Anyone have any experience of the Silvestri Bicam?

[tashley]

My work is sort of 'architectural landscape' (places often with buildings in them) and I have a Phamyia body with a P45+ back and currently the standard 80mm lens. I've had a go with a pre-production Phase Hartblei and it was so bad that I decided it was just out of whack but then some other guy over at getDPI had an identically bad one and posted a Phase tech response saying it was within tolerances. This lead me to reconsider the plan and I am now so enamoured of the idea of using non-retrofocus lenses that I'm going to buy a tech cam for that lovely corner to corner sharpness I'm used to from my Leica M system.

I wanted a full movements setup but after experimenting and reading, have discovered how difficult it is to manufacture them so the tilts and swings are totally zero-able and don't adversely impact 'straight' shots. So I've looked at all the alternatives and decided that for use firstly with a 35mm lens (then probably a 24 without movements due to image circle constraints) I need something with rise and fall as well as side to side but can live without tilts if I have to. Looking at issues of size, weight (I travel a lot), reputation for build quality etc, I narrowed it down to a Cambo RS, and Alpa Max and a Silvestri Flex.

I tried the Flex, really really liked its feel but was never confident that the tilts and swings were properly zeroed and, sure enough, on screen it was clear that shots at F11 and F8 had bad edges. So I'm down to the Cambo and the Alpa.

With the recent moves in the £ the Alpa is now stupidly expensive and I really dislike the idea of paying such a huge premium for their lens mount. SO that's probaly a 'no'. The Cambo sounds good but then I saw the Bicam, which can be both a 'fixed' cam with helicoid focus and shifts only, or a bellows type cam with full movements. So when I want critical across the field of focus (or want to travel light) I use it the first way but when I'm shooting tethered and can really check focus I can get the bellows on.

It sounds really hopeful BUT I've fast learned with all MF gear that 1) you have to use it all to know if it works as you hope and 2) you'll never be able to do 1) because no one ever has all the right bits in stock   SO... posting here to see if anyone has used the Bicam?

All answers very gratefully received!

Best

Tim

http://www.timashley.com

[jonstewart]

I have one, and the maxibellows. Schneider 38SA in helical, and an 80 on bayonet. Super camera in shift only. No experience of wide angle on the bayonet. Had you considered that the lenses have to be mounted helically for shift only and bayonet for tilts and swings on the bellows?

Sorry this isn't much of an answer.

[tashley]

I have one, and the maxibellows. Schneider 38SA in helical, and an 80 on bayonet. Super camera in shift only. No experience of wide angle on the bayonet. Had you considered that the lenses have to be mounted helically for shift only and bayonet for tilts and swings on the bellows?

Sorry this isn't much of an answer.

Thanks John,

Yes, I'd got that - but since posting the original I've realised that it's rise only rather than vertical and horizontal shift without bellows. That probably counts it out for me unfortunately since my tryout experience with the Flexcam was that the engineering isn't tight enough to zero tilts/swings completely, which leads to uneven focus across the field - so I liked the BiCam for its 'no tilts' mode but option of tilts when needed.

Wish someone made a small, light tech cam with good shifts and limited tilts, a sliding back, Mammy 645 fittings and no rip-off lens mount costs.

Wish Father Christmas was real too!

;-)

Tim

[jing q]

Thanks John,

Yes, I'd got that - but since posting the original I've realised that it's rise only rather than vertical and horizontal shift without bellows. That probably counts it out for me unfortunately since my tryout experience with the Flexcam was that the engineering isn't tight enough to zero tilts/swings completely, which leads to uneven focus across the field - so I liked the BiCam for its 'no tilts' mode but option of tilts when needed.

Wish someone made a small, light tech cam with good shifts and limited tilts, a sliding back, Mammy 645 fittings and no rip-off lens mount costs.

Wish Father Christmas was real too!

;-)

Tim

swinging it to the side will let you use the rise and fall as shift...it's compact enough that it isn't a big deal. Not sure if you need rise/fall/shift all together at one go?

[tashley]

swinging it to the side will let you use the rise and fall as shift...it's compact enough that it isn't a big deal. Not sure if you need rise/fall/shift all together at one go?

Hmm, how does that work? Do you mean you just put the whole camera on its side?

I don't need combined movements - or so rarely that it doesn't really matter!

[jonstewart]

No actually, you don't need to put the camera on it's side. I have the universal stitching back, with a mamiya mount plate, so I have simultaneously 35 (or so) mm of shift in both directions (x and y).

Now admittedly it's a case of shoot at left, centre and right detente, stitch (which works perfectly) and then crop, but with 100Mpixels (ie about 2.5 frames from a 3x2 stitch, on a P45), there's no issue with the final image quality. I suppose the description makes it sound like hard work, compared with say a Cambo WRS or WDS, or Alpa, but when you're in the habit it's real quick, since I generally don't need to start thinking about how much lateral and vertical shift I need to put on the back. It also really simplifies generating the LCC's.

Hope this helps

[tashley]

No actually, you don't need to put the camera on it's side. I have the universal stitching back, with a mamiya mount plate, so I have simultaneously 35 (or so) mm of shift in both directions (x and y).

Now admittedly it's a case of shoot at left, centre and right detente, stitch (which works perfectly) and then crop, but with 100Mpixels (ie about 2.5 frames from a 3x2 stitch, on a P45), there's no issue with the final image quality. I suppose the description makes it sound like hard work, compared with say a Cambo WRS or WDS, or Alpa, but when you're in the habit it's real quick, since I generally don't need to start thinking about how much lateral and vertical shift I need to put on the back. It also really simplifies generating the LCC's.

Hope this helps

Thanks! The only thing I'm unclear about is that the Silvestri site and their UK dealer Linhof Studios mention D7023, a sliding/stitching back, but all references seem to be to two shots rather than three, and make no mention of hte centre, left and right detentes  - so I want to make sure I order the right part number! Any clues...

Thanks again. I owe you beer.
 

[jonstewart]

Answered by PM (No, not Gordon Brown!)