Gear

 For the last 30+ years I photographed primarily with an Arca-Swiss 4×5 view camera.  My version was the F Field Clasic with Micro-Orbix.  Many of the images in my gallery were composed with this camera using various lenses.  The most knowledgable person for Arca-Swiss in the United States is Rod Klukas, formerly of Photomart in Phoenix and now the US representative.  For additional Arca-Swill resources see  Tom Westbrook , Precision Camera Works .

I have moved on to a Canon EOS 5D MKII system.  While not providing the same image size as the Arca-Swiss, the Canon DSLR offers many advantages.  Foremost is the very quick turn-around from image creation to processed image.  With the Arca-Swiss and shooting with Velvia film, I would wait a minimum of one to two weeks for my processed images to return.  Then of course I needed to decide if I would pay for a high quality drum scan or a lower quality flat-bed scan on my Epson V750.  Now I just import into my raw processor of choice, Lightroom 3.4.1, and then finish the image in Photoshop CS5.

A second advantage of working with my new DSLR is the ability to use the Live View function with my Hoodman Loupe to essentially function as if I had a dark cloth over my head and then zoom in to the image up to ten times.  This suits me quite well as I am used to working at the much slower pace of a 4×5 view camera.  This method is very useful when using my TS-E 24 mm.  A third advantage is great simplification in determing proper exposure.  Sure I can still use my Pentax 1degree spot meter but using the camera histogram and exposing to the right is much simpler.

My current list of gear is:

  1. Canon EOS 5D MKII
  2. Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
  3. Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
  4. Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
  5. Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM
  6. Gitzo GT3530LS w/GS%121LVL Leveling Base and Acratech GP Ballhead
  7. Hoodman Loupe
  8. Various Sing-Ray Graduated Neutral Density filters and the Cokin Z-Pro holder
  9. Polarizers – clear and warm
  10. Canon TC-80N3 Timer Remote Controller
  11. Various tools and accessories

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 at 8:27 pm. It is filed under Blog, Equipment and tagged with . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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