Sinar arTec

I saw that. Sinar actually has a similar system to allow use of a DSLR, too. But do you really think there would be significant advantage over my current set up, of a full-frame DSLR with a T/S lens? Since the sensor size is the same, not sure it's worth the extra weight and size just for a little additional view camera-like movement.
 
Probably not as you don't sem to be limited by the movements you have available at present. I think the only time these are useful is when you are mainly shooting with a digital back and sometimes want to use an SLR or have an SLR but no T/S lenses and want to use this as a transition towards a back.
 
Yes, I think you're right, Pete. What I really want is a large-format digital back. Although with something like that, I'd have to shoot tethered, I suppose.
 
Would love to, although I'm not sure how much I use I'd get out of it even if I could afford it. 99% of my photos are taken "on-the-fly", usually while out with friends and family on sightseeing trips and such, so even a DSLR and a T/S lens is quite a bit of kit for that. I don't have the luxury of time to take serious shots very often. Even most of the ones I've posted here were taken during evenings out with the wife, who waits patiently in the car for a few seconds while I run out and take a quick shot or two. And since I'm usually being chased by a security guard and/or hiding my camera in my bag until the last second, shooting tethered might be problematic. I'm jealous of these pro photographers who have the luxury of time and unlimited access to their subjects.
 
For studio work or landscape, tethering can provide a pretty cost effective solution for extremely high-resolution photography, using a scanning back. See http://betterlight.com/

You can get a 216 Megapixel back for $15,000US and a 384 Megapixel back for $18,000US. Add a used field-camera and lens for $1kUS or less and you are shootin' for under $20k. The resolutions are 9,000×12,000 and 12,000×15,990 respectively. This allows a 30×40" print or 40×53" print at a full 300 ppi. However, since viewing distance plays a part, the size of the print is only limited by the size of the printer. Even at reading distance, a 100 ppi image is quite sharp and detailed.

Since the back uses a moving slit for a shutter, there is an accessory rotary base, that will turn it into a full panoramic camera, capable of some awesome resolutions. While these camera backs take a bit of time to capture the image, some shooters have been using this to create some fascinating images—see the gallery on the site.

No question, this is far from grabbing a shot out the car window. Large format photography—whether film or digital—is pretty much defined by the term "contemplative". Considering the case of film holders one carries for large-format, a laptop and tether is if anything, more compact. A 4×5 camera and tripod are the same either way.

One of my first assignments on my first real full-time job, was large format shots of ferries that were to be replaced with bridges across the South Saskatchewan River—quite a long time ago. I was shooting with a 5×7 Deardorf and had no deadline. The assignment specified that I was to wait for perfect light for each shot. In all the shoot took about a week. It was the most pleasant and serene shoot of my lifetime. Hit bad weather? Head to the nearest cow-town and spend the rest of the day in the pub with the local ranchers. The Deardorf was all quality, and a true pleasure to use. For a long time, my retirement fantasy was to buy an identical camera and spend my years seeking out the most beautiful spots on earth to photograph with it. I really loved the 5×7 format. Then digital came along...
 
Thanks, Larry. I've had a similar fantasy for some time now about traveling around the world looking for the most beautiful buildings. I do have some experience with large format view cameras, but it's been quite some time (it was part of my photography course, my freshman year of high school). I haven't used large format digital backs before, but it's something to consider. I just need to find a few more clients to justify the expense. In the meantime, the DSLR will have to do.
 
We are now a decade and a half into the digital era and film become more and more irrelevant every day. Lenses for small cameras have always been far sharper and with much higher resolution than the large format glass I used in the day. Half a dozen years ago, any stitched image posted would draw awe and praise, simply because it could be done.

Now if I want a digital 8×10, I can buy a GigaPan robot nearly identical to those used on Mars Rovers, along with software and web-space for under $1000US. It will handle a camer/lens combination up to ten pounds. There are lighter duty robots as well at lower prices. Add a reasonably priced 300mm f/4.0 Nikkor and I have a lens far better than the Symmars and Fujinons I used back then. The software included—or Photoshop CS5—does the stitching. Lens and perspective correction replaces the swings and tilts. Anything I could do with a view camera back then, I can do better by shooting RAW and doing corrections when processing. Photoshop CS5 has profiles for many lens/camera combinations and can correct for any given focus distance. Poof!—my large format fantasy. However, digital photography goes way beyond–

If I wish to photograph what is in my imagination, I use Shade12 from e•frontier in Japan. Virtual-light works just as real-world light works, and the virtual camera is astounding. All the shifts and tilts of a real view-camera. It could be used as view-camera training. However, it also has an infinite zoom lens, fisheye lens and does panoramic shots as well. The virtual camera works in every way like a real-world camera, and like the current crop of dSLRs—does movies. The version I use is limited to 16MP, but if I needed, I could upgrade to a version that is limited only by the machine it runs on.

Being a photographer, everything works as expected in the virtual world. Photographer's learning-curve is minimal compared to the rest of the world. We already know most of it.

I have the Fuji W1 stereo camera and this virtual stereo camera is even better. I have a choice of focal length, parallel or convergence, absolute placement of the plane of convergence, and once rendered can output as stereo pairs to be viewed in every traditional way, and a variety of anaglyphs—monochrome or colour—all without re-rendering.

As a disclaimer, I am one of three artists world-wide with total access to the software development team. I do decisive moments of virtual-life with characters created in Poser, as well as abstract 3D art. A German colleague does astonishing technical renders and understands things like Python scripts, and the third is a brilliant architectural visualization artist from México. Shade has approximately a quarter-million users, primarily in Japan and pretty much everything we suggests, gets included in future versions.

We live in a wonderful time.
 
Thanks, Larry. Very interesting food for thought...

I will have to say, however, that I don't believe software is the answer to everything. Even in perspective control, I can see a very distinct difference between mechanical correction (via a T/S lens or view camera with a bellows and rails) and software correction, in most cases. Yes, I do occasionally rely on PP for that, but I'd rather use a T/S any day.
 
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