While the rest of you argue the subtleties of Aptus backs and bemoan residual value, there are those of us who are genuinely interested in those DCB and Volare backs, which are finally cheap enough to allow for casual adoption. After all, if I were shooting film I could (did) get a full 4x5 kit for under $1K. My Horseman LE with a Nikon D50 attached makes a lovely macro camera, but I'm looking for a bigger sensor to better exploit the capabilities of the 4x5 system. As a poor art student (1 year to go!), the answer has to cost less than my car.
Leaf was not especially warm to that idea, but at least Creo.com had a forum where I could glean some practical knowledge and the software bits to make the gear go. Now it seems that the flow of self-serve knowledge is cut off. Is that a permanent state of affairs? Will the new Leaf offer the same depth of information?
Here's my pressing need: I have a Cantare XY, pieced together with bits from eBay. All the hardware and software is in place. Very exciting! But when I press Connect, Capture chides me for not installing the factory defect and gain files, and refuses the connection. Fair enough; I understand the concept of a defect file and the gain map, and grasp that they are essential to professional-level imaging from less-than-perfect hardware. But is there a way to bypass this requirement in order to test the system? After all, if the only way to get a defect file is to send the beastie back to Leaf, I ought to have some notion of whether it's worth that trouble and expense.
That leads to a second question: Does Leaf still service the Cantare? Whom might I contact?
Thanks guys. I've been lurking at this forum for about 6 months and you're always entertaining, and sometimes informative .

cantare XY is smaller than a lot on the market today, one must ask the question...why, I mean, if you're looking for a larger capture medium...you can mount a 5Dmk1 to a low end sinar or cambo...

You can send an an e-mail to Kodak's support team with the serial number of your Cantare and they can try and find the personality files of that back for you, which you will then have to place inside LC's folder before connecting the back.

Good luck

y

I have used about 7 cantare XY and never used the gain file. It gave the chime to install the file but i just hit enter again, then again a chime and again press enter. After these two warnings it should work like a charm, but if not, there is another problem involved. You best use a mac G3 or G4 with OS 9 ,2 or lower. Capture 7 should work fine, newer version give various problems using a cantare. I never had any negative effects. maybe i was lucky but people who are using my old stuff at the moment don't seem to care either. The 24/36 philips ccd was to me the best ccd ever made. And the cantare, with newer software a hell off a system to use, still resulting in wonderfull noise free digital files. Great system to use. I still use a flexframe 2030 for IR photography; it has the same sensor and comparable technology. However, the active peltier cooling of the cantare blew away the Phase H5 and lightphase in seconds.
Great article about this great back: http://www.epi-centre.com/reports/9906cs.html
greetz

Fair question, and one I shall try to answer without pulling this thread way off topic:

1. A 50D body is still about $1000. My Cantare and its G3 cost less than $600. I already owned the Horseman, which was also a bargain at $600 with a 210mm Schneider lens and a dozen film holders. $75.00 let me mount a Nikon to it.

2. If I wanted to go to a high pixel count DSLR, I have access to Nikon D1 and D2 bodies which I feel deliver a better image than the Canon products. But this is not the place to discuss that preference. Instead, let's move to issue 3...

3. When you mount a DSLR to a Horseman LE (unless you buy a LD standard), the adapter moves the plane of the sensor far behind the design focal plane of the camera. This means you have to focus through-the-lens or on preview or tether the camera. How do you ensure critical focus? Certain lenses, because of the FP shift, simply will not work. For example, a 67mm Schneider on a recessed board will focus on the ground glass, but you can't bring the standards close enough together to focus on the sensor - even with a bag bellows. In contrast, the Cantare is designed to live on the same plane as the ground glass, and thus integrates better with the system. Please consider too the effect the DSLR mount has on camera movements - the mount is in effect an extension tube, and it causes vignettting and flares and further reduces the available movements. Movements are whole point of a technical camera. If you can't use them, you might as well grab the Kodak Brownie and click away.

4. While the 5D has more pixels, it is actual slightly smaller than the Cantare sensor. I'm not looking for more pixels per square centimeter, which might be a favorable factor in enlargements. After all, the Schneider lenses have a finite limit on their resolution which more pixels cannot overcome. Instead, I want to use more of the available lens circle, and capture light on a sensor that is designed for purity. I am doing macro photography; my client's parts are less than .5 inches and the resulting photos are printed 4 x6 inches or de-rez'd for the internet.

But thanks for the suggestion; it made me touch base with my assumptions to see if they were still valid.

MDIM

You are now the official Clark Howard of the medium format digital world.

http://clarkhoward.com/



Steve Hendrix

Other than the ability of tilt/shift of the focus plane with the 4x5, a person with 50D camera will run rings around you as far as speed, mobility, lens versatility and a whole long list thereafter. You're just banging your head against the wall with your setup.

Photography is not the business to be in if a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars is an issue. People used the Cantare backs because that's what was available in the past. 7 years+ pass by and there is nothing coercing anyone to shoot that way. It was a stop gap system to modern digital gear. I would just shoot 4x5 film instead.

Hi, check out my old thread on Historic digital backs. I got my Volare and DCB-II Live working real well. You don't need the blemish files or gain file. Actually you can make your own gain file. Volare still takes very nice images. DCB-II Live is nice too.

What I noticed with my Leaf DCB I had to connect and then disconnect and then reconnect again and then it would work. I was using a Sinarcam and that gave me issues. I had wrong serial cable. My Volare works real well though. No hick ups. It starts without any issues. I may actually have a spare but beaten up Volare in Fresno, CA at my friends house. If you're intrested I'll find out. PM me for this.

Link to my Historic Digital Back thread http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index....showtopic=29610

Patrik

Thanks for the address, but Kodak just bounces the mail back as undeliverable. Does anybody have another that might work?

I used a 5Dmk1 with a Cambo x2-pro and a schiender digitar 90mm - beautiful files - close up works well, plus it's super portable and you still have a 5D body for walk around shooting. you have full front standard movements. focusing via right angle 2x viewfinder gets focus REAL tight, then if tethered you can see whats up even better.

demo x2-pro on fleabay from calumet around $1k, used 5d, used 90mm, etc, etc you probably could be rolling for $3k and have the reliability of modern digi equipment on a modern computing platform...

when working as a pro you realize how much you dont want to fool around with temperamental gear - cuts deep into profit...

again, just my humble opinion...

http://www.cambo.com/Html/products_photo/s...et/Item752.html

Try this perhaps they've changed it

See, this is what an off-topic answer looks like.
Tilt and shift is exactly what medium format is about, and neither Canon nor Nikon offer an equivalent function. I have worked with PC lenses from both, and after a few weeks resold them. The Horseman stays because it does its job -- making customers happy.
Photography is not a business to be in if you can't set a budget and stick to it. Come to think of it, there is no business where "a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars" is NOT an issue.
Now, let's get back on topic and make my Cantare run.

I have sent you a PM. I use CantareXY's every day and also have a Volare, I can answer all of your questions if you contact me off list.

Cheers,
Jason.