Medium format SLR vs. TLR - IQ vs. Portability

[xya]

with either of my mamiyas (c330 and rb67) stray light in the wlf is not a problem in general. if it is, think about a hood or chimney finder. they are magnified and can be metered. for me they are a good option and they don't add a lot of weight.

 

[etn]

Well one can walk down the street with a Hasselblad with the 80mm lens and carry the 50mm lens and a telephoto lens in a shoulder bag OR walk down the street with three Rolleis around one's neck. Do you really want to stick your neck out?

A shoulder bag for 2 Rolleis is not necessary much larger than a shoulder bag for 2 Hassy lenses.... particularly if you decide to cram another back or two as well (as I usually do)
But I have to admit, 3 Rolleis around the the neck is as cool as it is crazy (is a positive way.) The day I meet someone with 3 Rolleis around the neck, I pay him/her dinner as a token of my utmost admiration.

 

[etn]

One can walk around the street with a Rollei in their hand OR walk down the street with nothing but an iPhone because all the lenses and backs were too much for one's neck

Dunno about your parts of the world but here in Germany it seems that hanging a cell phone on a lanyard around one’s neck is becoming the next fashion trend...

 

[wiltw]

Dunno about your parts of the world but here in Germany it seems that hanging a cell phone on a lanyard around one’s neck is becoming the next fashion trend...

Around here, most people walk around with the phone in their hands and eyes down looking at the screen, so that they walk into things. If you are lucky, they look up just a moment before they bump into YOU.

 

[mshchem]

WLF allow stray light and dust to be introduced to the viewing screen. That and the damned left right reversal is why my WLF remains folded away in the camera bag.

I love WLF s I had to shooting a RZ67 II for years, the prism finders for it weights more than a Hassleblad camera, back and normal lens.

 

[Vaughn]

My comments on WLF must not have been clearly stated. I was not comparing WLF with prism, but, since some commented that camera level was too low when using WLF, I asked how many regularly shoot with camera hanging level with their belly? Even when using a WLF, I normally raise camera to my eye and do not shoot from chest or belly. ..

Holding the TLR with WLF at just above my belly button, the taking lens is 4 feet (1 meter) above the ground, and with my head bent down looking at the GG about 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm) away from my eyes. A nice comfortable composing distance for me.

When set up on a tripod, I might have the camera perhaps 6 inches (15 cm) higher. But I have held the camera over my head and put it on the ground or stump when needed. I've put it on the tripod with the self-timer set and held the tripod (fully extended but legs together) high above me. Whatever it takes!

 

[Sirius Glass]

A shoulder bag for 2 Rolleis is not necessary much larger than a shoulder bag for 2 Hassy lenses.... particularly if you decide to cram another back or two as well (as I usually do)
But I have to admit, 3 Rolleis around the the neck is as cool as it is crazy (is a positive way.) The day I meet someone with 3 Rolleis around the neck, I pay him/her dinner as a token of my utmost admiration.

Three Rolleis around the neck is the ultimate bling.

 

[JPD]

A shoulder bag for 2 Rolleis is not necessary much larger than a shoulder bag for 2 Hassy lenses.... particularly if you decide to cram another back or two as well (as I usually do)
But I have to admit, 3 Rolleis around the the neck is as cool as it is crazy (is a positive way.) The day I meet someone with 3 Rolleis around the neck, I pay him/her dinner as a token of my utmost admiration.

I have done that, a Tele-Rolleiflex, 3,5 F and 3,5 E3, in the mountains about 25 years ago. I'm not doing it again.

 

[cayenne]

A shoulder bag for 2 Rolleis is not necessary much larger than a shoulder bag for 2 Hassy lenses.... particularly if you decide to cram another back or two as well (as I usually do)
But I have to admit, 3 Rolleis around the the neck is as cool as it is crazy (is a positive way.) The day I meet someone with 3 Rolleis around the neck, I pay him/her dinner as a token of my utmost admiration.

The ULTIMATE in Retro "Bling".



cayenne

 

[redrockcoulee]

Oh, but 35mm cameras like Exacta and Topcon Super D had waist level finders as well as higher magnification 'waist' level finders, as well as pentaprism finders. The high magnification finders were quite useful for telescope and microscope mounted cameras, and even for vertical copy work with a copy stand mounted camera.

The Ashiflex was also waist level viewfinder

 

[redrockcoulee]

Soon after I got my Rolleichord in around 1980 I had an opportunity to buy a used Mamiya TLR and passed it off to a friend. The reason was a weight difference. 30 years later I got the opportunity to borrow a Hasselblad and got hooked.

The advantage of the Rolleichord being so much lighter is offset with the ability to change lens and backs with the 500C/M. If I was going to travel with the Hasselblad and only one lens and back I'd most likely take the Rolleichord instead. Going for low weight though my Holga is the lightest of them all however I can notice less quality in its images but not between the other two.

 

[Arthurwg]

Three Rolleis around the neck is the ultimate bling.

Walker Evens did travel with a kit of three Rollies.

 

[film_man]

Having shot Hasselblads with the 80mm and a Rollei with the equivalent 80mm from Zeiss, there is 0 difference in image quality. As for the waist level finder I would always shoot with the magnifier. The only time I would just look down would be when using hyperfocal focusing stopped down.

