  To me that is a benefit.  True hard detents have to be absolutely accurate and really can never be - for the future.  So..... no detents is better.  To achieve 'true' parallelism with the Actus is very easy with my way of doing it.  The gearing in the Actus is fine enough for critical adjustments in the 100MP area and beyond.

With the advancement of 'focus shift' in the GFX and other cameras tilt and swing will be needed less except for specialized needs. 

Regards....

Victor

Victor, that's a very good point on the detents.


Steve Hendrix/CI

[Chris Barrett]

Fantastic...each lens = two angles of view.

I hope arca will come up with something similiar.

I haven't ordered the Fuji yet but I already have the bellows adapter from Rod for my Mf2.  It was 131 bucks.  I'll just need an L-bracket to suit the body.

[alan_b]

The detents, if you can call them that, are very sloppy on the Actus.  To me that is a benefit.  True hard detents have to be absolutely accurate and really can never be - for the future.  So..... no detents is better.  To achieve 'true' parallelism with the Actus is very easy with my way of doing it.  The gearing in the Actus is fine enough for critical adjustments in the 100MP area and beyond.

With the advancement of 'focus shift' in the GFX and other cameras tilt and swing will be needed less except for specialized needs. 

Regards....

Victor

Thanks Victor