Roger Cole, thank you kindly for the thorough response. I've read it but I'll reply with follow up questions at a later time.
The community here is pretty good - I certainly wouldn't hesitate to share my shipping address with anyone who has posted a few times.
As I look at it, it really is no different then giving your shipping address to a store, or a magazine, or a credit card company, or your local, friendly taxation authority.
If you see something you are interested in, communicate with the seller using either PM or email (check their APUG profile). Work out any terms that are acceptable to both of you, and proceed.
The risks involved are the same as any long distance transaction. If you are buying from someone who has been here for a while, that can give you some comfort. I've bought and sold here, and have had excellent experiences (sales as far away as UK and Australia!).
You may never have purchased long distance from an individual. If so, your concerns are understandable, but you need to know that many people transact business regularly that way, with generally good results.
And as for Craigslist, I have had excellent results (sales and purchases). Of course, it really helps to know what you are buying or selling and what the value is. In addition, due to the fact that things like moderate value used film cameras aren't exactly the most popular items, there is less likelihood of buying something that turns out to be stolen or purchased using a stolen credit card.
In your case, as you don't really know what to check for, it might be hard for you to evaluate the condition of something on Craigslist. But you could always post a link to the ad here and ask for specific advice.
And as for "brokerage" charges - $50+ isn't unusual from UPS or Fedex. If it goes via USPS and Canada Post, there is usually no "brokerage, but sometimes it is $10 (+ GST).
I would second Mamiya C220/330, both can be found at a decent price and I think they are great cameras. They are the only TLRs that have interchangeable lenses all of which are very high quality. I've bought mine though ebay or other online sites, but they seem much cheaper that a lot of MF kit.
I noticed the link I posted to the large format forum meter for sale is for a LunaPro, not an SBC. Here's a selection of used meters:
Stay away from the spot meters for now. Using one is not exactly difficult once you understand metering but that's for later. (I have a spot meter and consider it essential for shooting with my 4x5 camera, but never use it for medium format myself.)
Buying a camera is a tricky thing. it's like buying a car, shoes, choosing a long-term (or short-term) mate. What works for me won't work for you. Or what works for me works for you, but for completely different reasons. Face it, you will not 'know' about a camera until you use it. The more cameras you use, the easier these decisions become, but even after 40 years of cameras i need to hold a camera and take it out before I 'know' about that particular camera. Decades ago my two favorite cameras were a TLR and a 35mm rangefinder. 30 years later, I am right back to these, except that the rangefinder is a 6x9 because I like medium format negatives. But no one could have convinced me that I didn't need to use a MF SLR or a 4x5 view camera or a three different 35mm SLR systems or 6 different digital cameras in the meantime. Buying and selling cameras is usually part of the process.
The TLR being sold by LyleB can be sold for what you pay him if it doesn't work out. That may sound cruel or short-sighted, but it's the reality. I bet most people here have been through a few cameras over the years. So it isn't a waste of money. Think of owning many of these cameras as simply renting them until you sell them on.
A problem for you is that $250 is not a lot to spend. Most MF cameras are old and need maintenance or repair. So even if you get a Bronica ETR series with a 50mm and 120 back, there is a decent chance that the back will develop a leak in the next year, the shutter could freeze up, etc. That's a chance with any of these cameras. So condition is very important. This is where buying from a place like KEH, a known entity or place like here where people identify with their sales, or locally, becomes helpful.
One thing I haven't heard mentioned- the reversed image of a WLF. On both TLRs and SLRs, the image will be upright but reversed. Some people, maybe most, get used to this very quickly. But it does take time, especially on the street where you often want to react but find yourself moving the wrong way or such.
As someone said, yeah, just buy LyleB's 124G. The G is fine, the 124 might be cheaper if you see one.
