| None of the available view camera conversions listed below requires an actual conversion of your Canon EOS in any way. They furthermore all share the central idea of using a DSLR as digital back of a view camera system. The camera is simply mounted in the back of the system without the need to perform physical changes to its mount or anything else. Still they convert your DSLR into a fully working view camera with all the advantages of such a system, especially in the field of tabletop (product, macro etc.) and studio photography.
"The Sinar p-slr was developed especially for photographers who wish to avail themselves of the unique advantages and quality characteristics of a Sinar view camera while using their digital single lens reflex cameras. Exact control of the perspective and selective sharpness – the most important creative tools in photography – can be set and evaluated precisely on a view camera." (Sinar Product Brochure)
However, all of those adapter solutions also share the same limitations when compared to an original view camera with middle or even large format digital back. For one, they are limited in their wide angle capability. Just Together for example points out, the shortest reliable focal length to use with their adapters is a 40mm lens (see descriptions below for other adapters' minimum focal lengths). The shortest compatible lens for the JTs would be 28mm, but by using such a lens you could not obtain more shift than by using a normal tilt-shift lens in a standard SLR configuration (shift of 12mm vs. 11mm), thus clearly loosing the advantages of such a bulky, heavy and expensive system. They therefore discourage to plan on using view camera SLR adapters for landscape or architecture photography. The other draw-back is resolution. Middle and large format lenses deliver an unbeatable resolution - if used with the proper digital backs. But they don't even with a 35mm full frame frame sensor, leave alone APS-C. While you only use the center portion of the lens, you can also only use a portion of that great resolution. For both landscape and resolution issues there'd still be a workaround by stitching though, like for example described by Jim Collum. Ellis Vener also recommends to set up the camera tether to a computer for proper frame composition and focusing, since the viewfinder and LCD images tended to become dark and blurry by tilt and swing operations in his tests. If all that is too much and you were just looking to tilt or shift your lenses, refer to Adapting Lenses > Tilt/Shift Adapters |
Arca-Swiss is a company originating from - the company name already suggests it - Switzerland, famous for their view camera systems and other high quality products including tripods and monoballs. Production grounds are located in Switzerland and France.
Front Standard Movements: ±45° tilt (orbix® metric*), 30° swing Rear Standard Movements: 70mm vertical shift, 70mm horizontal shift Monorail max. Extension: 190mm Size/Weight of Body: 300 x 250 x 140mm, 1996g (4.4lbs according to the press release, 2300g according to Arca-shop.de) *So what's that orbix®? "The orbix's movements are perpendicular to the optical axis rather than the monorail. Focus adjustments therefore occur in the selected plane and are also easier to make. The orbix produces absolutely yaw-free movements - an indispensable feature when shooting with digital cameras because of their small sensors. Another benefit is a marked increase in movement with short focal length lenses. The orbix-dynamic model gives the user the ability to perform dynamic focus adjustments. Simply make manual adjustments in the optical axis until the desired focus is attained. Unlocking or locking of the mechanism is not required. The orbix-micrometric model offers geared control." (from The Arca-Swiss Camera System 1999) Clear so far, if you understood, that they are talking about the tilting mechanism. The info is still valid, both types are still sold as system extensions for Arca large format cameras today. They are just not applicable to the F-dslr or M-Line Two dslr models, which come with the orbix by default. |
Cambo is a company from the Netherlands specialized in view camera systems.
