Sivestri Flexicam

[tom_l]

Hi, just watched MR's last video online, how could i not discover this new toy in Cologne: The Flexibody. And how is it possible noone mentionned it ob the forum?

Looks like my flexbody's twin brother:
http://www.silvestricamera.it/eng/news_eng/news.htm

Most important, it has a sliding back, the Flexbody from Hasselblad hasn't. Not that i would miss one in the studio, (especially when the new + phase backs have live preview), but on location i sometimes wish Hasselblad's engineers should have passed another few days more on the design of my favourite camera and add a slider.

Yes, it can the the 35mm XL, yes it can also take my old Zeiss lenses, but I wonder how this can work at infinity focus?

Interesting times


tom-

[Gary Ferguson]

but I wonder how this can work at infinity focus?

Tom, this camera caught my attention too as I'm also a regular user of the Hasselblad flexbody. I guess the answer to your infinity focus question is that the relatively large back focus distance on the Hasselblad gives the camera designer a lot of room to play with, look at how the Flexbody squeezes in a set of bellows as well as 28 degrees of tilt capacity without too much difficulty!

I'll be taking a serious look at the Silvestri, I've used a few Silvestri components on a Linhof M679 and they're well designed and well engineered.

[tom_l]

Tom, this camera caught my attention too as I'm also a regular user of the Hasselblad flexbody. I guess the answer to your infinity focus question is that the relatively large back focus distance on the Hasselblad gives the camera designer a lot of room to play with, look at how the Flexbody squeezes in a set of bellows as well as 28 degrees of tilt capacity without too much difficulty!

I'll be taking a serious look at the Silvestri, I've used a few Silvestri components on a Linhof M679 and they're well designed and well engineered.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=79449\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanx Gary,
you're probably right, ass I do a lot of reproduction and macro with the flexbody, I rarely use it at infinity focus.
This year seems to bring a lot of new hardware in the MF world. I hope the silvestri will be as well made as the Flexbody from Hasselblad. I'll wait and i'll wonder...

Tom-

[ursose]

What do you think about using Flexicam with Hasselblad telephoto lenses, 180mm and longer? Hasselblad telephoto lenses are physically longer than LF lenses.
Flexbody uses rear tilt so using lenses with long physical length was no problem, but isnt this a problem using front tilt?

Any ideas if it possible to rebuild the Flexbody, shorten it a little bit and attaching the new smaller Silvestri sliding back?  The winding crank is not necessary when only using it for digital photography. It shouldn't be impossible...

/Urban
(who have never used front tilt...)

[AndrewDyer]

Seeing you guys here are big Flexbody fans... and I just happen to have one too but have not used it with a digital back yet... do you get any issues with colour cast?... and what DB's do you use?
Would be great to know.
Thanks
Andrew

[Gary Ferguson]

There are colour cast issues with the Flexbody and a Phase One P25 when shifts are applied, especially with the wider lenses.

Incidentally, the longest lens I've used with the Flexbody is the 350mm superachromat complete with the x1.4 extender, you need two tripods (one on the lens and one on the body) to keep the shot sharp and shake free. More normally I regularly use a 180mm and the heavy 40mm IF on a Flexbody without problems, rear tilt is the only option as the rear standard pivots around the centre-line.

[AndrewDyer]

There are colour cast issues with the Flexbody and a Phase One P25 when shifts are applied,
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=80046\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks for the info Gary.
I thought that would be the case with the Phase DB so I have my eye on an Aptus 22 (or my wish-list anyhow).
Do you know if anyone has had colour cast problems with this setup?
Have you ever trid it?
I can't afford an A75 at the moment so the centre-line issues with that one are not really an option for me.
Thanks for your comments
Andrew

[Dinarius]

Has anyone used a Flexicam with a Canon/Nikon Digital SLR, as shown here>

http://www.silvestricamera.it/eng/prodotti...lexicamback.htm

What lens would one need to equate to a 50mm standard?

Thanks.

D.

[BJNY]

What is the cost of the camera, sliding back, and actuator for V-lenses?

I wish Gottschalt or Sinar would offer a Sinar lensboard capable of geared rise/fall/tilt as Arca-Swiss has engineered in their R-series.

[paul_jones]

Has anyone used a Flexicam with a Canon/Nikon Digital SLR, as shown here>

http://www.silvestricamera.it/eng/prodotti...lexicamback.htm

What lens would one need to equate to a 50mm standard?

