Which medium format should i get?

[gary chew 1984]

I'm so tempted to get a vintage medium format for shooting (mostly portraiture & fashion, current doing fashion photography with DSLR). But i'm really has "0" knowledge on those vintage SLR. Has read some forum online and went to some shop. can i have your opinion. The camera that i'm intended to get are either mamiya 645, 150mm f3.5 (sgd$700) / mamiya rb67 (pros) 90mm f3.8(sgd$800) / mamiya c330 80mm ($500) / 500cm black with a12 back + 50mm CT distagon (sgd$800).
-Which one should i go for (or any recommendation type) (by the way, its not easy to find a vintage camera in singapore)?
- what is the advantages/ disadvantages
- quality of the photos?

Thanks you so much for reading (apologized if i asked dumb question)

 

[Slixtiesix]

Dear Gary,

these are no dumb questions at all! All the cameras you mentioned are quality medium format cameras. All of them should be able to deliver high quality photos.
The Hasselblad ist a famous camera commonly recommended for portrait and fashion. However the 50mm lens that comes with it is quite short (would be comparable to a wide angle on your DSLR), so not optimal for portraiture. 80 or 150mm lenses are better for this. If you want to compare focal lengths between medium format and 24x36mm, just divide the mf focal length in half. So a 50mm lens has about the angle of view of a 25mm on a (Full Frame) DSRL, a 150mm is more like a 75mm and so on. I would only take the Hasselblad if the dealer has some longer lens.
Both the Hasselblad and the Mamiya C330 are 6x6 cameras, producing square images. Whether you like that depends on your taste. Of course you can always crop later (unless you shoot slide film).
The Mamiya C330 is a TLR, which has the benefit that there is nor mirror slap, so less vibration. Also, the screen image does not black out while doing the exposure. The C330 was the last model of a long line of Mamiya TLR cameras, so it is the youngest and most sophisticated of the Mamiya TLRs.
The RB67 is a 6x7 camera, offering a slightly larger negative than the Hasselblad and C330. Also well known as a workhorse of fashion and portrait photographers.
The Mamiya 645 has a negative format of 6x4,5cm, so quite smaller than the other cameras. But the camera itself is also smaller. Lenses are of high quality too, but the other cameras may deliver even better image quality simply because their format is larger (However, when you crop the images of the Hasselblad or C330 to rectangles, this benefit is lost since you end up with a 6x4,5cm frame as well). The Mamiya 645 is also the camera that should be most alike to your DSRL in handling. The other cameras have a waist level finder, where you can look at the image on a screen (though you can mount prisms on all of them I think, not sure about the Mamiya RB67). You should be aware that the image that you see in the waist level finder is left-right reverse! If that is a problem for you, better buy the Mamiya 645 or look for a prism for the other cameras.

So in short, all of these are good cameras. Since you have looked at them in the shop already I think it would be best to have a closer look on all of them and look how they handle. Then choose the camera that fits your style of work best.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

You might check out Rolleiflex.

Jeff

 

[Idaho_Photoist]

I sold my Mamiya RZ I used it for studio portrait work, and group shot work for years, and it was great for on the tripod work, however it was so heavy that using for wedding candid or anything mobile I found it slow, heavy and clumsy. I also use my Canon DSLR quite a lot, but my heart is still in film so I am working on getting a Mamiya 645, as it is light like a 35mm but with nearly 3 times the film area ot the 35mm. and I can pack it and shoot where ever. In one of my studios I had two Mamiya twins and later I had a Rollei twin, but I do not care for the twin lens concept as I never could rap myself around the parallax issues of twin lenses.

 

[analoguey]

Looks like the MF forum is kept alive only by such threads! Practically one every other week (Is the search button only working for some users?).

:alien:

Gary, check the archives. There was even one just a couple of weeks back on "which camera to buy" - you will find quite a lot of info there. If not, check this link.

cheers

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

IF you are limited to those specific combinations, then the camera that makes the most sense for what you're looking to do is the Mamiya 645 with the 150mm lens. This is a fine lens for portraits and for fashion. Also, additional lenses for the 645 are inexpensive. The lenses for the RB are also generally speaking inexpensive, so it would not be hard to add additional lenses to it down the road. As others previously mentioned, the RB is a big, heavy camera - I would go in to the store and play with it if they will let you, and make sure it is something you are comfortable with. If you are suffering from a dearth of options in Singapore, I'd go up to Bangkok for a weekend and pop by the camera stores there. It's been a few years since I was there but I remember a really big camera store in MBK Centre that was chock full of high-end cameras. And there's always Ebay.

 

[removed account4]

if you like vintage
you might check out a graflex slr
they are easy as pie to use,
and you can use barrel lenses on them
because the shutter is in the camera.
i've had a 4x5 graflex slr for nearly 20 years
and recently got a 2x3 one to use up all my 120 film
lots of fun to use and folds up tiny!
john

 

[frank]

John, remember that the OP is a dslr user. What's vintage to him is any film camera, not what film guys like us would consider vintage.

