Medium format photography anyone?

Dylan Kasson

Steel Member
Ive been looking at cameras and such and the photos that turn out from medium format cameras are amazing. Ive been looking at the Hasselblad 500c/m but i have no idea about all the stuff like the backs, lenses, like everything you need to take good medium format photos and what a good medium format camera is. I doubt anybody would know on here except maybe martin because i know he shoots medium format but I dont think he comes on much anymore. So can somebody tell me the basics about it?
 

seankane

Member
holga120s.jpg


medium format for 30 bucks, i'm picking one up soon.

probably not the quality you're looking for, though.
 

Dylan Kasson

Steel Member
yea ive seen those sean i might get one just for fun but i think ive decided im gonna get the mamiya rb 67 i spent last night researching it all the quality is so so good you cant even tell its film its amazing ive found full kits the body, waist level view finder, lens, and film back for under 400 so once i get enough money thats what im gonna go with
 

seankane

Member
Dylan said:
yea ive seen those sean i might get one just for fun but i think ive decided im gonna get the mamiya rb 67 i spent last night researching it all the quality is so so good you cant even tell its film its amazing ive found full kits the body, waist level view finder, lens, and film back for under 400 so once i get enough money thats what im gonna go with


do you know where you can get medium format developed/how much it costs? because i'm way too lazy to do it myself, and i'm not trying to spend a shitton to get it developed if i shoot a lot, so that's the drawback for me, even though medium format is awesome. i've got 3 rolls of 35mm sitting around to get developed now, i just don't feel like paying for it.
 

P4RK3R

Member
Dylan said:
yea ive seen those sean i might get one just for fun but i think ive decided im gonna get the mamiya rb 67 i spent last night researching it all the quality is so so good you cant even tell its film its amazing ive found full kits the body, waist level view finder, lens, and film back for under 400 so once i get enough money thats what im gonna go with
have you seen one in person? its huge and its got a plastic body, it kind of feels cheap.
theres a few broncias going for under $300 with 2 lenses, 2 backs
 

Dylan Kasson

Steel Member
seankane said:
Dylan said:
yea ive seen those sean i might get one just for fun but i think ive decided im gonna get the mamiya rb 67 i spent last night researching it all the quality is so so good you cant even tell its film its amazing ive found full kits the body, waist level view finder, lens, and film back for under 400 so once i get enough money thats what im gonna go with


do you know where you can get medium format developed/how much it costs? because i'm way too lazy to do it myself, and i'm not trying to spend a shitton to get it developed if i shoot a lot, so that's the drawback for me, even though medium format is awesome. i've got 3 rolls of 35mm sitting around to get developed now, i just don't feel like paying for it.
im going to photography school next year and the year after and they have a darkroom so i get to develop as much as i want for free
i have no idea about the film cost and the good film and bad film though haha
 

Dylan Kasson

Steel Member
parker said:
Dylan said:
yea ive seen those sean i might get one just for fun but i think ive decided im gonna get the mamiya rb 67 i spent last night researching it all the quality is so so good you cant even tell its film its amazing ive found full kits the body, waist level view finder, lens, and film back for under 400 so once i get enough money thats what im gonna go with
have you seen one in person? its huge and its got a plastic body, it kind of feels cheap.
theres a few broncias going for under $300 with 2 lenses, 2 backs
yep ive seen them in person
i think the mamiya rb 67 gets wayyyy better quality than the bronica though
 

Martin

Member
Its nothing like digital man, the quality doesn't really depend on the camera, only the glass in the lens and the film. Hassleblad's have the highest quality lenses, but you're going to paying a lot for that, and you're not really going to see much difference between that and a bronny. The quality of a 6x6 photo is crazy compared most digi photos so I wouldn't even worry about that.

Developing b&w film isn't really that hard either, its not that expensive either. Getting color done can be more, especially if you're shooting a lot, you're only get 12 photos per film remember, unless your using 220 film which gives you 24 exposures.

I'd recommend getting the bronica sq-a personally, with a waist level finder, and a couple of 120 backs. For me the rb67 is too big, if you can find a size comparison you might be surprised.

You'll probably want a handheld lightmeter too, you won't have any meter in the camera unless you get a AE prism, not really worth the money though. I use the sekonic L308, its an ambient and flash meter and its not too expensive, spot meters are the best but they cost a lot more. You might want a film scanner too, I'm not really up to date with scanners but I have a Canoscan 8400f which can take 35mm and 120 film and scans up to 3200dpi, and I think its pretty good.
 

Dylan Kasson

Steel Member
yea i was looking at hassleblads and its just a little out of my price range
what medium format camera do you shoot with?
why would i need multiple backs though?
and i have seen how big the rb67 is and thats fine with me ive seen some bronica photos and they just dont seem as good as the mamiya photos i dont really know much though
could you link me to a bronica kit? like body lens and back? and to the light meter?
i have a film scanner so ill be fine with that
 

Martin

Member
I use a bronica sq-a.
You really won't see a difference between mamiya and bronica photos, the body of an mf camera is just a box, the quality of the photo is only effected by the glass and the film, the body of the camera doesn't matter.

This is a size comparison I found:
102725161_6735fb887f.jpg


The rb67 is mainly used for studio work, the bronica is much better for handheld work. I really wouldn't get a rb67 before you at least try it out. Just look on ebay for the kit, the 80mm is the standard lens, its the same as a 50mm on a 35mm cam.

And you don't really need 2 backs, I just find it useful for shooting color and b&w, they aren't really very expensive either.
 

Dylan Kasson

Steel Member
yes but what if the mamiya glass is better than the bronica?
from what i see the mamiyas are cheaper like i found a whole perfect kit for 300$ and the bronicas are going for alot more
can you change out the backs while there have been pictures taken on them? wouldnt the light ruin it?
 

Martin

Member
You seriously won't notice any difference at all, both have really good quality lenses, any difference you're seeing is with the film, or the scanning and editing.

I personally think the rb67 is a bad choice, it has a longer shutter lag then the bronny because of the size of the mirror, it can also only go to 1/400th instead of 1/500th on the bronny, and people say: "hand holding an RB is like shooting with a loaf of bread. A bit unwieldy." Its really not designed to be used off a tripod.


And you have a darkslide in the back which you take out to shoot photos, it just a slide of metal to block out the light.
 

Dylan Kasson

Steel Member
oh nice alright thanks so much martin youve been alot of help with this haha i feel like such a idiot about this
do you mean the shutter lag meaning the time when you press the shutter release to the time the mirror actually goes?
and what film do you recommend? ive been looking around on flickr and im really liking shots using kodak portra 160nc
 
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