| Photography Forum: Medium Format Photography Forum: |
 |
Q. Getting started with medium format
Asked by James Crawford
(K=794) on 1/4/2003
|
Hello all, my question is that I would really like to get started with medium format shooting, except I know nothing about it. How different is it in comparison to 35mm SLR shooting? Benefits, downfalls? Are there any reasonably priced cameras?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David Goldfarb
(K=7611) - Comment Date 1/5/2003
|
This is a really broad question. There are many options available in medium format, and some kinds of MF cameras work very much like some kinds of 35mm cameras. For instance, if you're used to a 35mm rangefinder camera like a Leica M-series, it would take very little time to get used to a Mamiya 7. If you've used a manually operated SLR like a Pentax K1000, just imagine it being bigger and you can use a Pentax 67. There are 645 cameras with autofocus and prism finders. Many 6x6 cameras come set up with waist level finders that show the image reversed right to left, but you can often add a prism, if you feel you really need one. Some SLRs like the Fuji 6x8 or the Mamiya RB67 are heavy and best suited to the studio (though not impossible to hand hold), while Hasselblad and Bronica 6x6 SLRs are quite comfortable to carry around.
When you move up in format, you get more film area, which will give you richer tonality in all your images, greater enlargement potential, and better ability to render fine detail. Grain becomes less of an issue, so you can choose films more on the basis of tonality. A film that is too grainy for your taste in 35mm might be excellent in 6x7.
You also will be using longer lenses with a larger format, so your DOF will decrease in general. Sometimes this is a problem, but often it is an advantage, if you like to use selective focus.
A good way to test the waters is with a less expensive TLR like a Minolta Autocord, Yashicamat 124G, or if you think you might want interchangeable lenses, a Mamiya C330. Buy one of these cameras used, and you will be able to sell it for about the same price if you decide the format isn't for you, or you would prefer a different kind of camera (SLR or rangefinder, for instance).
It's good to have a few different formats available. Then you use each format for what it does best. I use 35mm for occasions when I need 35mm slides or when only 35mm will do the job, as for wildlife photography with long lenses. I use medium format for casual shooting and situations where I want a larger format, but an SLR is more practical than a 4x5" or larger camera (candid portraits, for instance). For landscapes, formal portraits, still life, and architecture, I prefer large format--usually 8x10", but 4x5" when the 8x10" camera is inconvenient, and 11x14" on special occasions.
|
|
|
|
James Crawford
(K=794) - Comment Date 1/5/2003
|
Thanks David! Very incitefull! I'm so looking forward to finding a medium format camera package that I can afford. Your mention of possible models will definitely come in handy in my searches!!!
|
|
|
|
Chris Lauritzen
(K=14949) - Comment Date 1/6/2003
|
James,
You might also want to take a look at the Kiev line of Medium Format cameras. There is basically two cameras to look at, one is the model 60 which is a lot like using a 35mm system (camera looks like a bloated Pentax K1000). The other one is the 88 model which looks like a Hassy. Here is a link with more information?.
www.kievcamera.com
|
|
|
|
Greg O'Conner
(K=2398) - Comment Date 1/25/2003
|
It's really different. Don't buy anything cheap (well at least new). I'd recomend staying away from the Keiv's (although they are very tempting). For a first start I'd go with a used Yashica 124. I started with one, but moved on to a more expensive Bronica SLR (I loved the 6x6 so much).
|
|
|
|
Meryl Arbing
(K=321) - Comment Date 1/29/2003
|
I like the look I get from Zeiss lenses but unfortunately, Hasselblad, Rollei and Contax 645 were out of my price range and so I looked at some older Zeiss Ikon classics which were pretty reasonably priced in comparison.
I have a nice Super Ikonta B 6x6 and an Ikoflex Ic TLR which is also 6x6. It took some careful investigation to get ones that were relatively free from the ravages of time but they both take great shots...IF you are willing to accept the fact that you only have one focal length.
|
|
|
|
Charles Morris
(K=5969) - Comment Date 2/7/2003
|
one serious stage in the MF culture is sticker shock when you see the prices. once you get past that or find somethign more affordable used, then you play with them and notice that youmiss alot of shots and no matter how much you try to plan or pre-set the camera, the aperture and shutter are wrong.
after a while you get used to loading the camera quickly, you get back in the swing of manual focus and manual exposure even to the point of being able to use one eye in the viewfinder and another eye looking through a spotmeter.
the differences i have watched trip up photographers that were 35mm users mostly had to do with the film loading process and the fact that most MF format cameras use 120 film and produce 16 or less shots per roll. so you will reload 2 or 3 times as often as a 35mm shooter would. also the lack of automation seems to point the leanring curve straight up. you just dropped $1500 on a used bronica s2, 2 backs and 3 lenses and got a great deal... now you find that to even use it you have to spend more on a handheld meter? and now your old tripod is too flimsy to support this rig with the 250mm lens attached, so there goes another $150 for a set of legs and maybe $100-$300 for a head to go with that. oh yeah, you wanted flash? $50 and up for a decent flash bracket and then another $200+ for a flash that has enough power to be useful. after all that you figure out the flash sync is so slow that you have to use slow film and little apertures and a huge blast of flash so you don't see trails in the image from any motion at all prior to the point the flash fired. and the film is more expensive per shot, and the processing is more expensive, and the prints are usually odd sizes and you can only get film processed at full service labs that are expensive... (are ya feeling queasy yet?)
is it all worth it? it depends. if you need the big neg, if you want to slow down your shooting style and put more thought into each shot, then it is worth it. if you covet matrix metering and ttl flash and motor drives and program exposure modes, then you have a choice: stick with 35mm, or get ready to drop thousands of dollars on what most would consider a very basic kit. if you think hassy you can get all this stuff in the 200 series cameras and it's easy to drop $7000 on a bare body like a 205FCC. it's cheaper to go with mamiya though. that same $7000 will go a long way toward a useful mamiya 645 system. If you liie rangefinders ithin the sleeper is the fuji ga645zi. it comes complete with a 55-90mm zoom for about $1500-2000 depending on where you buy it.
medium format can be a very demanding mistress. only you can decide if the rewards are worth it.
