Three things I wish someone would have told me when I started MF...

ColColt said:

Is there a witness in the house today?

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Amen!

Jay: My wife's a redhead and I caught her with an RB67 MF Mamiya. In color. Unfortunately, I didn't know her when she was a kid! But I wasn't shooting MF back then anyways.

I started with MF TLR went to 35mm and decades later I went to MF TLR which quickly got replaced by the Hasselblads. I had a non rangefinder folding camera which took superb photographs but I sold it because I just did not use it enough. When 220 first came out the film choices were too limited so I passed. Later when I started using MF again, I passed for the same reason.

Many years ago I tried to load a roll of 220 HP5 into a Paterson reel. The reel was dry and in good condition but the film base for the 220 HP5 was just too thin. I wound up keeping the film in the tank with the center tube in to seal out the light but without successfully getting the film onto the reel. I bought a Brooks type 220 stainless steel reel and was able to load it. Black & white 220 film is no longer sold but I still have some frozen. I eventually found Nikor 220 wide spaced tank/reel sets on eBay. They use a lot more chemistry but are far easier to load. A person with good technique and equipment and with fine grain film can still do excellent work with 35mm film. It just takes more effort. If I am shooting a suitable subject (no car races) and use a 55/2.8 AIS Nikkor with Technical Pan or Imagelink HQ and mount the camera on a tripod I can make prints as large as I like and they will be sharp and not grainy at all. As a practical matter it is easier to put some ACROS or Ilford FP4+ in a 6X7 camera if I know I will want to make a large print. The standard films have more exposure latitude and can handle more difficult lighting conditions. Still, 35mm equipment allows us to shoot hand held in situations where using a larger format would be difficult or impossible. My first experiences with medium format were in High School. I had a Yachica Mat 124G and also got to use a Rolleiflex and Koni-Omega equipment. My use of medium format SLRs is more recent. I use tripods when I need to but I also shoot hand held with Bronica GS-1, SQ and ETR series cameras as well as Mamiya M645 cameras. I find the Mamiya RB and RZ cameras more difficult to use hand held but I have dome it from time to time. Using a 6X6 TLR with the standard lens for portraits and using close-up lenses to better fill the frame is not really suitable. A lens in the range of twice that of the standard one is far better for portraits. Going from 35mm to medium format is an adjustment but the results can be rewarding.

For me the three were:

1. f/3.5 is enough
I even gave this advice for a friend, he ended up buying two 2.8 Flex at different time, and I ended up having the older of his two
I still have my Cord III with 3.5 Xenar but I'd really like a 3.5 Planar.

2. You don't need that RB kit
This RB kit that came with two backs and the 50/90/250 lenses. Only shot like 4-6 rolls thru it in more than 2 years, never go out with me anywhere because practicality of a TLR wins me over. When it does came out though, the negatives are so so good and makes it worth the hassle.

3. Get a hood, a Rolleinar, and a good CLA
Sorry I cheated on this last bit but I think just this point will make me a happy MF shooter.

P.S. This thread is loaded with great advices I'll keep in mind.

Sirius Glass said:

I had a non rangefinder folding camera which took superb photographs...

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I've never had a camera that took photographs, is that like a self driving car?

edit: That would explain alot...

Noob weighs in.
'Loaded my first roll of 120 onto a Patterson reel last night - not really bad at all. I'd only done 35mm previously. 'Developed & scanned today - one's up on the gallery now.
I'm regularly surprised by how good the humble 35 can be. Some of that is just that I shoot it alot more. Now that I can develope & scan, I'll be giving the 'blad more exercise. 'Had a really rough time focusing the blad at first, but didn't know it had issues other than my aging eyes. *** 'Really appreciate you experienced guys writing about what has gone wrong, how you'd do it differently, etc. Its very encouraging. Thank You!!

The main thing I wish I'd been warned about when I started MF was that it was the gateway to LF. :/

winger said:

The main thing I wish I'd been warned about when I started MF was that it was the gateway to LF. :/

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yes, I got sucked into that too.

winger said:

The main thing I wish I'd been warned about when I started MF was that it was the gateway to LF. :/

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Yep, and I keep telling myself that I'm stopping at 8x10. Contact printing 11X14 would be nice though. Owning a film camera is like owning a boat and having twofootitis.

Ko.Fe. said:

.....

If someone wants 6x9 (makes MF even more unique as media format), RFs and SFs are fine and only cameras for it........

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Hummm... My Cambo 23SF view camera does a remarkable job with 6x9 negatives. That's why I bought it !

winger said:

The main thing I wish I'd been warned about when I started MF was that it was the gateway to LF. :/

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Once you start down the dark(cloth) path, forever will it dominate your life!