My wife and I are thinking about buying a camera with bellows for studio use (only) sometime in the future. We both shoot medium format digital and capture table top work, although her more then me, and could use the additional tilt/swings and shift a bellows camera provides. Also, since I mainly use an Arca Swiss R system for my architectural work, Arca Swiss is the brand we are considering.
The question is whether to buy the Monolith, which has rise/fall, shift, tilt, swing and base tilt on both standards, or to buy the M-2, which has tilt/swing only on the front and rise/fall and shift only on the back?
As an architectural photographer, I would never have the need for tilt/swing on the back standard. However, for still life and food, is this an important feature to have?
Additionally, the M-2 only has two pivot points, whereas the Monolith has six, so I have to wonder is there a noticeable difference in stability and with keeping the standards in plane with each other?
Joe Kitchen