 

[film_man]

How many roads must a man walk down
Before he figures out what should be around his neck...

Wise words.

 

[abruzzi]

personally, I prefer the WLF to the prism, but at the same time, I much prefer medium format SLRs over TLRs. For whatever reason, I find holding a camera in a vertical orientation, like you normally hold a TLR, significantly increases the chance that the image is crooked. For whatever reason more than 50% of the shots on the 30+ rolls I've run through my Yashica are crooked. Come to think of it, it might also be the square format that is harder for me to align. But, in the end, the Yashica sits on the shelf and the ETRSi or GS1 go out with their waist level finders. (I've even gotten moderately adept at framing portrait orientation with a WLF. Its not easy, but I rarely want to shoot portrait. I'm also more successful getting the image straight than I am with my Yashica.)

 

[Sirius Glass]

personally, I prefer the WLF to the prism, but at the same time, I much prefer medium format SLRs over TLRs. For whatever reason, I find holding a camera in a vertical orientation, like you normally hold a TLR, significantly increases the chance that the image is crooked. For whatever reason more than 50% of the shots on the 30+ rolls I've run through my Yashica are crooked. Come to think of it, it might also be the square format that is harder for me to align. But, in the end, the Yashica sits on the shelf and the ETRSi or GS1 go out with their waist level finders. (I've even gotten moderately adept at framing portrait orientation with a WLF. Its not easy, but I rarely want to shoot portrait. I'm also more successful getting the image straight than I am with my Yashica.)

Get a viewing screen with vertical and horizontal lines and that problem will go away. If necessary add your own marks.

 

[markjwyatt]

Get a viewing screen with vertical and horizontal lines and that problem will go away. If necessary add your own marks.

Prism finder is also good.

 

[Arthurwg]

I traveled for year with a Mamiya 6 and 50mm lens, which is useful for most applications. I also travel with a Hasselblad SWC which is very compact and useful for everything short of safaris and birds.

 

[abruzzi]

Get a viewing screen with vertical and horizontal lines and that problem will go away. If necessary add your own marks.

That Yashica has both horizontal and vertical lines on the focusing screen--no avail. Maybe I'm holding it wrong, but it feels like it is the act of pressing the shutter button crooks the camera a bit.

 

[MattKing]

That Yashica has both horizontal and vertical lines on the focusing screen--no avail. Maybe I'm holding it wrong, but it feels like it is the act of pressing the shutter button crooks the camera a bit.

Can you adjust your approach in a way that results in you squeezing the release - preferably in the same direction as the lens axis - rather than pushing it.
My Mamiya cameras have a release that makes this easy. A grip with a cable release can also do that.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Can you adjust your approach in a way that results in you squeezing the release - preferably in the same direction as the lens axis - rather than pushing it.
My Mamiya cameras have a release that makes this easy. A grip with a cable release can also do that.

+1 Slowly squeeze the release.

 

[grat]

Bubble level. Get a small 2 axis level and clip it into the cold shoe. Interestingly, in Ansel Adam's The Camera ("Holding the camera"), he mentions a relatively common vision issue that can cause you to unconsciously tilt the camera.

 

[brainmonster]

I also have a problem with crooked images on my TLR. But I recently replaced my Lubitel (extremely hard to focus) with a Yashica LM. Haven't tried the Yashica out yet but I hope my shots don't turn out crooked - no grid. Seeing the focusing screen is much easier though. Also interestingly there is no cable release socket, only shutter button. My model also has a frame counter reset button, which was supposed to have been phased out by the time the Yashica LM was released. I wonder if mine is an earlier model.

 

[bluechromis]

The notion of lens "image quality" is such a can of worms. Often people mean by this lens resolution, but there are a number of other factors that may be said to impact image quality. I just read a review, which I can't seem to find now, where someone compared two vintage Rolleiflexes, a Mamiya 7 and more recent Blad. He was surprised how good was the resolution and contrast of the Rollei with f/ 2.8 lens even though single coated. It was a bit better than the Blad and second to the Mamiya 7. The better Rollieflex lenses often have some high numbers on various published resolution tests. Some SLR's have a focal plane shutter and all have a mirror, both of which cause vibrations that can degrade image quality. Is bokeh a part of image quality? If so, I think that the 80 mm and 105 mm lenses for Mamiya C get high marks. How does film format enter into this? Some SLR's have a bigger 6 x 7 or larger format which can record more detail or may require less cropping to fit into rectangular aspect ratios.

 

[reddesert]

I also have a problem with crooked images on my TLR. But I recently replaced my Lubitel (extremely hard to focus) with a Yashica LM. Haven't tried the Yashica out yet but I hope my shots don't turn out crooked - no grid. Seeing the focusing screen is much easier though. Also interestingly there is no cable release socket, only shutter button. My model also has a frame counter reset button, which was supposed to have been phased out by the time the Yashica LM was released. I wonder if mine is an earlier model.

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Yashica_6×6_TLR_(knob_advance)#Yashica_LM

If your camera looks like this, around the base of the shutter button there is a knurled ring (if the ring hasn't been lost). Unscrew this ring, and you can thread on a cable release that has "Nikon F" or "Leica" style threads - it has a large end that screws onto the shutter button surround, not into the button. There are inexpensive adapters from this thread to normal small cable release threads.