Horseman VCC Pro adds a bellows and large-format functionality to your DSLR
By Nilay Patel 
posted August 20th 2009 3:11PM
posted August 20th 2009 3:11PM
[Via SlashGear]
posted August 20th 2009 3:11PM
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WTF 2k for a bellows?
Well... that's actually cheap if it allows you to tilt and thus modify the perspective (architectural photography for example), because most of the very good lenses that allow you to tilt&shift start at around $3000 USD.
Yeah, you can do the same with pc lens: http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Camera-Lenses/Manual/Perspective-Control.page
You can get a pc lens for a lot cheaper than a bellows: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=nikon+pc+lens&cid=15584778956118189197&sa=title#p
It would be totally worth it if it came with a big black drape and a metal pan to hold flash powder over your head.
My concern would be with dust.
why?
are you a germophobe?
Flash powder?
I can't really tell - does this let you put your own small form factor lens in, or does it have its own fixed lens? If it's fixed, what's the focal length?
For $2k, it had better be a hell of a lot better than a Lens Baby.
Since you don't know the difference between this and a lens baby, you don't need it
They're both bellows systems designed to adjust the way your focus works - care to explain in detail what the difference in general principle is?
The general principle is Tilt&Shift vs. Lens Baby...
There.
Sorry, I guess I must be dumber than I realized. I thought the Lensbaby was just a cheap tilt & shift system...what is it actually?
She tilted and it made my bellows shift.
/rimshot
@ Kevin
Lens baby is about selective focus. tilt and shift lenses give you control over depth of field and perspective, which are not the same as simply selecting what part of the frame you want in focus.
Kevin- the lensbaby, at least the ones I am familiar with only tilt. The rear glass (or plastic) element never moves giving you a different perspective.
Thanks for the helpful reply, EM1. I've never used a lensbaby myself; I've only ever them described as a "budget tilt/shift" lens; I figured "budget" just meant really cheap lens elements. I didn't realize that it's not really a T/S lens.
When I got my 5D Mark 2 I was stunned to see how many peripherals and third-party systems cost MORE THAN THE CAMERA ITSELF.
Its ridiculous, really.
^^Yep, and you know this thing probably costs less than $100 to make.
Not really that ridiculous. You thought you'd be able to put cheap crap on that camera, of all cameras?
With this price they wont be selling many of these, and when product runs are tiny, price goes up.
Wouldnt surprice me if it cost over 500$ to make these.
Crazy expensive but when maybe a dozen will ever sell, it's going to have a high cost to regain the R&D money back.
The Cambo version is less clunky and it has adapters for other lenses you aren't stuck with the digital enlarging lenses. Base system is like $1,200. Probably comes out to $2000 with all parts needed.
AHAHAHA!!
this is like all those losers who drive around in honda civucs and nissans with rims and wings and poop cannons...
...but for cameras...
ooh look at me! I'm a fukin nerd!
"civucs"?
Drew, I'm going to tell your mom you've been abusing the internet again.
Who let meat_juice out of his cage? He should be properly sedated and neutered, just to be sure.
This looks like another tank on a tilt-shift lens. You can adjust the camera, and modify the depth of field to give you amazing depth of field, like Ansel Adams had. I could be off-base here, but it seems like that is what this is attempting to duplicate.
You're on the right track there.
It replicates the camera he used but this does not offer ''more" depth of field. What it does offer is the ability to change depth of field an perspective. The lens can esentially turn so it is no longer parallel with the body. Instead of the focus being only front to back it can be left to right, top to bottom or any combination really. Depending on the subject, this can be perceived as a larger depth of field. Plus it gives the camera some perspective control.
Yep, pretty expensive -- but then again Horseman products are (and always have been) up there in price.
Looks good to me.
Real PC lenses are less expensive. Other PC bellows options are easier to use, simpler, and also less expensive.
I like these type of units, and use them heavily, but unless I'm missing something this particular unit looks to both have nothing to offer over the competing systems, and also costs a hell of a lot more.
