Zoerk PSA and Canon bodies

[Peter Barnes]

Hi, I am looking for some reliable advice on which full-frame Canon bodies will work with a Zoerk PSA and Pentax 645 lenses without modification.  I was advised by Zoerk USA to get a 5D but saw a reference here to a need to 'shave the mirror'.  What is the true story?

[stefan marquardt]

the zoerk works on the 5d without any problems.
i use that combo (5d+zörk+pentax/mamiya lenses) every day.

[Peter Barnes]

the zoerk works on the 5d without any problems.
i use that combo (5d+zörk+pentax/mamiya lenses) every day.

Thanks Stefan.  And thanks for the link to your website - beautiful work!

[Abdulrahman Aljabri]

the zoerk works on the 5d without any problems.
i use that combo (5d+zörk+pentax/mamiya lenses) every day.

I hope I don't burden you by asking which pentax/mamiya lenses are you using? I was thinking about this rout and wonder if it is more cost effective than buying 24tse II + 45tse.

[stefan marquardt]

No burden at all:

On the 5d2 I use the pentax 645 af 35mm and the following mamiya 645 manual lenses: 55mm, 80mm, 110mm and 150mm, also the schneider kreuznach 60mm curtagon and for shift plus tilt I use the apo-rodogon 105mm via the zörk tilt/shift adapter.

On the mamiya zd I use the zörk shift adapter with the following pentax 67 lenses: 45mm, 55mm and 75mm.
I am very happy with all of the lenses. also the 35mm pentax and the 45mm pentax 67 (while very sharp) have some unpleasant distortion when shifted.

For architecture photography the 35mm pentax and the 17mm canon shift are my workhorses, that stay on the 5d2 for 90% of the time. for interior and furniture photography the 55mm mamiya and on the mamiya ZD the 75mm pentax 67 are my favorite lenses. for closer-up produkt shots the 80mm mamiya and the 105mm apo-rodogon are hard to beat. they are also quite cheap to get. the zörk proshiftadapter is sometimes available on ebay, the shiftadapter for mamiya 645 is hard to get. i got mine specialy built from mr zörkendorfer. I think it cost about 1.500 euro or the like.
All in all, you pay a bit for the shiftadapters but than you can use a whole lot of excellent and very cheap lenses.
plus: When I don´t use the mamiya 645 lenses on the canon, I can use them strait on the mamiya ZD which is very handy if you want to travel light and still use two systems (35mm and medium format).

[Peter Barnes]

On the 5d2 I use the pentax 645 af 35mm ...via  the zörk shift adapter.

Stefan, can I ask if you have used the zörk PSA on a 5D with Pentax 645 lenses as well as your 5D Mark 2?  The reference I read was to there being some problem with the earlier 5D, which is the model I am thinking of buying second hand to work with my Pentax 645 lenses via a shift adapter.

Peter

[Peter Barnes]

Stefan,
I am also interested in  why the Canon 17mm tse makes a better lens for your architectural work than the 24mm tse lenses?

Peter

[stefan marquardt]

The old 5d is fine too. I used it for years with the shiftadapter.

[stefan marquardt]

Stefan,
I am also interested in  why the Canon 17mm tse makes a better lens for your architectural work than the 24mm tse lenses?

Peter

I am not saying its a better lens than the 24mm. It´s just that I could only afford one - and than the 17mm was the better option. apart from that, when i got the 17mm it was so new on the market that the 24mm wasn´t available yet. the 17mm is just a livesaver in architectural photography - sometimes you simply cant get enough distance between you and the building and you are standing with your back against the wall and need to fit the object in front of you into the frame.

like here and here last week. (17mm, two different objects with back to a wall)
btw. that storage cupboard holds the german national football team´s trikots (when they don´t play)

[Abdulrahman Aljabri]

I am not saying its a better lens than the 24mm. It´s just that I could only afford one - and than the 17mm was the better option. apart from that, when i got the 17mm it was so new on the market that the 24mm wasn´t available yet. the 17mm is just a livesaver in architectural photography - sometimes you simply cant get enough distance between you and the building and you are standing with your back against the wall and need to fit the object in front of you into the frame.

like here and here last week. (17mm, two different objects with back to a wall)
btw. that storage cupboard holds the german national football team´s trikots (when they don´t play)

Did you try using the 17mm with the 1.4 extender? You get 23.8 with that setup. I like the second picture, but the place probably looks much larger that in real life, correct?

