PODAS instructor James Martin reports on the workshop on Iceland, the ALPA classes of Mark Dubovoy and the sake of precision and shimming:

"... Mark Dubovoy was the master of all things Alpa.  This simple  and elegant technical camera extracts the maximum resolution out of the Phase One backs. Mark is driven to seek the highest possible quality in everything that interests him, and in the case of photography, he strives to eliminate any element that can degrade resolution. Vibration smears an image so naturally he prefers to use leaf shutter lenses where neither mirror slap nor the movement of a focal plane shutter can shake the camera. Add to that the inherent superiority of view camera lenses, and one is ahead of the game at the outset.

Alpa determined that tiny misalignments between back and camera degraded sharpness and were almost inevitable. Their solution was to offer exceedingly thin shims one could stack to prop up one side or another to align the back. The shims are as little as 1/100 of a millimeter thick. Mark showed us before and after images, and even on a projection screen, the improvement was clear.
Combining all these elements produced the clearest possible image. I felt like I’d been taken to school..."

Read the full report on the PODAS blog...

This years attendees have beenable to get insight into the ALPA platform and try the ALPA 12 MAX, ALPA 12 TC and various interesting lenses from Schneider and Rodenstock during the workshops.