Looks like a categoric FAIL there Horseman...
Let's just clarify this: If you don't know the difference between what a fixed lens and a bellows system will provide in your photos, this clearly isn't for you. This is mostly aimed at commercial and fine art photographers, and I'm sure a few of my fellow newspaper shooters will find the occasional use for one - if they rent them, that is.
I have a good friend who works with one of these and the results are amazing, but I've got a lot of glass that needs buying first.
Two thousand dollars is a bit much for it.
Do you ever proofread your posts? Just curious, because this is barely passable, even by engadget standards.
Damn.. $2k too expensive for this kid! But still awsome, maybe someday.
I really wish there would have been photos taken using this piece of equipment.
These things have been around for years (get an old B&H catalog) .... nothing new here.
As other mentioned, if you don't see the advantage, you don't need it.
For the curious:
A lens baby has tilt (points up/down) and swing (points left/right)
A perspective control (PC) lens has rise/fall (slides up/down) or shift (slides left/right)
A PC lens might also have tilt.
The bellows give you all of the above (tilt, swing, shift, rise/fall) plus extreme close-up focusing.
Extremely useful for architectural and product photography.
And it appears to use view camera lenses, which have advantages for those types of photography.
The problem with using view camera lenses with these setups is that by the time you get a long enough focal length to clear the flange and still give any movements, your image circle is HUGE compared to the sensor size. Even on a full-frame DSLR. It acts like a really long lens, anything approaching normal or wide FOV is out of the question, which destroys its use for products and architecture.
Unless the unit uses either a)custom lenses with a specially designed rear group, or b) an intermediary group of negative elements behind the front standard, the only thing you will get is insanely small snippets of your subject.
I'm holding out for the iPhone version.
(joke)
Weeding the post has me holding out for the elusive used tilt shift, kinda like the 85mm 1.2 they don't post very often.
Thanks for the signal amongst the noise... mind your image circles.
This is nothing new, Cambo has had something like this for years.
P/C and/or T/S lenses are nice, but limited to what the manufacturer specs. If you already own a large format setup (4x5 or 8x10), there is some excellent glass, even lenses pre-dating the SLR design. Even an old Calumet branded large format lens could blow a Canon T/S out of the water. With a lens on bellows, lets say you want to do product shots, with a manufacturer's lens, you can only focus down to what they've engineered, but this a bellows setup, you're only limited to the image circle and the bellows.
If you're buying a camera, don't be shocked to find that the accessories cost more than the body. Keep in mind that 10 years from now that new 5D Mk2 could be worth next to nothing, but the 85/1.2 will hold its value over time. (People still pay four figures for the older 50/1.0L, but the EOS1v that was "hot tech" at the time goes for pennies).
The 2 grand is just for the bellows.
You need a large format lens to put on it as well, so maybe another 4-5 grand for a lens.
A lens Baby can only really make something out of focus, not really in-focus, so as previously focused it's more of a cheap effect than a tilt lens.
The new Canon 17mm and 24mm Shift and Tilt lenses are getting pretty good reviews.
I'd be checking these out first to see if you can get away with using these before going for a bellows like this Horesman.
Or, just get a bellows >UNLIKE< the Horseman. There are other better, cheaper options out there.
Besides, you can't use large format lenses on these anyway. Think about area of coverage. You actually use quite short small lenses.
Try enlarger lenses. Good quality, very planar, small, light, cheap as hell, and with iris. For some stuff you can't beat 'em and even the good ones are pretty much free now.
Why would you get this (or a similar bellow) over a PC lens? Because it offers even more tilt and shift control than a PC lens could ever do. Also, it allows you to adjust the front plane and back plane individually, which allows for even finer control.
It is expensive, but for real architectural photographers who want to shoot digital, this is a very affordable option.
WOW that Is High?
When I saw this, I thought "Ooh, nice" and then I realized that it would just be cheaper to pick up a used Sinar view camera with rails and shoot 4x5 and yield far better pictures with nicer lens rendition.