Buying advice?

[wiltw]

• If you start with 6x7, a typical image is 56mm x 69.5mm; you cut that effectively to 55.6mm x 69.5mm to fill an 8x10" print...loss of 0.71% of area of original image
• If you start with 6x6, a typical image is 56mm x 56mm; you cut that effectively to 44.8mm x 56mm to fill an 8x10" print...loss of 20% of area of original image
• If you start with 645, a typical image is 43mm x 56mm; you cut that effectively to 43mm x 53.75mm to fill an 8x10" print..loss of 4.02% of area of original image

Unless you WANT square format shots, the advantage of 6x6 is not as much as one assumes.
Because of Bronica ceasing to exist, and Tamron (who purchased Bronica) abandonment of the Bronica line a few years after purchase, today you can now get bodies and lenses for a song...that which originally cost $3000 can be found for $300 today.

 

[guangong]

You really must find a way (beg, borrow or steal) to fondle and handle some of the cameras mentioned in this thread. All of the cameras listed will give top notch results. For myself, Hasselblad is comfortable to use, Bronica and Mamiya not so much, ditto for Rollei TLR compared to Mamiya 330, which always seemed awkward to use. For metered cameras, I prefer match needle to diods. I also prefer to be battery independent. Obviously many others feel differently, which is why there is such a wide variety of choices. I use everything from Minox 8x11 through 4x5 with a wide range of subjects. Others are much more selective in their subject matter. There is no best camera for everyone. Ah, choices!