The first paradox I’ve encountered is determining which Board to post this under. As the device employs a Sony NEX, the logical place would initially seem to be the new Compact Systems Board. However, the device employs the NEX to create a medium format photo. Therefore, the Medium Format Board might instead be considered more appropriate. However, I am taking the coward’s way out and posting it here, in a more inclusive “grab bag” Board.
But the main paradox I’m encountering is that, to me, the device requires more the approach and procedures of a view camera. It definitely is not for portable, “snapshot” use. In fact, in using it I am taken back to what I imagine as being the “Atget’ days, which for me is not necessarily a negative.
For those members for whom use of a view camera in their past is within “living” memory, the features and needs of the Rhinocam I’m about to itemize will seem obvious (and possibly attractive, nostalgically or otherwise). For others, unless you see some aesthetic advantage in going through the trouble of its use (as I have), you may want to turn the next page, i.e., proceed to another thread.
Primary requirements (in my opinion):
1. Choose the scene of your intended photo before even unpacking your equipment. By necessity, as use of the Rhinocam results in a “mosaic’ of six or eight “tiles” to eventually be stitched, the scene chosen must be relatively – or entirely – static. (Some compositional differences/motion can be accommodated by a slight variation of the subject matter among the different “tiles,” but which the differences/motion must be contained entirely within the boundaries of the individual “tiles,” which can then be sorted out and chosen for inclusion in the final stitching.)
2. Use a tripod (positioning it either before or after you’ve attached the NEX and Rhinocam).
3. Use the Rhinocam’s ground glass image (which is inverted, the same as with a view camera) to frame, but not necessarily focus, your picture.
4. Determine your exposure by use of an external exposure meter, setting the exposure on the NEX when in its Manual-setting designation. (Utilizing the NEX itself to determine exposure will be a chancy business as individual “tiles” may indicate different exposure settings, which could possibly compromise the stitching process.)
5. Focus the photo though with the NEX, which has excellent focusing features, i.e., enlarged image and focus “peaking.” However, individual “tiles’ may indicate different focusing, so an averaging must be striven for. Determination of appropriate depth-of-field settings and initial use of the medium-format lens at its maximum aperture setting are of course useful tools to be employed (remembering to reset the lens’ aperture to the previously determined exposure setting – as with a view camera).
In time, if there were interest, I could add to or fine-tune the above, but I just wanted now to share my experiences to date with the Rhinocam, which I am having a great time with. Its use of course really slows down the photo-taking process, but the view camera approach has for me its (renewed) aesthetic advantages. And of course the considerable cost-saving over the purchase of a truly medium format digital system is an attractive additional factor.
