The optical part probably looks familiar enough. Cambo has taken the highly acclaimed Nikkor PC 4.0/19 and made it available for use on Cambo WRS and Phase One XT cameras. The lens has been rehoused and fitted with a controller for the electronic aperture. The image circle is large enough to cover the sensor of an IQ3/IQ4 digital back and still permit about 4mm of shift. The edge-to-edge sharpness is excellent and would make this wide angle lens the perfect addition to your workflow.
Cambo ACTAR-20
The ACTAR-20 is the latest addition to the extensive line of Cambo lenses available for use on the Actus view cameras. The distortion of this new lens is very low and the optical quality meets the requirements of the latest generation of Mirrorless Cameras. The ability to use filters was greatly missed on both the ACTAR-15 and ACTAR-19, but the new ACTAR-20 features an 82mm filter thread which allows for their use with this wide angle lens.
Pierre Planté – St Tropez (F) EeStairs BV / October 2021
An article in one of the larger Dutch papers a few weeks ago: “World’s most expensive stairway in French villa built in The Netherlands.” An article like that is useless without pictures and the accompanying photographs do justice to the builder’s craftsmanship and quality standards. It’s also obvious that the commissioned photographer knows how to visualize his client’s work. Hans Morren has been working for EeStairs – builder of the prestigious staircase – for many years. Their assignments have sent him all over the world. Hans values their cooperation a lot, not in the least because every staircase he photographs is a one-of-a-kind.
We actually used one of Hans’ photographs to promote the Actus a couple of years ago. It’s this staircase inside the Akzo Nobel office, shot with the Actar-24 lens and a Sony A7.
Akzo Nobel Amsterdam / EeStairs BV / Februari 2016
Hans approached us shortly after the introduction of the Actus. His Mamiya-ZD was becoming a bit long in the tooth and he wanted to replace it with a modern mirrorless camera body, with the option to use it as a digital back behind a view camera. The Actus ticked all the boxes. He’s now been using his Actus/Sony combination for six years and the Sony is hardly ever used without the Actus. When shooting a staircase on location the space to maneuver around the object is often limited. Camera adjustments are crucial in those situations.
Hans’ architecture and interior assignments bring him all over the world. But he enjoys working in the studio and the kitchen just as much. In fact, the mixture is crucial to him. The studio work he does is rarely pure product photography but rather the visualization of ideas and thoughts. This brought him such diverse assignments as (classical) record covers, annual reports, book and magazine covers and cook books. An impressive series of cook books. And still Hans doesn’t consider himself a food photographer. As a well-known publisher once told him: “You create wonderful books, but I wouldn’t know how to classify them”. A series of – now eight – cook books was created in cooperation with Roelf Holtrop, a medical doctor and long-time friend with whom he shares a passion for Italian food. Roelf wrote the recipes and text. Hans did not photograph dishes, but made photographs to illustrate the process of creating fine food. He and his wife Liesbeth also took care of the graphic design.
From La Cucina Povera (Poor Man’s Kitchen). A “cook book for hard times”, as Roelf Holtrop and Hans Morren called their joint effort. It covers the cuisine of the southern part of Italy and is all about wholesome food made with simple (and inexpensive) ingredients.
The ladle serves as a pan and a soup bowl at the same time. The tea light needs to keep the dish warm
Shot on Polaroid 55 material.
From Medici CucinaAxel Springer Neubau – Berlin (D) Quispel Deurne / June 2021
Stitched Image – ACTUS-G with Leica SL2 & ACTAR-24
With 14 book publications behind his name and over three decades of experience as a chef, we may well consider Heinz von Holzen an authority on Indonesian food. During his entire professional career Heinz managed to combine his passion for authentic food with a passion for photography.
It probably all started with a strong desire to keep moving and discovering new things. As a youngster Swiss born Heinz von Holzen aspired a career as an engineer. He soon got bored sitting behind a desk and found a position as an apprentice cook. Working as a chef at various first class hotels in Europe, Australia and Asia gave him the opportunity to see the world and along the way his camera has been his travel companion. Heinz developed the good practice of visually documenting the recipes he created. Especially after he had started working in Singapore. “It was then in Singapore that I became hooked on photography, which allowed me to visually document many great dishes that we prepared.” And he didn’t settle for mediocre results, not in cooking nor in his photography.
