one thing i found was cool about the valeo, the back runs off a laptop with very little battery life left. the aptus has problems when the laptop gets too low on battery. i guess its to do with not needing to run a screen in the back.
paul
I agree with everything Paul says.
If you really want to shoot semi-portable with a Valeo then find a used G4 powerbook, learn Version 8 software mount the powerbook to a tripod and shoot it that way.
The dp 67 magazine isn't much of a problem, though the metal yoke that goes underneath it, the batteries and all the connectors makes it very heavy.
If you can find an acceptable I-paq it will work and as long as you have the latest version 8 software, it was fairly stable, but not really the best way to shoot the back as the Ipaq is confusing and with all the stuff I just mentioned, it's lighter weight and easier to shoot tethered to an old powerbook than it is to the dp-67 and an Ipaq.
The Valeo really is a studio back and even today is still a great back, probably the most reliable of all the Leaf backs and you can tether up to 30' with a gold non powered firwire repeater.
Yair who frequents this site can tell you more, though the trick to make this work fast with low powered cost effective computers is to run version 8.
If you really want to go the dp-67 way, if you look around there are a lot of those floating around. The old Leaf forum use to have someone offering them for sale weekly, but the rest gets complicated, especially the Ipaq.
Since you shoot with a fuji 680 you have to keep in mind your really working a view camera (in the digital sense) so adding a powerbook on a tripod is not that big of a leap and will much more reliable than any other system using the ipaq and the dp67 (probably a lot less expensive also).
To learn V-8 or any software for that matter the best way to learn is to set it up the way you work and just beat the hell out of it. Shoot it fast, in the middle of shooting yank the cord, learn to restart the software, learn the software inside and out to the point that any scenario you are covered for.
Version 8 is an old interface but runs very low powered and is essentially three softwares in one, capture, adjustments and processiing. You'll probably never use it for batch processing, but for capture is bulletproof and restarts in seconds instead of minutes, but it is a do it yourself proposition, because you'll probably never find a digital tech or assistant that knows how to work it.
One other thing, the Valeo requires a lot of light. At iso 25 it's slow, slow and it doesn't like underexposure. Used for what it was intended for it works solid and really shoots the prettiest file of any back I've owned, in fact it will produce the same quality file as any new back, but I wouldn't go out on location thinking this was a portable hand holdable camera.
IMO.
JR
