What is you favorite type of medium format camera?

[cjbecker]

I am never sure, I use both SLR and TLR, I like using the TLR more (Rolleicord III), but whenever you have a 500cm with a 80 sitting next to it. It is hard not to think of the quality coming out of the SLR, and pick that one up instead.

 

[MSOKAL]

The rangefinder ones, like the Mamyia 7.

 

[hairygit]

Folders without a doubt, I even have a great fondness for my Moskva 5 (cue half the members puking in the toilet!) but it takes amazing photos, with a super sharp lens, and a rangefinder that works! Also regularly use a No2 folding autographic brownie and a King penguin, a Kershaw 630, and a couple of 620 folding brownies. I also have a couple of tlrs, a Lubitel and a Voigtlander brilliant, and more than a dozen box cameras, including No2 brownies, 620 brownie popular, 620 brownie model c and e to name a few. Also got my eye on an ARAX/KIEV 88 at the moment, but I'll have to see what the Mrs thinks about that one. A hard question indeed, but Folders are my choice!

 

[Steve Smith]

They are all great. That's why I have folders, TLRs, SLRs, home made things, cameras of other formats (Polaroid) converted to roll film, etc. I don't have an MF rangefinder yet though (other than a folder with a rangefinder).


Steve.

 

[alroldan12]

i really like the 6x7 format. I own a mamiya RZ... yes, a little on the heavy side to carry around, but no major complaints. The RZ is currently my favorite camera (that's because I can't afford an SL 66).

 

[pgomena]

I prefer my Hasselblad over my Rollei TLR or my Fuji 6x9. Right now the Hasselblad is on the injured reserve list, so my always reliable Rollei is getting all the playing time. The Fuji may go up for sale so the 'Blad can have knee surgery.

Peter Gomena

 

[cjbecker]

What happened to the blad?

 

[revdocjim]

If I could pick a favorite I guess I wouldn't own so many. But looking at my collection it is obvious that I am partial to the SLR. I have eight of them, one TLR, and zero rangefinders.

 

[TareqPhoto]

I don't want to be a show off, but i have the following cameras:
Mamiya RZ67 ProII
Hasselblad 501cm
Mamiya 7II
Fuji GSW690III
Holga 120WPC
Holga 120N

Now my question is: Do you think i should add another type like folding or TLR?

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Tareq-

are you collecting cameras or taking pictures? If you're collecting, by all means pick up a folder and a TLR. If you're shooting, you've already got some of the very best cameras made (and some of the worst too ), and it would be hard to give the ones you already have an adequate workout. I'd stick with what you have now and use them a LOT until you get very familiar with what you have and understand what they do for you and what they don't do that you need.

 

[TareqPhoto]

Tareq-

are you collecting cameras or taking pictures? If you're collecting, by all means pick up a folder and a TLR. If you're shooting, you've already got some of the very best cameras made (and some of the worst too ), and it would be hard to give the ones you already have an adequate workout. I'd stick with what you have now and use them a LOT until you get very familiar with what you have and understand what they do for you and what they don't do that you need.

I am collecting cameras and taking pictures, i never buy any camera without taking pics even 2 pics, i did use all those film camera a lot except the holgas, and still i use them all one to another for different applications or the style i want.

 

[vpwphoto]

Then one the makes you happy enough to not worry about what APUG folks think!

 

[BenjiH]

Where's the Mamiya 6 love?? It's a rangefinder, light, super sharp and even though its not a folder, the lens does retract into the body. It's the perfect travel camera.

 

[gnolanphotography]

Folders, my favorites are the Isolettes.

 

[TimmyMac]

My current favourite is the RZ, because I can get great APO and ULD lenses for less than any other system.

Now, as for the one I carry with me daily...

 

[Sirius Glass]

I use an SLR because I want to see the DoF and the effects of filters including polarizors. I sold off my 120 TLRs and folders because I was not using them enough.

Steve

 

[Andrew K]

I love em all....because each produces a different result, and different types of cameras are better for differnt kinds of photography.