[ACH DIGITAL]

Hi all,

I,m an architectural photographer working in Venezuela, I'm very interested in the topic here although I don't have the Zoerk adapters.
My question to Stephan would be if there are many photographers in Europe doing architecture are using canon or nikon gear instead of middle format?
My experience here is that costs are too high for middle format and I'm using canon 5DMKII for the job with the 24ts-e and a new 16-35mm nikon adapted to canon.
The idea of working with the pentax 35mm lens adapted with the Zoerk looks indeed nice to me..
Thanks.

Antonio Chagin  www.achdigital.com

[stefan marquardt]

Did you try using the 17mm with the 1.4 extender? You get 23.8 with that setup. I like the second picture, but the place probably looks much larger that in real life, correct?

yes, such a wide lens gives sometimes exacerated perspective impressions.
I think I will try that extender in the future.

[stefan marquardt]

I personally dont know any other arch.photographer. so I don´t know the answer. but i would guess (from what I hear and read) that the very busy ones have maybe moved to mf in the last year or so (before the canon route was available). while the majority of architecture photographers are going the canon route. To take the canon route is imho only possible since the introduction of the 17mm lens (and the 5d2). before that, there simply wasn´t a good shiftable very wide lens. and only the 12-24mm sigma as a non shiftable lens with a lack of distortion (apart from maybe 2% barrel). now with the two new siftlenses - together with the 5d2 - the canon makes a very good and affordable system (especially since the prices for architecture photography seem to have come under a lot of pressure). I haven´t taken my mamiya mf out of the case since over a year. Even when I start a big new project and really want to use the mamiya, when I arrive at the location and look around and consider everything, I just pull the canon out of the bag and the mamiya stays in the case another time. (I think by now my brain has deployed the canon exclusively for work - and the mamiya exclusively to fun/fine art stuff.)
there are a few points for which i really prefer the canon: the life-view for fast and exact focusing even when fully shifted. and the color-dumpness of the canon. it just doesn´t seem to be impressed by a mix of natural and different artificial lightsources (which you often get in architecture and interior photography). plus there is no colorshift from lens-shifting. take makes the postproduktion part very quick. I also appreciate the dust removal function (as you know, our working conditions are often very dirty+dusty). and you can even shoot a quick video-clip as a bonus.
concerning the megapixel-difference: I couldn´t care less. I never even think about that number anymore. the megapixel-paranoia has left me since the introduction of the 5d2.

Hi all,

I,m an architectural photographer working in Venezuela, I'm very interested in the topic here although I don't have the Zoerk adapters.
My question to Stephan would be if there are many photographers in Europe doing architecture are using canon or nikon gear instead of middle format?
My experience here is that costs are too high for middle format and I'm using canon 5DMKII for the job with the 24ts-e and a new 16-35mm nikon adapted to canon.
The idea of working with the pentax 35mm lens adapted with the Zoerk looks indeed nice to me..
Thanks.

Antonio Chagin  www.achdigital.com

[ACH DIGITAL]

Thank you Setefan. that makes me feel better. I use the 5DmII although I only have the old 24 ts-e. You right about color-dumpness and liveview, I appreciate that from that system.

I personally dont know any other arch.photographer. so I don´t know the answer. but i would guess (from what I hear and read) that the very busy ones have maybe moved to mf in the last year or so (before the canon route was available). while the majority of architecture photographers are going the canon route. To take the canon route is imho only possible since the introduction of the 17mm lens (and the 5d2). before that, there simply wasn´t a good shiftable very wide lens. and only the 12-24mm sigma as a non shiftable lens with a lack of distortion (apart from maybe 2% barrel). now with the two new siftlenses - together with the 5d2 - the canon makes a very good and affordable system (especially since the prices for architecture photography seem to have come under a lot of pressure). I haven´t taken my mamiya mf out of the case since over a year. Even when I start a big new project and really want to use the mamiya, when I arrive at the location and look around and consider everything, I just pull the canon out of the bag and the mamiya stays in the case another time. (I think by now my brain has deployed the canon exclusively for work - and the mamiya exclusively to fun/fine art stuff.)
there are a few points for which i really prefer the canon: the life-view for fast and exact focusing even when fully shifted. and the color-dumpness of the canon. it just doesn´t seem to be impressed by a mix of natural and different artificial lightsources (which you often get in architecture and interior photography). plus there is no colorshift from lens-shifting. take makes the postproduktion part very quick. I also appreciate the dust removal function (as you know, our working conditions are often very dirty+dusty). and you can even shoot a quick video-clip as a bonus.
concerning the megapixel-difference: I couldn´t care less. I never even think about that number anymore. the megapixel-paranoia has left me since the introduction of the 5d2.