SnapShot - Technical Edition

Lead Time – 4-6 weeks

(lens not included)

Includes – Camera body, grip, ground glass, bellows plate with helicoid, spacer bars and lens board

 The Technical SnapShot is a development of the Standard SnapShot system, with the addition of 15mm rise and shift on the front standard, for added creative control. The front standard includes two small thumbscrews. These can be loosened and the entire lens plate slid vertically or to the left (from behind the camera) by 15mm to add rise/shift as required.

It's an exciting way to shoot large/medium format film and plate photography, without needing a tripod. It’s a lightweight, affordable, solution which is fun to use.  Weighing 620g (without lens) and with a comfortable grip, it allows a photographer to use a range of different focal length lenses (65-210mm), without needing to carry multiple lens cones. All cameras are matte black.

The system uses a set of 4 aluminium spacer bars (for setting the focal length), along with a unique acrylic/nylon bellows plate, to quickly and easily change the focal length in use. These, coupled with a high quality ground glass, smooth metal helicoid for precise focusing, triple cold shoes on the top plate for multiple accessories, strong fibreglass leaf springs, and printed Graflok plates, work together to create a comfortable and very flexible unique camera.

Snapshot uses a bright ground glass to allow for critical focusing, especially when tripod-mounted. The glass is mounted inside a plastic frame, which has a recess built in to allow for an accessory acrylic fresnel to be fitted in order to distribute the light even further. These can be purchased separately from the shop when ordering your camera, along with custom engraved grid lines for composition.

Coupled with the high quality glass, the Snapshot also uses a metal helicoid for precise focusing. This can be marked easily by the photographer to highlight their own preferred focusing zones when using the Snapshot without ground glass focusing.

IMPORTANT – In order for a lens to be compatible with a Snapshot, the rear element must be smaller than 60mm diameter, as it is mounted through the focusing helicoid. The only exception to this is the Schneider 47XL, which has a 63mm diameter rear element, but can be mounted using a custom slim lens board, which allows for limited closer focus travel from infinity.

This excellent video was created by Martin Henson Photography, showing the basic usage of his SnapShot, along with some excellent low light work;

Standard 4×5 sheet film holders are inserted beneath the sprung ground glass, and secured in place using the standard retaining ribs found on all holders. Along with these, the following holders have also been tested to successfully fit beneath the glass;

To fit larger holders, such as medium format rollfilm, LomoGraflok, or Polaroid, the ground glass should be removed entirely.

The following are included with your SnapShot:

• Matte black acrylic accent plates
  
• Sliding front plate - giving 15mm of rise and left shift
• Fixed Metal M65 helicoid – 17-31mm range
  
• Lens board – additional boards available separately
  
• Removable Ground glass – with integrated rebate for optional fresnel lens
  
• Set of 4 aluminium spacer bars for bellows plate – according to lens focal length
  

There is no lens or remote cable release included with the Snapshot – This will need to be supplied by the photographer.

How to identify the spacer bars you require

To work out which spacer bars you need to focus your lens, you simply need to take the flange depth of your lens in millimetres and subtract 46. This is because the total depth of both the main body and the bellows plate, with the helicoid at its shortest position, is 46mm.

For example, to use a 90mm lens (like the Schneider Angulon 90/6.8 on the camera above), the steel spacer bars are 40mm long. When in place, this mounts the lens 86mm from the film plane at the minimum point on the helicoid, and allows for 22mm of total helicoid extension past the infinity point of the lens (which is 89mm)

Please get in touch with me before ordering if you want to clarify the bars you need.