 

[pdeeh]

That doesn't follow at all.
There are plenty of dSLR users who are also film users, and probably even more who are quite old enough to know about Graflex et al

 

[removed account4]

John, remember that the OP is a dslr user. What's vintage to him is any film camera, not what film guys like us would consider vintage.

huh, i figured it is as easy as a keystroke away
to google if the OP had no idea what i was talking about

http://graflex.org/articles/series-d/

they came / come in 2x3, 3x4 ( there are mf roll backs ) 4x5, and 5x7

 

[frank]

That doesn't follow at all.
There are plenty of dSLR users who are also film users, and probably even more who are quite old enough to know about Graflex et al

If that were the case here then he likely wouldn't be posting asking for such basic advice. So yes, it does follow at least somewhat.

Re-read his first 2 sentences:
"I'm so tempted to get a vintage medium format for shooting (mostly portraiture & fashion, current doing fashion photography with DSLR). But i'm really has "0" knowledge on those vintage SLR."

 

[removed account4]

hi frank

tons of people with experience even 10 years experience shooting film ask the same exact
question ... and i would use a graflex over the blad for portraits any day of the week

 

[Jaf-Photo]

My suggestion would be a Mamiya 645s. They are cheap, durable and precise. The lenses are cheap but excellent too. Meter prisms are also cheap and accurate.

Basically, you would get a mf setup as good as you'll ever need for a few hundred bucks.

 

[frank]

hi frank

tons of people with experience even 10 years experience shooting film ask the same exact
question ... and i would use a graflex over the blad for portraits any day of the week

Do whatever makes you happy. I wish you nothing but good light.

 

[removed account4]

Do whatever makes you happy. I wish you nothing but good light.

back at ya'

 

[ntenny]

My suggestion would be a Mamiya 645s. They are cheap, durable and precise. The lenses are cheap but excellent too. Meter prisms are also cheap and accurate.

Basically, you would get a mf setup as good as you'll ever need for a few hundred bucks.

I agree with this summary, even though I'm a TLR guy at heart. Really, any of the manual-focus 645 SLRs would have basically the same virtues, but Mamiya seems to offer particularly good price/performance. At least that's true at US prices---I don't know what the market looks like in Singapore. (I don't remember ever seeing a film camera there except in my hands.)

The M645 family are hand-holdable, they shoot more or less like an overgrown 35mm camera or DSLR, and they're technically as good as most of us would ever need. They might not win any contests for "most vintage character" as compared with John's Graflexen, thought.

-NT

 

[DannL.]

I'm not trying to sell anyone on this particular camera, but I do enjoy using the RZ67 Pro. What I like about the RZ I distilled from the previous 120 cameras and view-cameras that I have used. Close-up focusing without fiddling with extension tubes, close-up lens sets, or changing lenses was a top priority. I can go from shooting a landscape to shooting a close-up simply by focusing. Second on that priority list was a rotating back. I hate lining up a tripod and camera and then because of a change in composition having to rotate the camera and tripod-head, thus starting all over. Using the camera with or without a metered prism is a handy feature. I can lighten the camera by 2 lbs. in just a few seconds. Having a camera with substantial weight can be a big plus for dampening vibrations. Being able to shoot when the battery is dead I think would be a handy feature when in the field. Being a view-camera user I prefer working with larger negatives. I really hate roll-film. But, that's the price I must pay to use this type of camera. I'm sure there are many 120 film cameras that have similar features, but I have not used those . . . yet.

 

[hsandler]

If you are only considering those specific camera/lens combinations that you found in the shop, then the mamiya 645 will be like shooting a full frame DSLR with an 85mm lens, the C330 and Mamiya rb67 will be like shooting with a 50mm lens, and the Hasselblad will be like shooting with a 28mm lens, probably not too versatile for fashion. What lens do you usually use for your DSLR for fashion/portraiture? Go with something with the same field of view. My guess is the Mamiya 645 will be best for you. Another question to ask yourself is what kind of viewfinder do you prefer. If you love to look at a ground glass with two eyes in a waist-level finder, I'd go with something other than the Mamiya 645, since it will more or less demand the use of a prism for vertical fashion shots, whereas all the other choices will be fine with just a waist level finder. A third question is whether you intend to sc*n the negatives or print in a darkroom. The larger negative from the RB67 will be an advantage if you are sc*nning, but will demand a bigger enlarger for a darkroom.

If you are considering buying by mail from overseas, then your choices also include Pentax or Bronica, both priced similar to the Mamiya offerings and less than Hasselblad.

 

[Bigdaddyg]

I also recommend the RZ67 Pro II. It is a beautiful camera and produces stunning images. I have used a hassy 500CM, the RZ, and Large format for portraits and fashion. I sold my Rz this year and purchased a Mamiya 6. The Mamiya 6 is a great camera but I regret selling my RZ. The Hassy never felt right in my hands and the Large Format is just too slow for fashion. I shot the Rz handheld most of the time and sometimes on a tripod. It is one of the most versatile cameras I ever had. I recommend the 110mm 2.8 and a 150 or 180mm Lens.