Working as a chef in Singapore, Heinz was asked to become the executive chef of the new Grand Hyatt at the Isle of Bali. Shortly after his arrival, now 32 years ago, Heinz by chance met a publisher. He was impressed by Heinz’ food shots and encouraged him to publish his first book on Balinese cuisine. It became a success and many would follow.
After 4 ½ years at the Grand Hyatt Bali Heinz decided to resign. Together with his wife Puji, he set up a company specializing in commercial photography, advertising and food consulting. The photographing chef now had become a professional photographer. However, he wasn't happy, as he enjoyed photography a lot less now it had become his bread and butter. So he went back to his first passion, food. This resulted in the opening of Bumbu Bali, a restaurant and cooking school, which was soon followed by a second restaurant and a small hotel.
A good chef remains inquisitive throughout his career and Heinz’ photography has probably benefited greatly from his investigative nature. “During the past 32 years I was utmost fortunate to be able to travel extensively across Indonesia. Whenever I got stuck with answers about food in a specific part of Indonesia, I searched for a reliable contact in that region. Next I purchased a ticket, flew to this region and spent some time with the experts, home cooks, at markets, ceremonies, kitchens, road side food stalls and cooked, wrote recipes and took lots and lots of photos.
All this would not have been possible without the full hearted support of my family and the teams in our restaurants.”
To photograph the beautiful landscapes he travels and the venues he visits, Heinz acquired a Cambo WRS system with a Phase One digital back. His favorite tool to document the dishes he creates is the Cambo Actus-G paired with a Leica SL2 and ACTAR-90 lens. Complemented with Cambo’s adapter to enable the use of Mamiya RB/RZ lenses. “What I love most about the Actus and shooting food is the tilt and shift capabilities and with it the great DOF. Simply amazing. No need for photoshop. Yes the system is slow, but offers photography pure. Then again, when combined – as in my case – with a Leica SL2 body, it gives you total control over your picture.”
Heinz was introduced to the Cambo brand by Warren Kiong, owner of Primaimaging. A valued Cambo partner who has decades of experience in representing professional brands from his beautiful Jakarta based studio. As Heinz expresses his appreciation: “We are incredibly fortunate here in Indonesia to not only have a distributer of all Cambo products, but also an owner gentleman behind prima-imaging which does an amazing amount of extra work for the photographiccommunity. Absolutely nothing is too much, and their fast expertise and know-how in high-end camera gear is extremely useful when questions or challenges arise.”
It seems appropriate to end with one of Heinz von Holzen’s recipes here. Thank you for sharing this with us Heinz.
The AC-324 is the dedicated Actar-24 lens shade. It’s 90mm fitting makes it also suitable for use on Rodenstock Digaron-32 lenses. Cambo just recently introduced step-down rings from 90 to 75, 70 and 60mm. The AC-324 is not only a light weight compendium alternative for various Rodenstock Digaron lenses it can also be used with on the Phase One XT.
But why do lenses matter? Well, simply put, not all lenses are created equal. Generally speaking in recent photographic history, lenses are designed to work both with a single camera system as well as made to cover with very little overlap only the size of the piece of film (or sensor) inside of the camera. With Mirrorless cameras becoming more and more common the idea of adapting lenses from one system to another is becoming much more common.
Lenses with larger image circles are more ideal for usage with view cameras because it allows for more movements within that circle. Tilting, shifting, rise, fall, and swing movements all require more “room” within a lens. The larger the image circle of a given lens, the more room becomes available.
As you can see from the chart above, given the smaller sensor size (when comparing against medium or large format) of modern cameras, the 24x36mm sensor can have a fair bit of movement when paired with the larger image circles of medium format lenses.
But, I already have a lens that does that…
So you may be asking, why wouldn’t I just buy a native Tilt Shift lens (Canon TS-E, Nikon PC) for my camera? And the answer all comes back to movements. Tilt shift lenses only allow for 2 of the 3 directions of movements (and usually don’t allow for more than one adjustment at a time depending on camera orientation). Only a view camera can give you the full range of movements for perspective control.
When comparing the cost of these incomplete solutions you will also find that they are similarly priced. But for the same investment, why would spend the same amount but only get 2/3rds of the features?
It was only a matter of time. First was the Fuji GFX, then came the Hasselblad X1D, The Leica SL and Nikon Z was soon to follow, and now even the new Canon EOS R can be a part of the Actus family.
Because of the smaller bayonet size of the Canon EOS-R it is able to be used across the entire Actus (Actus XL or Actus-G with Optional AC-78E Interchangeable bayonet) range.