Folders - I love them (my favorite is a pre war Zeiss 645 folder as it's small enough to carry in a pocket and forget you have it) because they are compact, and produce a big negative in a small package. The downside for me as I wear glasses is the small viewfinder most have (composition is as much a guess as anything)

TLR's - I have several, both fixed lens (Rolleicord, MPP, Semflex) and interchangabile lens (Mamiya C220 - but I did have a C33). I love the Mamiya's as you can change the lenses, plus replace the viewfinders with eye-level (porroflex/prism) finders. No matter what camera I love the fact I can see the whole viewfinder so composition is easy - especially on those cmaeras that have a moving viewfinder mask to correct for paralax as you focus closer...

I love the fixed lens cameras because they are a third the weight of the Mamiya's, but just as sharp...

SLR's - what you see is what you get. I've owned or used too many 120 SLR's in several formats...and each had their good and bad points. The fact that a camera didn't have an interchangable back was not a big deal to me, but I did prefer to use a eye level prism. I also found I tended to drift back to 6X6 format cameras - for no other reason than I tend to shoot portraits in 120, and I like square photos....
My favorite was probably a Kowa 6 - an under-rated camera with a sharp lens...but all the Hasselblads I've owned were great too....

RB 67's are also a great camera - especially as you can focus SO close with them...and I do have a big soft spot for the Pentax 645 and Mamiya 645 cameras - they were easy to handle, and cheap....

Then again - I do have a Arca Swiss 6x9 SLR - a monorail front with a SLR back....fun to use.....

So I suppose my answer is they are all great....

 

[Sirius Glass]

Hasselblad.

At the risk of repeating myself:

Steve, Now come over and wipe all this coffee off my monitor screen......

I was shooting 35mm C-41 color and sending my film to Costco to process.
I was happy.

Then I found this site.
I inherited a Mamiya C330.
I did not like the C330 so I sold it for a Hasselblad.
I started developing black & white film.
I bought more Hasselblad lenses.
i bought a second 35mm camera so I could shoot black & white and color film.
I bought more Hasselblad lenses.
I set up a black & white darkroom.
I bought more Hasselblad lenses.
I bought a Hasselblad SWC.
I took up LF by buy a 4"x5" Pacemaker Speed Graphic and a 4"x5" Graflex Model D.
I bought a Jobo processor.
Now I process black & white and color film and prints.

Lessons Learned:

* Stay away from APUG.org!
* Stay away from KEH. com!
* Stay away from eBay!



Steve

HHAHAHAHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Gotta love it!

 

[Citizen_Erased]

While I haven't done much MF work, I was drawn to the RB67 over the 645 and TLR cameras. I like the weight of the camera and I love how close it focuses, along with the revolving back feature. Glass is relatively cheap on KEH. I also like the larger negative, and how people at the park remark at the size of it. Just like last weekend, I was setting up and some teenage girl walked by and commented to her friend, "that's a huge camera."

 

[c6h6o3]

Hasselblad. For my money there is no substitute.

 

[sfj]

Mamiya TLR

I happily used Pentax 35mm SLRs , off and on, for nearly 40 years but got a Mamiya C2 TLR when the prices of film cameras fell. Since then, I've used mainly the C2 and a C330, and gradually acquired a fairly full system of lenses and accessories.

I've never had so much enjoyment with any other type of camera. The slow methodical working suits me now (in my 50s); the large viewfinder is always a joy to see, and the image quality is always impressive, especially on a large LCD screen. It's also satisfying to use such a robust technology so many years after it was built and to step away from the consumerist world of digital photography!

 

[benjiboy]

I like the Mamiya C 330F I bought mine second hand after been made redundant about twenty five years ago together with the 55, 80, 135, and 180mm lens pairs because it was the cheapest medium format system I could get with interchangeable lenses that was ideal for wedding/social/portrait photography to try to make a living with until I could get another job.
Over the twenty five years I've owned the system it's done everything I've asked of it, and has been utterly reliable and I particularly like it's mechanical simplicity, straight film path, leaf shutter lenses and lack of mirror shock and complex linkages that M/F SLR s have between the body and the back that often cause problems.
I had both my C330 bodys CLA'd last year for the first time and had the light seals replaced and they look and work like new and I hope to enjoy them for many years to come.

 

[Dr.Pain-MD]

The TLR is the MF camera for me. The three main reasons I love them are the waist level finder, the quiet shutter and the lack of mirror slap. All this makes it such a fun shooting experience for me. I've very briefly played with a Hasselblad and it's not as ergonomic or natural to use for me.