What can I get? I'd like to avoid another TLR, and try an SLR or rangefinder type camera instead. Any suggestions?
I have a budget of about $300,maybe $400. I have a lubitel and it's total crap, so I'd like to get something better. I was thinking about some sort of cheap folder camera for $50-100, or something better for $300-$400. What can I get? I'd like to avoid another TLR, and try an SLR or rangefinder type camera instead. Any suggestions?
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Two, the odds are that you will not be buying your only medium format camera as the first one. Just relax and accept this. Maybe the first one does exactly what you want and you never wonder about other cameras again. But most likely, the differences are big enough that if you buy an SLR you'll always wonder about a quality TLR or a rangefinder and some day you will buy one.
It's strange how much the Mamiya TLRs has suddenly picked up attention. within the last six months or so.The best starter MF camera is a Mamiya C220 +80 or 60mm lens.
Avoiding TLRs because of a lubitel is like becoming gay because a girlfriend dumped you. Or boycotting cars, including Ferraris, because you once drove a ford escort 1984 (gosh those were horrible. Just like a lubitel).
It’s such a good system that you won’t need to upgrade, ever.
It's strange how much the Mamiya TLRs has suddenly picked up attention. within the last six months or so.
From being kind of cultish and living way back in the shadow of the RB and other SLRs.
They are big and heavy, and changing the lenses while not hard per se, is just so cumbersome the you will feel like not doing it in the field.
Carrying the the extra lenses is impossible without a large bag and a strong back.
Very often you'll end up with the standard 80 mm 2.8 lens more or less glued on, at which point the whole idea of the camera is more or less lost.
Not saying the idea is bad. But perhaps is more for the studio or studio like circumstance?
This I don't understand.They are big and heavy, and changing the lenses while not hard per se, is just so cumbersome the you will feel like not doing it in the field.
Carrying the the extra lenses is impossible without a large bag and a strong back.
I have a budget of about $300,maybe $400.
One thing to think about, do you print square? If not then a 6X4.5 might be a better choice, after all if you print 8X10 11X14 then you lose a 1/3 of the frame. Mamiya 645 with a lens or two in with in your budget.
Rolleicord, of course.
kiev88? Jeezakrice, i’ve had 4 break in my hands within the first roll of film. No jokes. I’ve never finished a roll in any kiev88 I’ve owned.
I have one too, plus a few Rolleis.My experience (and therefore my opinion) are hardly influenced by anyone.
I purchased my first MF camera 25 years ago: a Mamiya C220 with a 65mm lens. That camera and lens are still in use today. And with proper care (in other words, with heavy use and an inexpensive CLA every 20 years), it should be good for 100 years. I don’t see why it would last less than a rolleiflex.
Over time I have added many rolleiflexes abd other uBer expensive gear to my arsenal, but I have also overbuilt my Mamiya TLR Kit, which I use regularly next to the rolleiflexes.
The only reason for having indulged into the rolleiflex was pure romanticism. And as a young adult, the hasselblad ownership was born out of a complex.
In hindsight, I could have lived with only a C220 all this time. And no, it’s not heavy, it’s at least like a Rollei 2.8F. And with the grip, it’s very comfortable. And the screen is very bright.
If I had to, I could travel the world with a Mamiya TLR without needing anything else, ever. I’d definitely not do that with a hasselblad, bronica, folders, RB or RZ.
This is only my opinion based on 25 years experience with a mamiya TLR while many other cameras couldn’t go beyond a few months.
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