Medium format has got me!

[benjiboy]

And budget...

Yes I've had my Rollei 66 Universal projector for more than twenty years and bought it second hand, I'd forgotten how expensive they are now.

 

[keithwms]

LOL! What was your answer, Keith?

Oh I just had a good chuckle, the comment threw me off guard! But then I had the idea to affix a rubber duckie to the top of the prism, you know, just to make the whole setup a little less threatening in appearance.

 

[MattKing]

And budget...

I paid $200 CDN for my used Rollei MF projector - from a Vancouver retailer famous for high prices!

 

[Shadowtracker]

I dunno, if you put a rubber duckie on the setup, they may take you as a stalker of children or something really not good...

 

[A_M_Johnson]

With my RB67, I get "Oh are you shooting a movie?" With my 645AF I get "What the heck is that???" When they see the prints, they say "Oh wow. You must have an expensive camera." Meh.

I love medium format for the stories as much as the results.

 

[Joe O'Brien]

A M Johnson, I too have recieved the "movie" comment with my bronica sq-a.

I have recently (6months) been converted to medium format, I cant stand images when the grain is visible. PanF and Efke have become household words for me. As terribly photo-centric as this is, all the money from my 18th birthday went straight into purchasing a bronica sq kit.

The college I'm headed to has a 4x5 and I accept that it is only a matter of time (5months) until I will again be converted.

Here's to the long life of film!

 

[MattKing]

... all the money from my 18th birthday went straight into purchasing a bronica sq kit.

This part of the post warms my heart

 

[benjiboy]

This part of the post warms my heart

Not mine, why can't he be like any other red blooded 18year old male, and spend it on booze and females ?.

 

[benjiboy]

I'm tempted to buy an RB or RZ because I shoot a lot of portraits and the whole negative can be printed without cropping on standard format printing paper without waste, the revolving back would be very useful too.

 

[keithwms]

I'm tempted to buy an RB or RZ because I shoot a lot of portraits and the whole negative can be printed without cropping on standard format printing paper without waste, the revolving back would be very useful too.

There is no waste. If you avail yourself of a guillotine, you can cut the paper to whatever size you need, and the leftovers make great test strips.

But indeed, the 6x7 / 6x8 format is very nice, and being able to rotate the back... genius! That feature adds significant bulk to the body, since the clearance all the way through the system has to be 8x8, but it's well worth the added weight, in my opinion.

 

[Q.G.]

Not mine, why can't he be like any other red blooded 18year old male, and spend it on booze and females ?.

Yes! Real men don't buy cameras...

 

[benjiboy]

There is no waste. If you avail yourself of a guillotine, you can cut the paper to whatever size you need, and the leftovers make great test strips.

But indeed, the 6x7 / 6x8 format is very nice, and being able to rotate the back... genius! That feature adds significant bulk to the body, since the clearance all the way through the system has to be 8x8, but it's well worth the added weight, in my opinion.

I would be shooting colour neg film, I don't do my own processing Keith,I have a pro lab do it, and it would be easier for them to print 6X7 full frame on 10X8, 12X10 or 20X16 because the proportion of the neg is the same as the paper that's why they call it "Ideal format" rather than making square prints from my 6X6 negs or cheaper than getting selective enlargements from them on conventional oblong paper, if that makes sense. The cameras weight is of no consequence, I won't be lugging it about, and I'll be using it mainly on a tripod.

 

[Q.G.]

My lab prints on rolls, not sheets. So when i pick a size for either side of the image that happens to correspond with a roll width, there is no waste. (If not, they leave me a bit of white paper to cut off on each print.) No matter what aspect ratio the negative has: if it is short the piece of paper cut from the roll is short, if it is long the bit they use is long.

 

[2F/2F]

Congratulations! Two fine cameras that are certainly usable on the street hand held, and in most other capacities.

As for your comment that aperture priority helps on the street, I disagree. All it does is to help give you foul exposures that vary wildly depending on your composition (as opposed to varying depending on the light, as they should), and gives control over shutter speed (the most important technical consideration in hand held photography) to the computer. When out shooting on the street, you should start by knowing three things: your exposure for when your composition is mostly in the shade, your exposure for when your composition is mostly not in the shade, and your exposure for when you have a split between the two. The only time you should have to change exposure is when the light changes, not shot to shot as a matter of course.

 

[njkphoto]

I am with you on this. After working as a staff newspaper photographer for years I am on my first semester working on my M.F.A. I picked up a Mayima 6x9 rangefinder and loving every minute of it. It's just a step back and I am doing something different than photojournalism. I did get a Nikon F5 as well..

Enjoy it.

 

[Lars Daniel]

Hi 2F/2F! I appreciate and understand what you say about AE. Spot on. After shooting some rolls in the street with the Rolleiflex 6008i what I think I will rely on for some time is its excellent spot metering with lock function. So I can easily meter exactly what I want and lock it there. I am new to these all manual cameras, so I do appreciate that there still is AE functions. When using the RZ67 (without AE prism) I rely on my little Sekonic and guestimations.

The RZ67 and the 6008i are wonderfully different beasts. I really enjoy the compact ergonomic feel the 6008 has, and its very nice WLF metering with spot and average. With its rolling darkslide, motordrive and other goodies, it is very easy to operate. The RZ on the other hand, I just generally feel so good about it. A highlight is the lens focusing: Rotating those knobs that moves the whole lens is just so fast and easy. Where the "typical" rotation of the lens barrel ring on the 6008 just feels clumsy to me. You have to twist your whole wrist many times to get from max to min. I love the big ground glas and the rotating back of the RZ, and my kids love the nice polaroids I make with it.

BTW I would really like to get hold of the RZ tilt/shift adapter (and 75mm short barrel).

 

[keithwms]

BTW I would really like to get hold of the RZ tilt/shift adapter (and 75mm short barrel).

I had it an lost interest in it very quickly. The movements are very limited, and there are only two short-barrel lenses that are not in the most useful focal lengths. If you really want to do movements with RB/RZ lenses, consider adapting them to another camera.

 

[Shadowtracker]

Lars, wait, watch, eventually, large format will bite... there, I see it lurking now.... do have fun with medium format, I love the stuff - negatives I can handle and actually see something on the contact sheets! LF has me now, but I'm dying with my MF in hand probably.