Speaking of Medium Format I got the most use out of the Rollei TLR and the Mamiya 6. Reason - those were cameras that I could easily take with me. Light. Easy to slip into a bag. You use what you've got with you. Who would go out for a walk with the Pentax 67? Add a couple of lenses to the Pentax and you had a bad backache on the way.
Anyway, I felt most comfortable with the Mamiya 6 (even more so than with the Mamiya 7 which I wasn't that crazy about and only used for a week as a rental. The main improvement with the Mamiya 7 was the rangefinder could be used to focus a longer lens.)
But I liked the way the Mamiya 6 could be collapsed; and I like the square format. Much faster to use than the Rollei, though you'd be surprised if all you're doing is using the Rollei you can get pretty adept with the thing and I always thought that looking down at a ground glass screen helped my composition. One other thing these cameras have in common as opposed to the Pentax 67 is quietness.
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Went to the Gordon Parks exhibit at the Greenberg Gallery. There is obviously something wrong with me. Yes - the first shot when you walk in of the guy coming out of the sewer is amazing (however it was done). And the rest of the work is - well - it's great. It is. But it didn't leave me with any haunted feeling as the Saul Leiter exhibit did. Hard to fathom my reactions. The prints are well done.
As I say, there's something wrong with me because I noticed a small hair that was on the negative that hadn't been spotted out on one print. That seemed weird. But except for one or two prints - it didn't feel mysterious to me. Well - it's a documentary style.
Afterwards spent time in coffee shop with Matt and we were talking about medium format stuff and he offered to loan me a Pentax 67 and a couple of lenses. And yes - how amazingly cheap medium format has gotten. For fun I looked up a couple of Hass bodies on eBay... wow. What a market drop there. Those used to be the things no one could afford. I think I saw the 500 c/m kit in good condition for like $750. Back, lens, body and a couple of filters. Am I wrong or was that selling in the $25oo range last time I looked a few years back? And the Pentax 67 - what a plummet there. Damned sharp lenses. So digital has pretty much replaced MF at this point. Will they keep making film for these guys? I'm going to borrow the 67 from Matt since I'm feeling more like doing tripod stuff these days.
10 comments:
I don't remember who it was, but a photographer whom I use to be very impressed with, shot with a Makina 6x7
or was it a Plaubel Makina? Somebody famous...
I'd go for the Mamiya 7 as my one MF FOR SURE; I've got to believe the lenses are still pretty expensive... let me what Markus is up to.
Wow - we are really going retro here :) Will the prices for these MFs just continue to drop, or at some point will they become collectables and start going up?
This is almost a counter revolutionary force. I think we might need a slogan:
Medium Format for the Masses.
When y'all start handing out membership cards and plotting against each other - then I'll know we have a true counter-revolutionary movement.
yeh, I just rented a Mamiya 7 from Adorama - the negs are so crisp, it's killing me. The 120 slows one down somewhat, the rangefinder definitely helps over a Rolleiflex, but compared to a Leica it's still slow... thing is, that you have to be damn accurate focusing. zone focusing close up with the 80mm is almost impossible, the DOF is just too shallow (which looks nice of course, but it doesn't help much in the streets). Cool with MF is that one can shoot high ISOs without enlarging the grain as much as with squinty 35mm negs.
I prefer the Mamiya 6 (which I initially bought, but it was junk) for the same reasons: the collabsible lens and the square format. Besides that, the body feels better and the material seems nicer, the 6 is a little bit lighter than the 7 as well.
At the Chinese New Years I went back using the Leica
(with a newly added Motor M) pretty quickly... I think that sums it up for me.
Markus - the idea of using the Mamiya 6 or any MF as a street type camera; nah, I gave up on that for the reasons you mention. When I did use the Mamiya 6 it was always with the 50mm lens.
I'm only contemplating using MF for the same type of thing I'd use a view camera with: tripod type of work.
For example, I'm going to run out of limited editions of Promenades at some point so maybe I go back and re-shoot it with MF. Another aspect of MF as far as street shooting goes is: you just don't get enough shots before you need to switch film. Etc. Etc. I know some have managed it, but that's not for me.
So the Pentax 6x7 feels like a shot putt...what's the big deal? You're a gym rat these days and just lifting the beast to focus can replace the weight lifting part of your work outs...
Markus, I'm glad you bought the motor for your Leica. I know you'll love it and the little batteries seem to last forever...(I actually shoot over 300 rolls before they die)
Matt - you have a point, weight-wise, though the only pressing I've been doing is with my new French Coffee Press (ooh, I love it).
p.s. you should tell the story of the gymnastic rabbi (don't even know if I spelt it right) and then we can both post our shots or make a montage of the two shots.
Jim - I've had good success with the 4990 Epson scanner for MF. Other than buying a dedicated MF film scanner I'm not sure you can do much better than that.
Jeff, one thing - the long lens (150mm) is just about useless with the Mamiya 6; i.e. very difficult to focus, or see what you're getting (fixed on the M7). So I wouldn't go for a full kit. Still, if the kit is in good condition - that is an amazing drop in price... okay, maybe not amazing to anyone who's been following that market, but amazing to me who used to have one.
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