Just replace or attach the four mounting screws, and your EOS-R is ready to be used.
Our design team is busy updating our lens compatibility list to reflect the latest camera bodies, so please keep checking back for more information as it becomes available.
Cambo Actus-G with Actar 60, AC-782, and Canon EOS-R
Cambo Actus-G with Actar 24, AC-782, and Canon EOS-R
Contact your Cambo dealer of choice to get yours ordered!
Will you be attending Photokina or Photo Plus Expo this year?
We invite you to stop by and see the latest product releases and get your hands on some of the best designed and manufactured camera equipment in the world! Cambo will be showing the full range of Tech cameras, Wide RS and the updated ACTUS series, updated Studio Stands and more!
Hall 2.1, Booth A-017
An international flight not exactly something in your budget? How about something a little more local?
Booth 458
Looking to attend Photo Plus Expo but don’t yet have a badge? Use our link to get your free Expo badge, or save 15% on a Conference badge today!
Frequently here at the Cambo USA office we get asked questions that go something like this:
“I’m considering buying an Actus, and I don’t know what lenses to look for. What can you recommend?”
For anyone who has used an Actus (or have spoken with us at length) know that this is a very loaded question. Because there are so many different configuration options (and due to the nature of being able to adapt several hundred if not more legacy lenses to the system) it’s sometimes hard to quantify which lenses are going to work best for what system.
Without getting too technical, the answer to the compatibility question mostly relies on the Flange Focal Distance (FFD) of your camera body of choice when compared to the same measurement from your lens of choice.
FFD is the distance between the image plane (image sensor) and the front of the camera interface (mount or bayonet).
This measurement can also be known as: “Ahhhh why did this helpful article suddenly become all about math?”.
Generally speaking, for the greatest number of users, the Actar series of lenses will be a great starting point. These lenses were designed to offer the widest amount of usage across many different camera types. The only exception to this rule would be of course the Actus DB for digital backs (which is a whole other conversation in itself) because unless you are using a back with an electronic shutter, there is no way to trigger the capture process with these lenses.
“I see there is a ______ lens adaptor, can I use it on my camera?”
To make things a little clearer, please reference the below PDF for a general list of what modern or relatively available lenses could work to fit your needs. Or download a copy for yourself here.
This is not an end all list, because of the sheer number of lenses available that could possibly work. However, this should give a pretty basic starting point for looking at which options may be the best for your needs.
Please join Cambo USA at the 55th Annual Society of Photographic Education conference coming up in a few weeks in Philadelphia.
We will be sharing a booth with Phase One and showing off some of the best made equipment in the photographic industry. Including the latest accessories for the Actus series of cameras, Studio stands, light booms, and more.
When March 01-03, 2018 (Exhibits Fair) Where Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
We’re happy to announce another lens option for the Cambo Actus.
A special order Carl Zeiss Contax Distagon-35 refitted for use on our view cameras.
The skilled technicians at Cambo carefully remove the helical focussing mount and replace the aperture control with a manual, 15 bladed, version.
This beautiful lens works perfectly paired with both mirrorless medium format cameras and DSLRs. Even with Nikon (Nikon has the longest Flange Focal distance), thanks to the new barrel without helical.
The below test shot was made with an Actus-GFX. 5mm of fall, combined with horizontal shift to enable a stitched image.
But why? The R&D team at Cambo have this to say:
“Rebuilding a Contax 645’s 35mm into a new housing, getting rid of the helical and replacing the aperture may seem like putting a lot of effort in something you could achieve a lot easier. By i.e. mounting the lens to a Contax to Canon adapter. One reason to do it the ‘hard way’ was obviously the broader range of cameras for which the lens becomes suitable after this operation. Another is making better use of the lens’ image circle.”
They continue with:
“Stacking the lens to an adapter causes serious vignetting when shifting the rear standard of the Actus. This is caused by the relatively narrow Canon bayonet (although the biggest bayonet for 35mm cameras)”.
“The side-by-sides shown here (Above) are made with a Phase One back (using its ES shutter). In its Actar-35 incarnation the Distagon covers the complete sensor and still enables a fair bit of shift. Used via an adapter, it just covers the sensor and a minimum amount of shift will vignette.”
Due to the special conversion requirements of needing a donor lens, this service will need to be arranged with your Cambo dealer of choice. A list of dealers can be found at Cambousa.com/dealers and we at Cambo USA would be happy to provide more information or to begin the conversion process.
