Many have been asking, and the time has finally come to shed a little more light onto the WRE-CA powered Canon lens adapter for the WRS Platform.
Based on the popular ACB-CA design used with the Actus system, the WRE-CA allows for full aperture control on Canon lenses while they are mounted onto a WRS Camera body.
When used in combination with a digital back with electronic shutter (Such as the Phase One IQ3-100) this system allows for photographers to use their existing Canon lens options while taking photographs.
Not every lens however will be a great fit. In order to best utilize the WRE-CA, lenses with larger image circles such as the Canon T/S lenses are recommended. If you are comfortable with cropping your image and not using the entire sensor space, any Canon EF lens will fit with this adapter. Just be aware that although a lens may fit, lenses that focus using the Canon STM system will not be able to manually focus since the motor does not engage.
We here at Cambo USA just received our first hands on chance to use the WRE-CA and wanted to share a few test images to show what is capable with this unit.
The first lens I tried with the system was the Canon 24mm TS E. The lens as expected covered the image sensor and I was able to take a few images, but I was more interested to see if any shifting was possible using this solution. The answer is, not much. 
At 5mm of shift, corners just barely become visible. However pushing any farther results in much more noticeable vignetting.
The real test however came with using the ultra wide 17mm lens.
Behold! The Cambo USA Office kitchen! While not so much a sight in itself, when paired with the resolving power of the IQ3-100 I am very impressed with the amount of detail you can get out of a lens that was designed without the thought of ever being used on such a high powered capture source.
1:1 crop of the kitchen test.
While it may seem strange at first, the design of the WRE-CA makes it very easy to see and adjust the aperture of whichever lens is attached. Using the LCD screen built onto the unit to visually see an indication of your aperture setting, while adjusting with the dial on the right hand side of the unit was very pleasant.
Although I could have metered a bit more carefully for these images, I wanted to show that the image circle of the 17mm is very capable of resolving over the large 100MP sensor of the IQ3-100.
Unlike its 24mm brother, the 17mm does not allow for any shifts over 3mm, but I’m still impressed as its use as an ultra wide option. I hope to do a lot more thorough testing very soon.
Who would benefit the most from this product? Photographers looking for a super wide angle solution for their high megapixel medium format backs. Or photographers who may already have invested in a Canon T/S solution before moving to medium format and wish to utilize existing equipment.
For more information or to purchase your own WRE-CA, contact your local Cambo dealer today. The WRE-CA is available for order now.
**Update 2/14/17**
Richard from Cambo also shared this image with me using the 17mm. This one is a lot more interesting than the kitchen test image. Downscaled for web use.