Front Standard Movements: +10°/-9° tilt, ±20mm vertical shift, ±15° swing Rear Standard Movements: ±20mm horizontal shift, +12/-15mm vertical shift Size/Weight of Body: 100 x 150 x 170mm, 1000g
Front Standard Movements: +10°/-9° tilt, ±15° swing Rear Standard Movements: ±15/12mm vertical shift, ±20mm horizontal shift Size/Weight of Body: 153 x 114 x 203mm, 1200g (incl. lenspanel and frame holders) 
Front Standard Movements: ±20mm vertical shift, ±25mm horizontal shift, ±20° tilt, ±20° swing, 40mm fine focus Rear Standard Movements: ±20mm vertical shift, ±25mm horizontal shift, ±20° tilt, ±20° swing, 40mm fine focus Size/Weight of Body: 310 x 145 x 315mm, 4800g (incl. lenspanel and frame holders)
Front Standard Movements: ±20° tilt, ±20mm horizontal and vertical shift, ±30° swing Rear Standard Movements: ±20° tilt, ±20mm horizontal and vertical shift, ±30° swing Size/Weight of Body: 320 x 150mm, 5000g
Front Standard Movements: ± 20° tilt, ±17.5mm horizontal and vertical shift, ±20° swing Standard Version Size/Weight: 253 x 293 x 198mm, 1900g (2100g incl. bellows and camera mounting socket)
Read an article by Alex Koloskov on how to custom build your own view camera adapter from used view camera equipment (in his case based on a Cambo Master PC 4x5 film camera). He also provides a video about tilt and swing capabilities of this setup. |
  Fotodiox offer the cheapest solution of all with an adapter, that simply mounts in the Graflok holders. That said, the adapter fits all Calumet, Cambo, Ebony, Horseman, Kodak, Linhof, Omega, Toyo etc. 4x5 view cameras with Graflok back. The Canon body is mounted on a horizontally sliding plate, so you can either pick a part of a scene or take shots of several parts of a scene from the view camera's rear end and stitch them together later.
The standard adapter is offered for 150€, the Offset version goes for 230€ (MSRP). |
Horseman is trademark owned by Komamura (who were assimilated into the Kenko Professional Imaging pool during 2012 or 2013). They are specialized in trading and designing view camera equipment. There are two Horseman 35mm DSLR view camera adapters: the LD and the VCC Pro (not to confuse with the LD Pro and VCC Pro [DB], which are for medium format digital backs only). Both adapters feature a rotating camera mount for easy switching between vertical and horizontal formats and everything between. The recommended minimum focal length is 60mm for medium format, 90mm for large format lenses. The kits are out of the box ready for macro photography without further need of adding more accessories.
Rear Standard Movements: 15mm vertically, 20mm horizontally in each direction (30mm/40mm in total) Front Standard Movements: 360° tilt (rise and fall of ±30mm), 360° swing, ±30mm shift (l/r) Monorail: 400mm Min. Flange Distance: 70mm Size/Weight of Body: 420 x 325 x 245mm, 4000g Lens Board Dimensions: 140 x 140mm
Rear Standard Movements: 15mm vertically, 20mm horizontally in each direction (30mm/40mm in total) Front Standard Movements: +15°/-10° for-/backwards tilt, ±15° swing (l/r), ±30mm shift (l/r) Track Extension: 23 - 72mm Size/Weight of Body: 230 x 170 x 160mm, 680g; Canon Mount 425g Weight of Lens Boards: Rodagon 65g, Pentax 100g, Hasselblad 70g, Linhof Standard 170g
Rear Standard Movements: ±15° tilt, ±30mm shift, ±15mm rise/fall Track Extension: 35mm Size/Weight of Front Unit: 220 x 170 x 60mm, 1200g Size/Weight of Base Unit: 150 x 170 x 140mm, 1100g Rail Dimensions: 225 x 19mm
A review of the Horseman LD can be found here (Luminous Landscape). |
Just Together is a german company offering simple adapter plates to mount your SLR to the rear of a view camera (since 2009 or earlier). The shortest recommended focal length to be used on their adapters is 40mm. The following adapter versions are/were available for Canon:
The adapter plates are priced at a bit less than 500€ pp. (MSRP). Additional accessories like lens boards for Hasselblad V, Mamiya RB-RZ 67, M39 or Copal shutter lenses for Sinar cameras are available too. |
Novoflex is a german company specializing in high quality photo accessories, including some bellows.
None of the Novoflex Bellows can actually make up for all of the advantages of a real view camera system, but they are still cheaper and thus probably an alternative for someone on a budget. With the exception of the Tilt-Shift version the Novoflex Bellows are not even capable to shift, tilt or swing. The difference to an ordinary bellows still is the capability of electronic coupling between Canon EOS system bodies and lenses, which makes the Novoflex Bellows special - it is the only commercially offered system of this kind so far.