Thanks.

D.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=115297\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

50mm


paul

[jimgolden]

looks like $4k USD based on UK pricing...

silvestri pricing

[tom_l]

Hi, coming back to my own old thread...
any news about the silvestri yet?

I^m looking for a nice WA option for occasional outdoor shootings. I considered the Cambo, it`s advantage is portability(i^m a studio guy) and it`s price. I also had a look on the yet to be released Arca R but it will be probably in the Alpa price universe.
Anyway, I own a Hassy V-System and a Flexbody but as you know i`m limited with a 40mm lens, so The Flexicam with it`s possibility to shoot Zeiss glass and digital LF lenses and a sliding adaptor looks too great to be true. I would probably
The camera is on the market afaik but no reviews yet, the Silvestri website doens^t really answer my questions either so i`m looking for a Flexicam owner over here.
The flexicam would be the first cam able to replace a WA camera and a small studio camera for table-top (even if the silvestri hp claims that the Flexicam is limited to 120mm up) Why should it? I hope to use my 180mm Zeiss as well.

tom

[montero4]

The flexicam would be the first cam able to replace a WA camera and a small studio camera for table-top (even if the silvestri hp claims that the Flexicam is limited to 120mm up) Why should it? I hope to use my 180mm Zeiss as well.

tom
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=128984\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I asked them this question a few months ago when I was looking into it and they said that anything above 120mm would be too heavy for the front standard to support... is the 180 significantly heavier than the 120mm? If not, then may be it would be fine but that's what they said.

Jonah

[Larry_Menzin]

The Flexicam is a great solution for W/A use but any lens over 120mm won't work. I also assume that extension for macro is limited as well.

[jing q]

The Flexicam is a great solution for W/A use but any lens over 120mm won't work. I also assume that extension for macro is limited as well.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=129000\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

To revive this thread again, has anyone had experience with this camera?
It looks like an incredible piece of engineering, does anyone know of any distributor in the US and what the price is like?

[bcroslin]

I can't speak specifically to the Flexicam but a friend of mine just purchased a Bicam system and it's an incredible piece of engineering. The system has a ton of options for analog and digital.

My buddy bought the system from Bromwell Marketing who's apparently the only US distributor of Silvestri:

http://www.bromwellmarketing.com/

[MarkKay]

A major problem is the limited view finder inherent in the 35mm cameras.  It will be hard to get precise focus.

Has anyone used a Flexicam with a Canon/Nikon Digital SLR, as shown here>

http://www.silvestricamera.it/eng/prodotti...lexicamback.htm

What lens would one need to equate to a 50mm standard?

Thanks.

D.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=115297\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

[Jeffreytotaro]

While the Silvestri is a nice design, it's still a bellows focus system.  Unless you're doing close-up work I'd steer away from any bellows design.  It can be very difficult to focus wide lenses like Schneider's 24, 35, 47, etc.  I had an Arca 6x9 (beautiful camera!!) but I sold it in favor of a Cambo Wide DS.  No focus trouble there.

In response to the person asking about a color cast from a Phase back, this is quickly fixed in the software and is not an issue with any lens on any camera.  It's called Lens Cast Calibration and takes only a few clicks to fix.

[jing q]

While the Silvestri is a nice design, it's still a bellows focus system.  Unless you're doing close-up work I'd steer away from any bellows design.  It can be very difficult to focus wide lenses like Schneider's 24, 35, 47, etc.  I had an Arca 6x9 (beautiful camera!!) but I sold it in favor of a Cambo Wide DS.  No focus trouble there.

[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=136868\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Doesn't the Flexicam have a geared mechanism for focusing? I was under the impression that it was quite precise.

Does anyone have recommendations for a digital view camera that can do tilt and swings?

I've searched through the forums and I've read up on a few cameras but it would be helpful to have the choices narrowed down through recommendation.
Size and speed of setup are a big consideration for me.
the Flexicam looks great for such purposes

[Jeffreytotaro]

Doesn't the Flexicam have a geared mechanism for focusing? I was under the impression that it was quite precise.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=136874\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Geared or not, you still have to rely on ground glass/bellows focusing which with these short lenses is quite difficult.  The Cambo and many other 'digital' view cameras use helical focus mounts with distance scales on a fixed camera body.