New LF from Arca Swiss at Photokina

[Walter Glover]

http://fstoppers.com/arca-swiss-to-show ... -photokina

[Alastair Moore]

Looks amazing. Looks very simple. Can't quite figure out where all the movements are on it. I bet it isn't cheap though. I'm curious as to who might buy a camera like this. I'm guessing by the lack of material it's probably quite light but you're still not going to take it into the field. It seems that most architectural photographers are all using digital now so who is this for?

[Walter Glover]

Alastair,

It looks to me like a camera that can only work with indirect shifts — the height of the supports at front and back seems fixed.

But the circular doova-lackies at the bottom of the base-rail and at the toip of each post would be Arca's special ball and socket heads that would allows swing, and tilt - hopefully in one direction at a time, hopefully with zero-clicks.

Stability could be an issue for something as big as an 11x14 with a bellows the size of an America's cup spinnaker.

Arca have long utilised the extendable base rail shown.

I've never had an Arca but I have always been immensely impressed by them.

Of course, Geoff Roberts is our resident Arca guru.

[Geoff Roberts]

Wow, some very cool looking stuff there. It is equally fantastic and crazy that someone would design a completely new 11x14 camera these days! Love it.

The base rail appears to be the same as on my camera which is very light and can be packed very compactly by putting both standards on one extension and sliding it off the base. The front standard design appears to be based on the P0 or P1 ball head, which weigh almost nothing. May be the same at the back, blocked by the bellows in this pic. I was very impressed with these heads when I had a play with one.

Perhaps the supports are fixed and vertical shifts work in a similar way to the R cameras? That would explain the size and depth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImWXhce7yAc&feature=relmfu

Horizontal shifts are above the ball head thing, there is a dove tailed rail there.

[Walter Glover]

Just been speaking to my buddy who has returned from Photokina. he had a close look at the new 11x14 Arca and says it is magnificent. The movements are controlled by the 'ball head' looking thingies as I suspected but he tells me that the swing axis is above the tilt axis and so the camera is yaw free.