At 10:59 AM -0700 10/7/02, Kotsinadelis, Peter (Peter) wrote:
>Henning Wulff wrote:
>
>I think it should be pointed out that any TLR does have parallax
>error. Parallax error means you are looking at your subject from a
>different _angle_ than your taking lens. If you are taking a picture
>of a flat subject parallel to your film, you can build masking
>features into your viewfinder, such as Rollei has done, to give you a
>pretty exact idea of what you are getting. This is also common
>practice in various direct view camera systems, such as Leicas or
>Koni-Omegas. In the end, though, if your subject is three dimensional
>and the relationship of foreground and background is critical, such
>parallax compensation is not accurate enough, because of the angular
>difference.
>
>A Rollei TLR is just as prone to parallax error as any other TLR,
>whether Mamiya or Gowlandflex.
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>--------------
>
>Parallax Error is defined as
>"The difference between the image seen through the viewfinder
>and the image seen by the taking lens."
>
>If this error is corrected using parallax compensation is it still an error?
>Or should I say is parallax in error? A Rollei TLR is prone to this error
>as are the other you mention, but only the Rollei has a very accurate means
>of compensating for the error, the others do not.
>
>BTW, I own a Rapid Omega as well.
>
>Peter K
Yep, it's still parallax error; you can't 'correct' it. It can be of
help in framing, but not in positioning elements in a
three-dimensional composition.
The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography starts out under the Parallax entry:
"A change in position, shape or rotational view of one or more
objects when viewed from different positions,(...). Parallax occurs
with cameras having a viewfinder that is displaced from the camera
lens. The change in position of objects in pictures from that seen in
the viewfinder is referred to as parallax error."
If you have one object behind the other, you will discover a parallax
error between what the taking lens sees and what the viewing lens on
a TLR sees, no matter the masking that's going on. Also note that the
Rollei with its masking covers what is no longer seen at closer
distances, but cannot _add_ what the taking lens now sees but the
viewing lens no longer does. The masking can only cure part of the
problem. Your Koni-Omega actually does a much better job. It, of
course, can give you no clue as to depth of field like the Rollei
can. Win some, lose some, but if you want to see what the lens sees,
you have to look through the lens either by means of a mirror, or on
a ground glass in the film plane. Oh, and you have to stop the lens
down to taking aperture to be accurate :-).
Since the Rollei doesn't focus that close, the parallax error is
usually not that big a deal, same as with a rangefinder. It just
isn't good for closeups or very precise compositions.
--
* Henning J. Wulff
/|\ Wulff Photography & Design
/###\ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
|[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com
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