2cents@large
|
|
|
|
Chris Evans
(K=795) - Comment Date 3/15/2003
|
I am new to the medium format illness too . It's like a cancer that eats away at my bank account but I love it . I have been shooting 35mm for years and decided two months ago I was ready for a change . I went to local camera shops and was shocked by the prices . I was on e-bay looking for tools and thought I would look there . I am glad I did . I bought a Pentax 645 manual focus with a 75mm lens for $725 delivered to my door . I got a new in box 55mm lens for $425 , a 120 macro for $500 and a 200mm telephoto for $285 . Everything I have bought so far is in mint condition and works great . I have about ten more lenses that I need and will continue to buy on e-bay . Right now a lot of pro photographers are dumping all of their medium format gear cheap because they are all going digital . I will go digital when a digital back is made for the Pentax 645 .
One word of warning on e-bay . RESEARCH YOUR SELLER ! Look at what they have sold in the past and DIG deep into their feedback profiles . Good luck and welcome to the medium format illness .
|
|
|
|
Brian C. Miller
(K=478) - Comment Date 3/25/2003
|
I went from a point&shoot to Pentax 6x7. And I do mean that my first camera was a point and shoot (Pentax WR90) and my NEXT camera was (is) my Pentax 6x7.
The SLR cameras function much like the 35mm SLRs, it's just that you don't have the depth-of-field (DOF) you currently do. The lenses are longer and slower than 35mm.
TLR (twin lens reflex) are an inexpensive introduction. Using them is quite unlike SLRs. The pentaprism, if available, is an optional accessory. You look down at the top, where the ground glass is. The image is reversed, left-to-right. However, since you are looking at it with both eyes open, you also see it in 3D. It takes a bit of adaptation, but after a while its just fine.
Medium format cameras are the middle child of the photography family. They don't get the attention of small format and they know they'll never measure up to their large format siblings. They compensate with money. Lots of it.
Some brands are quite expensive, notably Hasselblad and Rollei. Pentax is the cheapest, reliable MF SLR. I've heard good things and bad things about Kiev. I almost bought Hasselblad, and then I found out what lenses other than the normal 80mm cost. So I bought Pentax. I haven't regreted it at all.
If you are thinking of an expensive system, see if you can rent it first. Some people are finicky about the cameras they use. All of the medium format cameras have very different methods of use, and some jam if you don't follow the instructions. You might be finicky about the camera.
Buy from a reputable dealer. Some small dealers can and will screw you. Some small dealers are absolutely wonderful, and are a find, in and of themselves, better than the camera you buy from them. Go ahead and ask dealers what they think of each other. See if they will let you run a roll of film through the camera while you are in the shop. All reputable dealers will let you do that.
|
|
|
|
Charles Morris
(K=5969) - Comment Date 3/26/2003
|
Just a casual rant...
all camera designs have a reason to be as they are. One of the things i do not care for on my kiev gear that i otherwise like a lot is the omission of a leaf shutter lens. most other medium format systems either have them, or some way to apply them for their unique qualities. Leaf shutters take up space and are expensive to repeat in every lens, but the ability to have flash sync at all shutter speeds is a tough one to downplay to the portrait or product photographer. The kievs, even the 35mm variants, seem to usniversally have abysmal flash sync speeds. my 88cm and my 6c both have 1/30th top flash sync speeds, which renders them almost useless attempting to use fill flash in daylight. since i typically use them for daylight without flash, or static subjects with flash it is not so big an issue. if the flash sync were on par with rival systems, or if LS lenses could be had reasonably, i could see replacing my 35mm systems with rollfilm.
it's just another feature to consider when looking at a medium format system as a whole.
2cents@large
|
|
|
|
Brent Tannehill
(K=314) - Comment Date 4/23/2003
|
I think that the Mamiya c330 twin lens reflex is a great buy, and it has interchangeable lenses. Unfortunatly, they're very heavy. I find that comfort and size are just as important as quality. My main medium format camera is a minolta autocord TLR. It's light, folds up small, has a light meter and is so quiet, that you can take pictures of people without them knowing it. Most people consider them better than the yashicas, and equal to, or better than the rolleiflex.
|
|
|
|
Shannon Richardson
(K=1004) - Comment Date 5/4/2003
|
My first MF camera was a Pentax 645 I got about 13 years ago. I have never shot 35mm since. Over the years I aquired a Mamiya RB67 and then a RZ67. After getting tired of lugging around the RZ ( I mostly used it for commercial work) and not hardly touching my 645 I sold them both on ebay and purchased a Hasselblad 503CW. Wished I had got one years ago now that I have it. Anyway whatever you choose to buy, you'll find there is a certain image quality and characteristic that comes from MF images that was never there with 35mm and you'll wonder why you waited so long to switch.
|
|
|
|
William Ash
(K=443) - Comment Date 5/13/2003
|
Medium format manufactures worth considering (both new and used):
Mamiya
Fuji
Hasselblad
Bronica
Pentax
Contax
Rollei
I would not recommend the Russian/Eastern European manufactures because of reliability. You will find many more varieties in camera design and format compared to 35mm, which will make your job so much more fun and challenging. Try renting some of the cameras you are interested in to see how they handle.
|
|
|
|
William Ash
(K=443) - Comment Date 5/13/2003
|
P.S. Medium format is cheaper then Formula 1 racing.
|
|
|
|
|
