Someone asked what I think of the Novoflex BALPRO T/S. My answer is: a lot. I purchased it in 2014 and still rely on it- which is more than I can say of every other medium format technical camera I have owned or used. That includes legends such as Linhof’s M679cs, the Rollei X-ACT 2, Cambo’s Actus GFX, the Fujifilm GX680, as well as specialty cameras such as Sinar’s arTec.
What I most appreciate about the BALPRO T/S is the following:
1. Light/compact and compatible with X-ACT2 accessories
2. Sturdy optical bench
3. Tough, integrated Arca Swiss bottom plate
4. Precise focus gearing
5. Repeatable shift gearing
6. Moveable front and rear standards
But right after purchasing the BALPRO T/S, Rolleis’s X-ACT2 caught my eye. It could do everything the BALPRO T/S could and then some, and as a result, became my main studio camera for magazine work. Where the BALPRO T/S’s standards are limited to shift or rise, and tilt or swing, the X-ACT2’s independently rise, fall, tilt, swing, focus, and shift. It collapses totally flat to allow infinity focus with wide angle lenses on zero-flange medium format backs, and works with the richest number of accessories out there. On paper, it is perfect. But its focus gears play in their tracks, and its jutting chin bumps objects in front of it, making macro focus stacks a gamble. And as my work took me deeper into 1:2 and 1:1 macro territory, I needed something better tailored for close-ups.
Hello again, BALPRO T/S.
1. Light / compact and compatible with X-ACT2 accessories
The BALPRO T/S loses some in-line functionality against the X-ACT2, but its trade-offs are worth it. Because it is compatible with a large variety of X-ACT 2 accessories you can mount copal lenses, SLR lenses, extension tubes, lens shades, focus aids, and more. I have paired it with everything from sliding focus screens, to blinders, lens adapters, and so on. Most work perfectly with the BALPRO T/S. To Rollei’s accessories, Novoflex added a number of their own, including automated focus stackers, auto bellows, and much, much more.
2. Sturdy optical bench and adapter plates
But all of that would be for naught if the optical bench wasn’t as solid as it is. Under high magnifications is steadier even than the Linhof M679cs’s is at the same extension. If planted on a sturdy enough camera stand or tripod, and screwed into quality adapters, it is capable of returning tack-sharp stacks of 200 images without using a shutter release, even at 3-4x magnification. Even when turned on its side, it remains sturdy enough for 1:1 macro stacks. This trumps most of its more expensive competition. And even heavy lenses remain totally stable thanks to its torque-based screw mount.
Despite focusing on a shorter optical bench, its chinless design allows macro lenses to get closer to subjects without obstruction than when mounted to cameras like the X-ACT2. As a result, a BALPRO T/S macro combo can achieve 1:1 magnification with lenses up to 125mm; with dedicated ultra-macro and microscope objectives, it stably nails magnification beyond 4:1.
3. Tough, integrated Arca Swiss bottom plate
The BALPRO T/S was one of the first technical cameras to integrate Arca Swiss mounting along its entire foot. To this day, few comparable cameras exist. This means you can mount the camera anywhere along its bench to accommodate truly diverse photographical situations without compromising stability. While Cambo’s Actus GFX also sits on an integrated Arca Swiss foot, its focus gears and shoe are less stable and precise. Its bench is carved from thinner billets and the entire camera is more susceptible to z-axis flex. There is no comparison in stability between the two for macro work: the BALPRO T/S slaughters the ACTUS.
4. Precise focus gearing
The BALPRO T/S may lack the M679cs’s macro focus scales, but its equally precise gearing and solid metal focus knobs make it better for deep focus stacks. I have not encountered a single technical camera at any price whose focus engine is as fine. The only fly in the ointment is that its fixed bench doesn’t extend as far. However, a surfeit of quality screw-in adapters, extension tubes, as well its bullet-proof mounting system can just about make up for lack in other areas.
5. Repeatable shift gearing
Both standards are shifted on toothed gears by up to 11mm to the left or right. That gearing isn’t as weighty as the Linhof M679cs’s. It also cannot be locked into place like the shift gearing of some other cameras. In practice, however, its brooks no drift in either direction. Because the BALPRO T/S must be re-mounted on its side to allow front or rear rise/fall, this point cannot be understated.
6. Moveable front and rear standards
Both of the BALPRO T/S’s standards move, though only the rear standard focuses. Many competing technical cameras in its price range limit movement to one or the other standard, some opting for front-only focus. While one can make do with front focus, rear-focusing keeps the lens from moving in and out, or toward and away from a subject. This makes marking and tracking focus positions in a stack much easier. It also lowers torque-induced vibration.
Within its limits, the BALPRO T/S is the best designed technical camera out there. But those limits are pretty severe.
Limitations
1. Tilt, rise/fall, and shift
In order to access the tilt and rise/fall functions on what is supposed to be a tilt/shift camera, you must re-mount it on its side. This means you can forget simultaneous tilt/swing/shift/rise/fall movements that are native to cameras like the Linhof M679cs, and Rollei X-ACT 2, among others. Re-mounting means re-levelling, re-framing, re-orienting, re-zeroing, and so on. What can be done by twisting a single knob on the Linhof or X-ACT2, takes minutes on the BALPRO T/S. All of this belies the ’T/S’ in the BALPRO’s name.
2. Permanent bellows
While its bellows collapse, allowing the widest angle lenses to achieve infinity focus on digital backs, they cannot be hot swapped. And the ageing bellows in my BALPRO T/S are beginning to crack and peal. This can result in debris hitting the sensor, especially as internally, the bellows both suck air in and push it back out again.
3. Faint, poorly marked and/or placed markings
The BALPRO T/S’s white-on grey markings lack contrast, and are only visible on one plane at a maximum of an arm’s length away. Minimal effort on Novoflex’s part would be required to fix this and make the camera far more useable for macro and other basic studio photography.
While short, the above list is serious. Numbers two and three could be addressed in kaizen fashion and on the sly. Number one would require a few big re-thinks in design and price. If a BALPRO T/S II ever came out with in-line tilt/shift and rise/fall, in addition to swing and focus controls, it should retain the chinless design. Alpa’s vaporware Serpent proved that a powerful, compact camera can be designed using the X-ACT2 platform. Novoflex have the manufacturing prowess, the logistical reach, and the brand power to make something like it work. I’m waiting.
Conclusion
The only camera that earned more money for my studio than the BALPRO T/S is the Fujifilm GX680. But as useful as it can be, the GX680’s lenses simply don’t compete with the likes of Sinaron and Schneider, and its front-focus and front-movement system makes stacking more complicated.
No technical camera is perfect. Even Linhof’s M679cs misses things here and there. But the BALPRO T/S, whose utility is constrained as much by size as it is by price, is a better camera for simple, technical use. Admittedly, I use technical camera functions less than I used to. I also layer photos more in photoshop than before, and therefore find less use for certain functions. Ultimately, however, the BALPRO T/S’s rock-solid bench and hermetic focus system retain apogee status in my experience. Improvements to the BALPRO T/S could be as simple as allowing bellows to be hot-swapped, and adding high-contrast markings to highly visible areas. But if Novoflex wanted to kill the competition at just about any price, all it would have to do is instal new yolks capable of simultaneous tilt / swing / shift / rise.
And that is what I think about the BALPRO T/S.
Cambo Actus GFX part 1 - camera movements - YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com › watch
Cambo Actus-G & Canon EOS R + EOS R VS GFX50shttps://www.youtube.com › watch