I don't feel like pasting all that I'd need to paste to answer these inline so:
1. Luna Pro SBC is just what I have. The Luna Pro F is the same, except it also works as a flash meter. There are many other good meters available. The earlier Luna Pro was designed for mercury cell batteries that are no longer available. There are work arounds to use them but the SBC uses a 9v battery, available anywhere. The point is to just be sure you can get batteries for your meter. The Luna Pros are very large though. Definitely a hand full, and for street shooting you might want to get something smaller. There are many on the market. Watch the classifieds here. Also as a direct answer to your question:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=84013
But as I said, that's a pretty physically large meter. Take a look at some currently available new:
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_search.php?rfnp=2600&q=meters&rfnc=2609&
EDIT: Oops, that's an older LunaPro, not an SBC. My mistake.
Something like this is small and should work fine:
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/40120...cident-and-Reflective-Light-Meter?cat_id=2609
Or if you prefer digital:
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/4006-Gossen-Digisix-Light-Meter?cat_id=2609
You can get a good meter for less money used, of course.
They do look strange to people who aren't photographers and most will have no idea what they are or what you are doing. But I never stick my meter in the face of someone I don't know well enough, either. Just meter something else in the same light - but it sounds like you are new enough to manually metering that this may take some practice. It's easy.
2. Any 124 or 124G will have a lens. The lens is not interchangeable so they don't list it separately. Likewise the WLF. It's an 80mm f/3.5, roughly equivalent to a 50mm on a 35mm camera. They also all have a WLF. That's just how they are made - it's built in. The Yashica also has a pop out magnifier that, by holding your eye close to the magnifier, gives an enlarged view of the ground glass. It also has a "sports finder" which is really just a framing aid. You can focus separately then use the sports finder to frame a shot from eye level.
The magnifier doesn't give a zoom effect. You can see all the way to the edge of the ground glass and the edge of your image, it just makes what you see look larger and thus easier to judge critical sharpness.
Download the manual if you're really interested in these cameras. It will make a lot of things more clear. The 124 and 124G also differ in how the pressure plate is set for 120 or 220 film. I have a 124 so I don't recall how the G works, but both will use both 120 and 220 film. This isn't a big thing nowadays as not much film is available in 220, though the excellent Kodak Portras ARE.
Manual can be downloaded here for the 124:
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/yashica/yashica_mat_124/yashica_mat_124.htm
here for the 124G:
http://www.butkus.org/chinon/yashica/yashica_mat124g/yashica_mat_124g.htm
3. Metering - you don't "point a laser" at anything! For a reflected light reading you point the meter at the subject, or more specifically at a part of the subject you wish to render as a medium gray shade. An incident reading is taken (with a different meter or by setting a versatile meter for such) by holding the meter at the subject, pointing it at the camera, and reading the light falling on, rather than reflected off, the subject. By taking a reflected reading of a calibrated gray card (available online) you get the same reading as an incident reading and you're sure you're measuring a value that is the shade the meter is giving you an exposure for. By "metering for prevailing light" I just mean, well, just that. Meter a medium gray value, or a gray card, in the light like the subject and if the light is about the same you don't have to take another reading for each shot. I often just keep a guesstimate exposure set and "wing it" if I don't have time to meter it. This does take some practice and experience, though.
If it's really important to have more than 12 shots (or 15 for a 645 format camera) you can get 220 film in the Portras and some Fujis (mostly aimed at those wedding photographers who still use film) with twice as much film and thus exposures on the roll. A roll of 120 is a bit cheaper, usually, than 36 exposures of 35mm but not greatly as it has nearly the same surface area coated with emulsion. You can also, as discussed here, carry an extra back, pre-loaded inserts, or just an extra camera depending on the type of camera.
4. The reason MF has less depth of field has to do with the lenses. A normal lens for 6x6 cm, like on my Yashica, is 80mm. It will have the same DOF as an 80mm lens would on a 35mm camera but that would be a short tele on a 35mm but normal on a 6x6. A 50mm lens on a 6x6 camera like the SQ-B would have the same depth of field as a 50mm on a 35 camera, but it would be a wide angle instead of a normal, and would have less depth of field than the 28mm lens on a 35mm camera that would give about the same amount of subject in the frame.