Max. Magnification: 1.8x with a Schneider Kreuznach 80mm F4.0 lenses and Canon EOS Bellows Extension: 40mm - 192mm Size/Weight of Body: 200 x 150 x 115mm, 755g
The Universal Bellows is selling for 330€, the Tilt-Shift Bellows for 800€, the Auto Bellows for Canon is priced 550€, PROshift+ goes for 300€ and the EOS mount adapter is offered for 120€ and lens mounts go for 100€ - 220€ (MSRP). Darren Abbey describes how to mod an old manual bellows and turn it into a fully electronic coupled Canon EF mount hightech device at almost no costs. |
Shen Hao is a company from Shanghai, China, with some 20 years in business. They are specializing in very classy wooden large format view cameras made from Black Walnut. Like Fotodiox above, they offer rear mounting adapter plates for several digital camera systems, including Canon EOS.
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The Sinar p-slr for Canon (2010) is compatible with every digital Canon EOS available on the market. It features a quick clamping mechanism to switch between vertical and horizontal camera positions within seconds. A centering aid in form of a tube mounted to the camera's lens bayonet helps to mount the camera with its sensor exactly in the optical axis. A digital back can still be mounted to the p-slr instead of a DSLR just by using an appropriate adapter.
The full sets are priced at around 5790€, the conversion kits still go for 1640€ (MSRP). As usual with such highly modular systems every of the above parts can also be purchased separately, as well as additional accessories like lens boards for Hasselblad V. Both the p2 and the p3 feature precision spindle drives to calibrate the whole system. |
S.K. Grimes shows some interesting stuff in his so called Project Archives:
He is primarily known for custom modifications. Better don't hope to find one of these on the used market. |
The Studiotool*Stm STS Model 1 (2004) is compatible with all Sinar p, c and x models (incompatible with f series). It simply replaces their rear carrier frame. The kit further includes a neoprene bellows with Canon and Sinar mounts and a Sinar lens board modified for Mamiya RZ lenses. The kit's compatibility with virtually every DSLR (not only Canon) ever being produced is given by the modular design - the only thing to change will be the camera plate and the rear mount of the bellows (although I guess you could simply use an adapter there as well, since there is no electronic coupling anyway). However, the set comes with a camera plate for Canon EOS 1Ds by default. The bellows can be extended for macro work by attaching a standard Sinar bellows with a guidon frame. Unlike the Sinar p-slr the Studiotool*Stm STS M1 does not support shooting verticals. Instead you have to tilt the entire rig sideways, which requires a very stable (heavy) tripod and head.
Not sure about prices for full sets and additional camera plates or current activity state in general. The website still exists, but I didn't get any response on my request. There don't seem to be any distributors either. Reviews can be found here (Jim Collum) and here (Ellis Vener, also read his supplementary comments here). |
The Zörk Multi Focus System (introduced around 1980) in combination with the Zörk Panorama Shift Adapter might also be another alternative to the above systems. It works like a view camera but, similar to the Novoflex bellows, without actually using a view camera. It can achieve up to 20mm of rise and fall and 25° of tilt and swing (price list states a tilt of up to 30° for the MFS). The shortest recommended focal length for the combination to maintain infinity focus is 100mm to 105mm for 645 lenses and 120mm to 135mm for 67 lenses, and 80mm for the Multi Focus System alone. The MFS takes 39mm thread mount enlarger and large format lenses and achieves max. magnifications of up to 1:2 (with an 80mm lens), while focus to infinity is still possible. Refer to Adapting Lenses > Tilt/Shift Adapters for some more details on the PSA. The basic Multi Focus System (MSRP: 590$) includes the front mount, MFS and rear mount adapter (Canon EF available). The Panorama Shift Adapter for Pentax 645 goes for 670$ and the Mamiya 645 version for 650$ (the other PSAs can't be used with MFS). Also, add 130$ for an integrated tripod socket. |
