ALPA silex control unit offers new camera combinations with digital backs

the ALPA silex control unit is a brand new, central element of swiss manufacturing brand ALPA’s extended modular photographic system. photographers and soon even videographers will be able to combine ALPA cameras with digital backs of various manufacturers like hasselblad, phase one/leaf and sinar photography – and lenses from canon, contax, hasselblad, nikon or rollei. 

ALPA silex control unit on an ALPA 12 TC body ready for canon EF lenses like the 17 mm tilt/shift lens
images by scanderbeg sauer and ALPA 

‘handy and flexible – silex is the swiss pocket knife of the control units’. under this claim, ALPA presented the product at the photokina 2016. the name silex itself, however, goes much further back: it reminds us of the material for the all-purpose tools of the stone-age. with that in mind, the product can be used to convert any model of the classic ALPA-12 series into an electronic camera.

ready to operate hasselblad HC/HCD lenses, including the built in leaf shutter

the basis for the development of ALPA Silex is the ALPA 12 FPS, introduced at photokina 2012, with electronically controlled focal plane shutter. the integrated controller was separated as a standalone module and all functions except for the slot shutter were taken over.

the control unit is part of the vastly modular ALPA photographic platform

all known digital components from hasselblad, phase one /leaf and sinar can be synchronized. on the other hand, the electro-mechanical diaphragms of canon EF, contax, hasselblad H, nikon E and rollei can be controlled. even more, the integrated web server allows remote control in networks without software installation

introducing ALPA silex
video from ALPA of switzerland

the future support of sinar e-shutter systems is already prepared. together with existing camera models from ALPA, the photographer can use a vast number of third party lenses and, depending on the available image circle, also perform shifts (shifting and stitching). ‘in the future, our back-end adapters will also make it possible to use ALPA cameras for video recording in conjunction with the corresponding digital backs’. 

here, silex operates a canon EF 1.2/80 mm lens on an ALPA 12 body and a phase one IQ350 digital back

it can be added to any ALPA 12 camera body and get full control like aperture or focus, bracketing programs… 

it offers new possibilities to any existing or future ALPA 12 body – also for videography

silex can control  hasselblad leaf shutter lenses with the corresponding adapters, giving shift and tilt to all these lenses

ALPA 12 camera body turned into an electronically capable camera

ALPA lens mount hasselblad adapts to any HC/HCD lens with shutter speed of 1/800s to 1/1000s out of the box

ALPA electronic lens adpater (ELA) connects existing and future ALPA lens mounts to the control unit ALPA silex

the control unit offers the same functionality as the ALPA 12 FPS (focal plane shutter camera) in a separated brain

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edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom