MF on the cheap (not Holga)

[Removed Account]

A friend lent me his Kalimar Reflex 6x6 SLR camera. Looking online you can find one of the various versions for under $100 (USD) It's a fun little camera and kind of looks like a TLR that someone chopped the top lens off of. It's pretty portable and not too heavy plus it has the benefits of interchangeable lenses including a nifty little 53mm that apparently was popular among the Hassy 1000F crowd. I've read that the shutters can be inaccurate but there are plenty of places online with instruction on how to adjust this particular camera.

 

[elekm]

The frozen focusing most often is associated with Agfa cameras. With other folding cameras, the focusing will be tight but not impossibly tight.

For street photography, I think you'll generally want something that's svelte and simple to use and to carry.

Of course, the biggest thing to keep in mind with an older camera is that most will require service. If you can find one that's been serviced, then you're good to go.

 

[k_jupiter]

I like folders. The problem with Agfa folders it their tendency to include extra light beams (bellows holes from crappy original bellows material). I use Zeiss Nettars, real leather bellows and no holes.

f11 is your friend in a folder. Almost everything is in focus at that aperture.

So what do I recommend? A c220 with a 65mm and 135mm lens. nice camera setup.

tim in san jose

 

[2F/2F]

200 pound is a lot of money. There are too many options to list, at that price.

 

[Ian Grant]

200 pound is a lot of money.

Not at UK prices, Mr 2F, you will get a shock when you find how much more expensive the UK & Europe are compared to the US

 

[fschifano]

Any of the suggestions made so far seem reasonable with one exception - the Seagull TLR. Stay far away from that thing. It is truly a piece of crap and will do nothing more than disappoint. Maybe there are some good examples around, but the one I got NEVER worked right. From day 1 the frame spacing was terrible and after blowing through only a few rolls of film, the transport mechanism stopped working altogether. Or rather, I should say, it worked too well. I'd load the film, and in advancing it to frame one, would find that the film had completely wound on to the take up spool. It had not stopped at frame #1. I got mine for $50 US in China, so I'm not crying over it. It was a crap shoot and I lost the bet. That's the way it goes sometimes. If bought at retail in the US, the price of a new one can run from $150 to $280 depending upon the model. No thanks.

If I were in your shoes, I'd seriously consider picking up a Mamiya C series TLR. I've a pair of C220's that I use regularly, so I speak from experience. They're more pricey than some of your Russian SLR and TLR options, but worth it. The lenses are top notch. The cameras are well built and sturdy. Look for clean one with an 80 mm. F/2.8 lens and you'll be happy with it for a long time. As finances permit, additional lenses can be added to the kit, along with other accessories like an eye level prism or porro-finder.

 

[2F/2F]

I agree with Frank about the Mamiya C series.

 

[PaulC]

If you are going for a folder then a rangefinder with a decent lens is probably best - I have very good results from a Moskva 5 that cost about $90 from Grizzly-someone on the well-known site (get one with the 6x6 insert included if you don't want to shoot 6x9 all the time). She seems to have these regularly and knows how to check they work. Nettars are good and cheap but the slow lenses (f6+) vignette. Check that you are getting a shutter with speeds that are useful ... B, T, 1/25 and 1/75 can be limiting

 

[Andy K]

If I were in your shoes, I'd seriously consider picking up a Mamiya C series TLR. I've a pair of C220's that I use regularly, so I speak from experience. They're more pricey than some of your Russian SLR and TLR options, but worth it. The lenses are top notch. The cameras are well built and sturdy. Look for clean one with an 80 mm. F/2.8 lens and you'll be happy with it for a long time. As finances permit, additional lenses can be added to the kit, along with other accessories like an eye level prism or porro-finder.

I have to admit I have often considered a Mamiya C series TLR, but they don't look as 'bagable' as a Rolleiflex. What are the ergonomics of use like?

 

[k_jupiter]

Nettars are good and cheap but the slow lenses (f6+) vignette. Check that you are getting a shutter with speeds that are useful ... B, T, 1/25 and 1/75 can be limiting

f6?

Most of mine are 80/3.5 or a 75/3.5. They do not vignette. And since you 1.) never look through the lens, and 2.) never shoot down at 3.5 anyway, it's no big deal. This camera is a nice carry around piece.

You might be refering to the old "Bob" 515 with a Nettar lens on it. I gave mine away.

tim in san jose

 

[k_jupiter]

I have to admit I have often considered a Mamiya C series TLR, but they don't look as 'bagable' as a Rolleiflex. What are the ergonomics of use like?

I have a small rectangular bag that fits the c220 with the 80 or 65mm lens on it, a spare lens and a front pocket for four or five rolls of film. Ergonomics? You have to be coordinated with both thumbs on the c220, one to cock the lens, one to set aperture.

The 65mm lens on that camera is a peach.

tim in san jose

 

[Sirius Glass]

I have to admit I have often considered a Mamiya C series TLR, but they don't look as 'bagable' as a Rolleiflex. What are the ergonomics of use like?

I found the "fiddle factor" very high. I spent much more time cocking the lenses that did not cock when the film was advanced and setting the aperature and shutter required that the camera be flipped on the other side [after cocking]. From the little handling I have done with Rolleis, I liked them better. I sold the C300 with the 65mm, 80mm and 250mm lenses, filters, Paraminder, Porroflex metered prism [meter was dead], focusing hood and just about every additional device available for the camera and bought a Hassey. i never looked back. IIRC, you have Rolleis and Leica; keep them and enjoy them.

Steve

 

[Fotoguy20d]

Under $100 in this economy will get you a century graphic. Add $30-50 for a roll film back (RH-12 for 6x6, RH-10 for 6x7). Another $50 or so will get you a very nice lens/shutter of your prefered focal length - 101mm Ektar is a nice choice.