I've bought a fair amount of stuff from KEH and never had a problem. But I think it would help you a lot to see some of this gear, if there's a local club or something where you could meet others that shoot MF.
h.v., what CGW was saying was that if you know how to use [any kind of] meter, you'd have no trouble using a [handheld] meter. I'll sum it up for you to the best of my ability, though:
A handheld reflective meter works just like the one in your camera. You point it at the object you want to meter. No need for a laser or viewfinder, as the area it measures will have a relatively large radius. By contrast, an incident meter works almost in reverse: you hold the meter in front your subject and point it towards your camera lens. This measures the light falling on the subject, rather than the light reflected off of it. This negates the need for an 18% grey card in many (if not all?) cases. A spot meter was mentioned before - this is just a really accurate reflective meter, allowing you to meter a much smaller radius.
I think that what CGW was getting at is that using a handheld meter will teach you about metering in a completely different and, in the end much more in-depth way than using an in-camera meter ever could.
To his point, though, much of the above info is pretty easy to find. I think my first source with all of this was Wikipedia, actually. Some hands-on time with a meter will teach you far more than reading every could, though. If you have a DSLR (I know, I know...), try throwing it in manual mode and metering with a handheld meter. This will let you bracket and get a feel for metering without burning through yards of film and gallons of developer.
Good luck.
Look at youtube for using a light meter. Maybe you can find something on TLRs there too?
In any twin lens reflex, the top lens is the one you actually see through. The bottom lens is the one that takes the picture. Look at a close up picture of any Mamiya twin lens and notice that the shutter and aperture ring is on the bottom or "taking" lens. The film is positioned directly behind the taking lens. There is a stationary mirror in the body of the camera positioned behind the "viewing" lens. Both the taking and the viewing lens will focus together at the film plane. The mirror mentioned above is stationary, unlike the mirror in any slr which moves out of the way to allow the film to be exposed. Light entering through the viewing lens (remember--there is no shutter or iris aperature blocking the light path) bounces of the stationary mirror and is reflected upward to the ground glass of the waist level finder. If you have the opportunity, try holding and looking at any brand of tlr; this will give you a much better idea of how this thing works. In your previous post you asked "how do you know that you've taken a picture" since there is no moving mirror and consequently no mirror blackout. Quite simply, you listen to the sound of your shutter going off. Theoretically, with far fewer moving parts, the time lag from pressing the shutter release to exposing the film should be far shorter than with any slr which has to raise up the mirror, stop down the aperture from it's natural wide open viewing and open the shutter before the film is exposed. In the tlr or rangefinder for that matter, you press the shutter release, the leaf shutter opens, the film is exposed and the shutter closes--that's it. Hope this helps in your decision making process.Am I right in thinking the "ground glass" is the lower of the two lenses, or the one closest to the ground? If you're doing that, then what's the point of the top/upper lens?
So what is this "ground glass" thing?
1/500th just isn't fast enough for low f-stops in sunny light. Hell, 1/4000th is hardly enough for f/5.6 (which I would barely consider low f-stop).
Get an Autocord. Send it to Karl Bryan who will overhaul it, clean it up, get it working smoothly. And then go shoot for the next ten years or so. For real fun, scab a Hasselblad NC-2 prism on top. This shows a Yahsica-Mat with the prism, but the prism is now on an Autocord. The lever focusing on the Autocord is very quick and responsive, and the prism gives a corrected view-
The first 36 of the first group and all of the second group were shot with this setup-
http://dandaniel.zenfolio.com/p92646000
http://dandaniel.zenfolio.com/p311823083
A shutter release has a feel. A good release will have a bit of loose travel, a bit of resistance, and at some consistent point the shutter fires. After you use a camera a bit, you get a handle on just where the actual release moment is in the travel, what it feels like, etc. Both TLR and rangefinder cameras have no mirror black-out. Neither do view cameras. Or Brownies and folders. And most Polaroids.
h.v.:
More and more I think you need to find someone who can actually show you a medium format camera in action, because with even a little bit of hands-on context, I think almost all of the answers to your questions would be obvious to you.
I bet 15 minutes would do it.
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