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Author Topic: Perfectly Perpendicular  (Read 2750 times)

simplify

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Perfectly Perpendicular
« on: January 17, 2011, 12:51:58 am »

Hello,
I photograph art with a Betterlight and also a Phase One P45+.  With the Betterlight I use the ZigAlign system to make sure the camera is exactly perpendicular to the artwork.  Does anyone have any tips for doing this with my Phase One on a Hasselblad 503cw.  The ZigAlign site is horrible, and I can't see any pictures of their products.
Thanks,
JP
John-Paul Jespersen Photography
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engine11

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Re: Perfectly Perpendicular
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2011, 02:37:09 am »

Zig Align does make a product that is compatible with medium format systems. I had to call them to figure out what I needed for mine/
Good luck.
Dan
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Ben Rubinstein

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Re: Perfectly Perpendicular
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2011, 04:01:10 am »

Gosh but that website really is awful!
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Chris Gahran

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Re: Perfectly Perpendicular
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2011, 12:43:33 am »

Hasselblad made the "Hasselblad Linear Mirror Unit" which shows up every now and then on eBay. It's best used at shorter distances (under 4 feet) from my limited tests to date.

Shooting straight down can usually be squared up using a good level. (Remember aligning an enlarger?) Maybe buy an extra camera body and setup a permanent copy stand.

Archeologists have used a long stick with a knotted string attached to the ends of the stick to triangulate centering and aligning a camera to a subject in the field.

There are a few advantages to using a Hasselblad. You only need to align the camera and not each standard of a highly adjustable view-camera. Although I would expect the Betterlight to produce the best images, you won't need to pound the subject with light to use f11-16 and therefore getting a decent focus will be easier. (Not fun trying to get the focus across a large copy when you're stuck shooting at f5.6)

Hope some of this helps...

Chris 
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