I want to share with you a technique that can radically change the way you capture your images: the Scheimpflug principle.
Although its name might sound intimidating, the truth is that its practical application has the power to take your photography to an extraordinary level. Get ready to break it down in a clear and simple way, and discover how you can leverage this principle to create stunning and professional images.
What is the Scheimpflug Principle?
The Scheimpflug principle is a technique used in photography that explains how to align the subject plane, the lens plane, and the image plane (sensor or film) when the lens plane is not parallel to the image plane.
In simple terms, it involves adjusting these planes so that they align correctly and intersect at a single point, ensuring that the captured image is completely in focus. This principle is especially useful when working with large format cameras or tilt-shift lenses, and it applies to certain camera movements in these systems.
This principle will allow you to achieve stunning and sharp images that will make your products stand out professionally. Additionally, you can apply selective focus, concentrating on areas of interest while blurring others, adding depth and highlighting the main subject. This allows for diagonal and total focus, where every element in the scene is crisp and clear.
To better illustrate this principle, I want to share some photographs taken with my Actus XL view camera by Cambo.
This camera has allowed me to effectively apply the Scheimpflug principle, achieving incredible photos. The precision and adjustability of the Cambo make it the perfect tool to fully exploit this technique.
We can see all the cans in focus by applying the Scheimpflug principle.
We can see all the cupcakes in focus by applying the Scheimpflug principle.
Let’s take a look at this example applying the Scheimpflug principle and achieving diagonal focus.
We can see the entire razor in focus by applying the Scheimpflug principle.
Visit Marcel Boldú’s website to see more of his work.
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
The MV stands for MaximumVersatility and that’s exactly what this new camera from Cambo offers. The new Actus-MV is a Fully Adjustable View Camera that is still compact enough to be your companion in the field. It’s compatible with Digital Backs, Mirrorless Camera bodies and DSLRs. No matter how the photography industry develops, the Actus-MV will be ready to evolve alongside the camera and digital back technology of the future. The Actus-MV is a 21st century view camera with all of the refinements today’s high resolution sensors require.
The base for the Actus-MV provides a solid foundation in which all camera movements are integrated. It was designed to offer all the movements a studio photographer may desire, along with maintaining practicality on location. The Actus-MV’s predecessors were designed with the option to shoot 4×5 film while the Actus-MV prioritizes digital photography. This required precise engineering and Cambo was able to deliver a smaller camera that is 50% lighter than the Actus-XL. For mobility the Actus-MV includes a quick release button that enables the front and rear standard to be separated from the optical bench without the use of extra tools. This allows for easy transportation from the studio to the desired location for architectural photographers or out into the field for landscape photography.
Actus-MV Features:
Geared Camera Movements
Front Standard Tilt 15º/15º with Dual Ratio Gearing
Rear Standard Tilt 15º/15º
Front Standard Swing 30º/30º
Front and Rear Standard Horizontal Shift 20mm/20mm
Rear Standard Rise/Fall 15mm/15mm
Front Standard Rise/Fall 15mm/15mm
Friction Knobs on Camera Movements
Dual ratio Gearing for Fine Focusing
The Front Standard of the Actus-MV is compatible with all lens plates from the vast Actus product line. Including the steadily expanding range of ACTAR Lenses, Medium Format adapters, Lens plates for X-Shutter Lenses and (Legacy) Leaf Shutter lenses.
Cambo also offers several adapters that can be used with the Rear Standard to make the Actus-MV compatible with the extensive selection of bayonets available for Mirrorless and DSLR camera bodies that can be utilized as your digital back.
Rotating Digital Back Adapter
For the Phase One/Mamiya and Hasselblad-V interface Cambo has engineered a new adapter with integrated portrait and landscape rotation. The Cambo Digital Back frame ACDB-989 is compatible with the well known SLW interface plates used on the Cambo Actus-DB2 and WRS cameras. Every Digital Back, including the discontinued models, can be used with the Actus-MV.
HyperFocal: 0
The Actus-MV Compendium
The new ACMV-350 Compendium is for use Exclusively with the Actus-MV. It offers shading with flexible and adjustable self-supporting bellows, making it suitable for virtually all lenses for the ACTUS-MV. Once the Cambo Logo plate is removed the compendium’s L-Bracket mounting block attaches securely to the Front Standard of the Actus-MV with a 2-point fixation.
A sliding mount supports the ACMV-350 Compendium across the support bars. The required tool conveniently snaps onto the magnets integrated in a cavity at the bottom of the bracket.
Actus-MV Kits
There are a few different Actus-MV Kits offered by Cambo to get you started with everything you need.
F50 Kit The Actus-MV F50 Kit includes the Actus-MV Base paired with the ACMV-862 Fujifilm GFX 50 & 100s Adapter and the AC-214 Long Extension Bellows. The ACMV-862 enables the use of Fujifilm GFX-50 and GFX-100s camera bodies and features an Integrated Rotation that allows for landscape and portrait orientation.
