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Japanese view camera manufacturer HORSEMAN has announced a new mini-view camera for users of DSLRs. It's almost like having a range of focal lengths as tilt/shifts. (With serious limitations, of course!!)

Cheers,

Now that looks like an interesting device.

Especially as (they say) there will be an option that allows you to convert this to a 4x5 camera as well.

Thanx for the link; most interesting.

I feel that the problem here will be, as always, two-fold:

Getting it to work with short enough focal lengths to allow anything other than table-top product photography

Getting sufficient displacement to be meaningful BEFORE the depth of the mirror box vignettes.

For product shooting with a DSLR I don't believe you could do much better than the PC Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D - it is certainly one which I am considering very strongly in my proposed switch to digital.

Nikon pioneered the concept of the PC lens with its 35mm and 28mm lenses. The challenge was taken up by Canon, of course with their three tilt/shift lenses (24mm, 45mm & 90mm). I can understand why there have not been any new wide angle developments suitable for the APS sized chip - to begin with the already problematic issue of the angle of incidence of image forming light on the sensor would be further exacerbated - but I DO live in hope.

Cheers,

Certainly.

And those with DX lenses need not apply.

I guess the most useful lenses would be something designed for large format use; at least those would have a sufficiently large image circle to enable a shift to occur without running afoul of an edge too quickly.

Given that many large format lenses are typically longer in focal length (and have much smaller apertures) than what we might consider for 35mm/DSLR use, there are certainly some challenges ahead in using this technology, but I still think it may be of more than simple curiosity value.

And as you say, the old PC lenses; are they still available?

I used the PC Micro-Nikkor 85mm f/2.8D with my D1 but sold it after deciding that architectural photography was not for me. Nice lens tho’