I've been looking very closely at it too, with the additional benefit that the local Hasselblad dealer here also has it in stock. I plan to rent it soon to try it out.
My observations/thoughts:
- The horizontal shift is on the front standard, while the vertical shift (+/- 23mm) is on the rear standard.
- There is a Live View adapter, Nikon & Canon EOS back adapter, and sliding back adapter. The one on the display/rental unit I saw was the sliding back adapter. As far as I know, there isn't a stitching back per se for either digital back or Nikon/Canon EOS body. But... you could combine the +/- 23mm vertical shift and the sliding back's horizontal movement to serve in this function IF you can live with reduced shift convenience, imprecise horizontal positioning in the stitching. Can you live with this? There is a measurement scale on the vertical shift movement, but none on the sliding back, so you would either have to do some testing and mark the different positions yourself, or make a hard card or wooden or plastic ruler that would help you understand how much you have shifted the sliding back left or right.
- Using a Canon EOS or Nikon body on a camera like this has the same problems of using one on any view camera - I don't know the exact measurement for a Canon EOS body, but a Nikon body is some 43mm deep, from lens mounting flange to the CCD sensor focal point. As a consequence, it is often not possible to use lenses shorter than 90mm with a Canon or Nikon body, unless you don't mind not being able to focus to infinity.
- If you plan to shoot multiple shots on the Canon/Nikon body across the lens' image circle and stitch together, there is no recessed ground glass to you that can help you compose first, that will have the same depth as the Canon/Nikon body, so this will be another, inconvenient, challenging aspect. If shooting with a digital back, you don't have this problem.
- If you main purpose is to use a Canon body, have you had a look at
http://www.camerafusion.com/?
- Have you read the
review of the Horseman LD on this site? It might give you some insight into using a view camera adapter with a 35mm type SLR.
I'll try to put together as much as I can into a sort of a review when I rent the Flexicam. I just don't have a firm date when I'll do that yet.
shutay