First roll through M645

Have just purchased my first medium format camera, a Mamiya M645 1000s w/ 80mm f/1.9 (the lens basically sold me on the system). Here are the best shots that came from the test roll (Portra 400). The camera came with a metered prism, but I found it pretty difficult to focus and frame through there and will most likely get a WLF soon (most of the shots from the roll were out of focus). Anyway it is a really exciting and fun camera; just wondering what you guys think about my first shots. I've got a lot more experimenting to do with this baby...

I always had a lot of respect for Mamiya MF lenses and these are as good as I have ever seen. If you are into wide angles, try to get a hold of a 35mm which is approximately an equivalent of 22mm on a 35mm camera. They are superb (But heavy)

BMbikerider said:

I always had a lot of respect for Mamiya MF lenses and these are as good as I have ever seen. If you are into wide angles, try to get a hold of a 35mm which is approximately an equivalent of 22mm on a 35mm camera. They are superb (But heavy)

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I am looking into getting a wide angle soon, maybe in the next month or two (my bank account's a little drained from this recent purchase!), and will keep an eye out for the 35mm. The camera store nearby has the 45mm f/2.8 that I have been wanting to take a look at, perhaps they have the 35mm as well.

45mm is close to a 28mm in 35mm format. A good lens but not so inspiring as the 35.

The 45mm lenses are superb even the older ones, I never felt a need for wider.

Ian

I have the winder and the 55m lens (and the 80 2.8 and 150 3.5, all N.) The winder I think makes the camera handle much better, but I certainly don't need it for shooting. It's mostly the grip and better placed shutter release that I like. But then while I like WLFs for square images I'm sure I'd hate one on my 645 and have no problems with the AE prism. YMMV of course.

I do want to get one of those 1.9s.

Persevere with the prism finder, unless you are willing to restrict yourself to landscape (as compared to portrait) oriented scenes.

The posted shots look good though.

MattKing said:

Persevere with the prism finder, unless you are willing to restrict yourself to landscape (as compared to portrait) oriented scenes.

The posted shots look good though.

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I am learning to appreciate it more, and will save me the trouble of having to buy a light meter as well. I have found myself every once in a while metering and then taking off the prism and just looking through the ground glass (for particularly hard to focus night shots, landscapes, etc).

A wide angle should definitely be in my future sights though, as I often shot a 28mm lens on my 35mm SLR (far more than my 50mm lens). Does anyone have any personal favorites and why (or does anyone have one they're looking to part with? ) I really do love this 80mm, but I've got caught in a couple situations where I just couldn't take a photo due to it being not wide enough. Curious about the 35mm lens discussed earlier in the thread, but does it have significant distortion? Maybe the 45mm would be a better suited choice.

This camera is super exciting! Thanks all!