Dan

 

[Tabaliah]

I would like to get a MF camera (and lens!) for street photo, but I want it cheap. (But obviously not crappy and broken). Like 200£, MAX.

Some recommend twin lens cameras (tlrs) for street photo, but I'm not religious about this. So ANY tips are welcome. I have used a Konica Hexar and Holga for street so far.

Lots of Pentacon Six and Bronica bodies are to be had for 50-100£, but I would also need a lens, and then the prices rise quickly...

What would a 35mm in the 24x36 world translate to in MF: 60-70mm?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=360136926800 (typical listing) which becomes 269£ plus shipping. I bought my Mamiya a lot cheaper in pieces (but of course I had to pay more shipping). The 645 format isn't quite 6x6 or 6x7 but a fun start to a fulfilling hobby.

 

[fschifano]

The Mamiya C series cameras are a bit fiddly, but nothing as bad as some make it out to be. The C330 cocks the shutter automatically when the film is advanced. The C220 doesn't. I don't know about the earlier versions of the camera, but they are all built on more or less the same chassis. The lenses are all top notch, and they are interchangeable. Lens sets are available from 55 mm. to 250 mm. Porrofinders and prism finders are available. Some even have light meters built in, but it may be harder to find one with a working light meter. The camera allows for very close focusing - thing macro close focusing. Sure parallax error is a problem, but there's eve a little gadget called a paramender to deal with that. Frame and focus with the viewing lens, then flip a little lever on the paramender to move the taking lens into the viewing lens position. No more parallax problems. Can't find a paramender? No problem. The lens axes for every lens set are exactly 50 mm apart on center. Simply raise the tripod head 50 mm. and you're golden. Damaged the glass on the taking lens? Again, no problem. The taking and viewing lenses are identical. Simply swap the the front and rear cells from the viewing lens position onto the shutter. They screw right in. No tools other than a hand with an opposable thumb are necessary. Try that with a Rollieflex or Rolliecord. Bottom line is that you can do a lot more with a Mamiya C series TLR than you can do with any other. Given those features, I'll put up with a little extra fiddle factor.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The Mamiya C series cameras are a bit fiddly, but nothing as bad as some make it out to be. The C330 cocks the shutter automatically when the film is advanced.

Your other observations are correct. I did have the paraminder, too. What I found was that the 250mm did not cock when the film was advanced. Not a big problem. I was just part of the overall problem with the fiddle factor.

Steve

 

[Andy K]

Just picked up a rather nice Isolette III complete with ever ready case, push on lens hood and yellow/green filter. Had to adjust the rf, but on these cameras that is a very simple job.

 

[Alan Macoustra]

Andy K, I just had a quick squizz at your flickr site, are any of the photos shot with the Isollette 111 ? I`d like to get hold of one to complement my Linhof Tech 111, how are you finding it ?

 

[Andy K]

I have no shots from it yet, still putting the first roll through it. All the square format 'night photography' set shots were made with my Isolette I but that has the 'budget' (but in my experience still excellent) Agnar 85mm 1:4.5 lens instead of the Isolette III's Apotar. They are on Flickr.

YOu can read more on Isolette's at Certo6's excellent website: http://www.certo6.com/cam/isolette.html

So far I have found the III to be a slow camera to use as I am still getting used to the uncoupled rangefinder way of working. But that doesn't bother me as I have no intention of using it for sports, kids or anything else that doesn't sit still for long!

 

[steven_e007]

I enjoyed the pics from the Isolette I, it made me realise that I hadn't used any of my 6X6 folders for about 18 months.

Also, I only have Zeiss Ikon folders (and an awful agifold) so I had a look on eBay to see if I could pick up something interesting and was suprised by the prices they were fetching! I mean they are still cheap, but I think the £10 days are over. Anything with a half decent lens and shutter seems to be going for a LOT more. In a way that is good (I own a lot of cameras!) but not so good if you want to grab a bargain

I just hope the cameras are being bought by photographers to take pictures with, not dealers and collectors to stick in cases.

 

[verney]

If you decide to take the SLR way then older Mamiya 645 with a 80mm lens should be doable under 200GBP. With wide angle lens you would propably need to stretch the budget a little.

 

[removed-user-1]

The Fuji GS645s rangefinder (the one with the fixed 60mm f/4, not a folder) is a great little camera with a wicked sharp lens. When I owned one I often used it for street photos. 60mm on a 6x4.5 is about the same as a 38mm lens on 24x36mm, allowing for cropping differences. I'm not sure you could find one for under 200 pounds, but I've seen them in the US for less than $300 from time to time.

 

[BetterSense]

I have a Lubitel 166 (which has a fine lens and is very light), but I just got an Isolette I, my second medium-format camera. The focus was frozen and the bellows was full of holes, but I fixed the focus and patched the bellows. It's literally my smallest and easiest to carry camera, even smaller than the ME Super I used to carry around; it fits in my jeans pocket! On sunny days it's very easy to use because at f/22 it's not necessary to focus, and sunny 16 or 11 or maybe 8 in the shadows is very easy to pull off, plus even the cheap Agnar lens is very good at such small apertures. In TX sun is not hard to come by but I'm still getting used to using it indoors or at night.

I highly recommend a folder like this, I can't believe such a small camera can shoot such a large negative; how far we have regressed since the '50s.

 

[Brandon D.]

Hol-

Nevermind. Sorry.

 

[bagdad child]

I have a Yashica Mat LM that produces almost as sharp images as my Pentax 67. The Yashica Mat LM was produced 1958-60 and has the excellent 80mm f/3.5 Yashinon taking lens. I got mine in near excellent condition for $5. It's an all mechanical camera. The film advance is quite sensitive but if treaten with care should last for quite some time.