'Coolest' Medium Format Camera?

[lxdude]

You could at least give a conversion chart or formula.

I propose degrees Rankine, Kelvin is already used for color temperature.

Rankine can't be used for coolness- it's used for rankness. E.g.: "I think that's rank!" "Yes, quite rankine."

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Rankine can't be used for coolness- it's used for rankness. E.g.: "I think that's rank!" "Yes, quite rankine."

I thought that was "funk factor":confused: or, odoriferousness

 

[Roger Cole]

We should have a list of all medium format cameras with their coolness factor expressed in Milli-Fonzies.


Steve.

No. Temperature, measured on the Kelvin or Rankine scale. Fonzie was an ignorant yutz, not to mention a character on a TV show. TV is highly uncool.

There's just not an obvious measure like the milli-Helen for beauty (you know - if Helen of Troy was the face that launched a thousand ships, enough beauty to launch one ship is one milli-Helen) because there's no agreement on what is cool much less just how cool different things are WRT each other.

 

[Steve Smith]

Obviously Arthur Fonzarelli scores 1000 milli-Fonzies so just compare everything else with him.


Steve.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Obviously Arthur Fonzarelli scores 1000 milli-Fonzies so just compare everything else with him.


Steve.

That was before he jumped the shark. After that he dropped to -250 milli-Fonzies!

 

[hoffy]

Horseshit. Tradesman tools have their own kind of cool. Part of the cool of a Hasselblad is that it's such a capable tradesman tool.

Ahhh, but its a 'blad. Anything with "blad" in it, must be instantly cool.....well, except for maybe the latest 'blad's. They are not cool. They are Geeky

 

[E. von Hoegh]

There's just not an obvious measure like the milli-Helen for beauty (you know - if Helen of Troy was the face that launched a thousand ships, enough beauty to launch one ship is one milli-Helen) because there's no agreement on what is cool much less just how cool different things are WRT each other.

That's because both beauty and the concept of 'cool' are in the eye (or disordered mind) of the beholder.

 

[Philippe-Georges]

The impression I'm getting from this thread, is that ALL medium format cameras are 'cool'

YES, YES, YES!

 

[Frank C]

The Coolest

My choice would be a Rollei 6008i. Way out of my price range however.

 

[Ghostman]

The Mamiya 7 is a little ugly, a little clumsy, plastic and very uncool but I love mine. I have a Leica M7 and an M9 but just love the 43mm lens on my Mamiya 7.

 

[eddym]

Linhof 220; a vertical format Leica on steroids, with a pistol grip. Delicate (never, NEVER drop one!), but fast shooting and very sharp!

 

[eddym]

Second choice: Linhof Technica 70. Like a Baby Technika, but with a built in rangefinder/viewfinder with frames for 65/80/180 lenses. All three were rangefinder cammed with a single cam that rotated to change focal lengths. So you bought your lens set with its matching cam.
For tripod shots, you could focus on the ground glass with the usual Technika door with folding leather sides to block light. The lens board had rise, shift, tilt and swing.
It was a supercamera that could do anything! I used to attach my Rollei potato masher flash to the side bar and shoot weddings!
Maybe that's why my back is in such bad shape now...

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Limited Edition White Stripes Holga, the Jack model.

 

[scheimfluger_77]

That would be the Deardorff!

No harm, no foul. (or is it fowl?)... This is APUG. Perhaps I remember the days when a camera was a tool in the eyes of a serious photographer. A 'cool' camera? Givemeabreak. I shoot what works for me.
1.) The only camera I have bought new 1985 Nikon FM2.
2.) Mamiya rb67 Pro with about 7 lens, both waist and prism finders.
3.) Borrowed Mamiya 645 (borrowed from my daughter whom I gave it to).
4.) Mamiya C220 65mm lens.
5.) Various 3x4 and 4x5 Speed and Crowns.
6.) 3x4 Graplex
7.) 8x10 Deardorff.

Any 'cool' cameras in the lot?

 

[scheimfluger_77]

... or this:

Oh Yeah!!!

 

[scheimfluger_77]

Try this for cool; http://www.steveirvine.com/ceramic_cameras.html. We see his work regularly at the f/295 pinhole forum.

 

[Bruce Robbins]

Another vote for the SL66 -fantastic!

I bought an SL66E with 40mm, 80mm, 150mm and 250mm lenses as a 50th birthday present to myself and I have to say it's superb. The lenses are superlative, the mirror action is smoother than it has a right to be, the lens panel tilt is great for both maximising depth of field or transforming it into a razor thin plane, the viewfinder image is bright.

I could go on but you can read about it on my website where many of the pics were shot on the Rollei. One final thing that is brilliant is the availability of adapters that let you fit different lenses to the camera. I've got one with a 1926 (pre-Zeiss) Sonnar attached to it. It's the bellows focusing that enables different lenses with focal lengths between 110mm and 165mm to be used. You can use "proper" lenses or positive single lens elements for that ethereal look. I've got a spare adapter and my next project will be fitting a single element to it. The person who can supply the adapters is a really decent guy, Daniel, at http://salihonbashome.blogspot.co.uk/p/something-for-sale.html. I can recommend him if you buy or have an SL66 and fancy getting an adapter.

 

[markldn]

Bronica S2.

It makes the earth under your feet shake when you press the shutter.

 

[Philippe-Georges]

... or this:

This is THE best VF wideangle camera money can buy!
The Biogon is superb, the mechanical construction simple and sturdy.
If only the wallet...

 

[Sirius Glass]

+ 1

 

[Ezzie]

I would second that. Even if I have never had one. On several occasions lately I have been able to identify shots taken with the SWC, without knowing beforehand anything other than the format. Either that or the ALPA 12SWA.

 

[Yashinoff]

I have a different suggestion from others....

This Burke & James "Rexo Junior" camera:

What's so cool about it? Well it has this novel feature:

An eject lever for your film! Now how cool is that?

 

[Philippe-Georges]

No Comment...

 

[TheAZGolfBum]

Right on !!

He He

 

[Stephanie Brim]

I am basically in love with my Mamiya C3. I have a picture or two on the board about it and how the outermost bellows was ripped, so I patched the thing with duct tape and light blocking curtain fabric underneath that. The bellows on mine fold all wrong on the outside, but on the inside it's fine. The lenses are clear with just a few cleaning marks, and take a really nice, sharp picture.



Basically, pry it out of my cold, dead hands if you can.

I should actually mention that the lens I have on the camera is likely a later issue than the camera itself. It's a blue dot.