A-Class Visual Design

Large Format Camera

When choosing a Large Format Camera, what kind of camera movements are most important?

I'm choosing one of the following models; there are some differences in the camera movements.

http://www.shen-hao.com/TZ45-IIBen.html

tz45-IIB
TZ45-IIA
HZX45-IIA

Each one is carefully described, however I don't know enough yet to make a distinction.
Front element: rise, fall, swing, tilt, shift...
I know what these mean physically; however I don't know what will give me the most range in adjusting my plane of focus...

When it says "bellows draw extension", is this about the range of focal lengths that will fit this camera + bellow combination?
I'm hoping to choose one that will fit a 90mm lens.

If you only want to use the 90, a bag bellows would work (TFC45) shows this. This is the nonfolding camera.

Bellows extension is the amount you can pull the bellows out from the base of the camera. It doesn't have anything to do with the lens per se, other than the smaller the lens, the smaller the draw. Any of these cameras will accept a 90 mm lens and you should not have extension problems. With a 90 bag bellows are generally preferred.

Note the rails: the bellows can only be extended to either the limit of the bellows itself or to the end of the rails - there isn't a way to extend the rails on these cameras and consequently add a second bellows.

Look at the movement options and the hardware. How much can the standards rise, fall, shift and swing. I'd buy the one that gives me the most options there and the most bellows extension. Understand these are field cameras-their primary purposes are architecture, landscape, and some studio portraiture. Not so great for tabletop.

My advice would be to find a dealer that carries these and check them yourself. What you see is often not what you get (or think you're getting.) Especially consider the hardware - how do you lock in the movements. If it is some tiny, fiddlely knob that doesn't fit your fingers, your gonna curse the camera.
Prices weren't listed, but a 4x5 film camera is not a cheap undertaking. The lenses are expensive, the film is expensive, polaroid is expensive. Take some time and choose carefully.

Scheimpflug / Plane of focus

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