Attach a lens to the front and a digital back to the rear and your tech cam – like this Cambo WRS-1600 – is ready to use. And thanks to the good live view of nowaday’s digital backs focussing is a breeze. The Digitar and Digaron lenses come mounted and calibrated and are basically plug-and-play. What it requires is your creativity to make the most of it.

A technical photographer’s live hasn’t always been that easy. Apart from the substantially higher weight to carry, tech cams for analogue use required some more preparation.

Here’s a Cambo Wide DS. It accepts 5×4″ sheet film cassettes. This version was introduced in 2000.

This one has a WDS-504 revolving back. It has Graflock type sliders. That’s good. It enables you to replace the ground glas with an adapter for digital backs, like this WDS-506.

So it is possible to use these older technical cameras with a digital back. Even the latest and greatest will fit. The back’s sensor will be in exactly the same plane as the film used to be. This means the same lenses can be used in both the analogue and digital set-up. And each lens still requires its spacer, unique to each focal length that was available in those days.

If the WDS is going to be used with the current lens panels, set-up for use with digital backs, the Graflock style back and spacer need to go. It will be replaced by one of these, which brings the sensor in the right plane for use with Cambo’s WRS lens panels.