F100 Kit The Actus-MV F100 Kit includes the Actus-MV Base paired with the ACMV-863Fujifilm GFX-100 Adapter and the AC-214 Long Extension Bellows. The ACMV-863 enables the use of Fujifilm GFX-100 camera body and features an Integrated Rotation that allows for landscape and portrait orientation.
IQ Kit The Actus-MV IQ Kit includes the Actus-MV Base paired with the ACBD-990 Digital Back Adapter and the ACDB-254 Digital Back Bellows. This set-up is for use with Digital Backs utilizing the Phase One/Mamiya mount. The ACDB-990 also has an Integrated Rotation that allows for landscape and portrait orientation.
HV Kit The Actus-MV HV Kit includes the Actus-MV Base paired with the ACDB-991 Digital Back Adapter and the ACDB-254 Digital Back Bellows. This set-up is for use with Digital Backs utilizing the Hasselblad V mount. The ACDB-991 also has an Integrated Rotation that allows for landscape and portrait orientation.
DB Kit The Actus-MV DB Kit includes the Actus-MV Base paired with the ACDB-989 Interchangeable Adapter Holder and the ACDB-254 Digital Back Bellows. The ACDB-991 also has an Integrated Rotation that allows for landscape and portrait orientation and accepts the well-known Cambo SLW Interface Adapters which are available for virtually every Digital Back including Legacy Models.
Click here to find out more about the the all new Actus-MV View Camera System from Cambo!
The WRX-1003 is an ARCA compatible Tripod Mounting Block for the Phase One XT Camera. This adapter allows you to mount the Compendium from the bottom of the XT Camera. Before the introduction of this adapter you would have to remove the metal panel on the side of the camera to mount a compendium tot the XT. The WRX-1003 comes with 16.5cm support rods. Its also is available in the WRX-1002, which also includes a compendium. Below is a short instructional video that explains the easy installation.
The WRX-1001 is a dedicated adapter for the Phase One XT camera body. This adds an Accessory Shoe to the corner of the XT body. It replaces the original corner piece and mounts easily with 1 (hidden) screw. Below is a short instructional video that explains the installation.
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.
The X-Shutter is an electronic leaf shutter that can replace the traditional #0 copal shutter on several Schneider and Rodenstock lenses. The X-Shutter is only controlled by Phase One’s IQ4 infinity platform. Some of your existing lens panels with a Rodenstock or Schneider lens can be remounted with tis new X-Shutter. Cambo will start delivery of Cambo WRS lens panels – with or without Tilt/Swing mechanism – featured with the X-Shutter by default.
The WRS-HVSA lensplate allows you to mount lenses from the Hasselblad-500 series, in combination with the WRS series camera and the PhaseOne XT and adds extra functionality for the lens’ leaf shutter to be activated and released.
The WRC-HVSA Kit comprises the WRC-400 camera body, the new WRS-HVSA lenspanel, the SLW-80 interface for Hasselblad-V interface, as well as a wooden handgrip. (Lens not included)
WRS-SERV
The WRS-SERV is a new service that sends your WRS-1000, 1200, 1600, 5000 series or the WRC-400 back to the Cambo Headquarters for a modification and over all service check. The modification machines a groove into the body of the camera that allows for XT lens panels to be used on your WRS or WRC bodies.
The WRS-1049Front-Adapter can replace the WRS-1048 in combination with Cambo WRS Short Barrel Lens Panels. Now you can use a Cambo WRS Short Barrel on the Phase One XT body, as the XT body doesn’t accept rear spacers.
Not introduced in 2020 but Cambo’s PCF tripod head has amazing flexibility. It can tilt, swing, rotate as if it were a ball head, and it has precision gears for fine-tuned tilt and swing and additional geared rotation of the top platform. All geared movements are self-locking and available in any position of the head. After leveling, the top rotation can be used for panoramic shooting.
Cambo is pleased to announce the availability of the X-Shutter system for new or existing Schneider and Rodenstock Lenses.
The X-Shutter is an electronic leaf shutter that can ONLY be controlled by Phase One’s IQ4 Infinity Platform. The S-Shutter was previously only available with lenses sold for the Phase One XT body, but now Cambo has teamed up with Phase One to expand the X-Shutter capabilities by remounting it to a number of additional lenses from Rodenstock and Schneider Kreuznach.
New Lenses with X-Shutter
New Rodenstock lenses with the X-Shutter will be available through your Authorized Cambo USA Dealer. And for the first time ever you will be able to order lenses with the X-Shutter for use with view cameras that utilize flat or recessed lensboards.
Tilt Swing Availability
Cambo will be able to mount any of the following lenses on WRS Tilt/Swing panels. This will now allow XT customers to achieve the movements and focal plane control that they have been missing since the announcement of the XT. Here is a list of the lenses that can now be ordered new or be retrofitted into Tilt/Swing panels:
Fully integrated XT lenses are only available as a new Phase One product. All lenses will be compatible with the Phase One XT system, but they will lose the transfer of metadata and would connect with the IQ4 via the cable.
Contact your Authorized Cambo Dealer for more information and pricing.
