Last week I collected the used Hama Tilt/Shift Bellows that I discovered
earlier. It needed some adjustments and one of the tightening screws was
missing, but it's working fine now. Yesterday I picked up the OM adapters
for it, so - party time!
Let me describe it first. It is smaller and lighter than the OM bellows, and
not built as sturdy. The clamping screws are smaller, and because there are
so many of them it's easy to loosen the wrong one. But when you fasten them
all, the construction seems stiff enough for high magnifications.
Both the front panel and rear panel can be shifted 2cm. to the left, right,
up and down, and tilted 60 degrees upward, downward, clockwise and
anti-clockwise. Extension including the body and lens adapters can be varied
between 60cm. and 170cm.
This means that the 135mm/F4.5 Macro Zuiko can focus to infinity and it
delivers a miniature technical camera that is not limited to macro shots!
Adapter rings are available for M42, Pentax K, Nikon, Minolta, Canon and OM.
Wether or not large format lenses or enlarging lenses can be mounted and
used I don't know. Without the front adapter the screw thread is supposed to
be T2. The OM lens adapter is manual (aperture closes when you turn the
aperture ring); there is no semi-auto provision for a double cable release.
I paid only $85 for the bellows and another $85 for the OM adapters. The
normal price (yes it is still available) is supposed to be $600~$650 :)))))
First impressions: it works! I tried both the 135/4.5 and 80/4 macros, and
was able to achieve a huge gain in DOF!
The test rig I set up was a ruler laying flat on the table, and the bellows
aimed in an angle of about 45 degrees to it, camera in vertical position.
First the 80/4 mounted, using an extension of 9.5cm, at F4. The DOF was only
0.5cm. Then I applied a front downward tilt, and a slight rear shift.
Result: the ruler became sharp over the entire length of the frame, 4.5cm!
Same with the 135/4.5. I used the full extension of 17cm, at F4.5. The DOF
here was also about 0.5cm. A downward tilt, and some shift adjustments, and
voila! The full length of 6cm was in focus. Still without stopping down!
If you only shift the bellows, for perspective control, there's no apparent
image masking or vignetting. If you tilt, however, on the 135/4.5 there's a
very clear masking - when you're using horizontal format and a down tilt,
the image mask changes into panorama format. But this problem is solved by
applying a rear panel shift.
This bellows is ideal for any situation where you just aren't able to put a
normal bellows in the right position for optimum perspective or DOF.
I'll post some pictures of it (and of course, shots made _using_ it) on the
e-SIF in the near future...
hnz
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