JTC
PFM Villager...
Hey all, I’ve agreed to buy Andrew’s Mamiya C220 TLR. Once upon a time, in a millenium far, far ago - well, ok, the late 90s to be fair - I had a Bronica ETRSi and then a Minolta Autocord, and then a Mamiya 7-ii, so I’m basically familiar with the MF film system, but that was a long time ago now. So this feels like a good time to pick one up and see where that takes me.
My wife also cut her professional teeth with a Rolleiflex of some description, so she may also have a play, but basically I suspect this will be my toy.
My rough plan is to develop my own B&W film, as I did in the past. We have most of the bits and aside from renewing chemicals and possibly buying a changing bag (as I no longer have a light-tight room) I suspect we have most of what we need.
The bigger challenge is scanning. Whilst we still have an enlarger up in the attic, I’d prefer to scan images somehow, at least so that I have a digital copy.
A question: I have two digital systems that I wonder about using, somehow. One is the Q2, which is 47MP and has an excellent macro and also manual focus capability, but is a 28mm lens. The other is the Fuji X series - XT2 and XH2 - which has relatively poor manual focus but a selection of lenses (I have 13/1.4 up to 90/2, plus a 100-400 zoom, but no macro lens). In the back of my mind, you used to be able to buy an attachment type thing that allowed you to take photographs of slides as a sort of slide duplicator, and perhaps something broadly similar might be available for taking high resolution images of the negative. Those duplicators were for 35mm but hopefully something suitable for 6x6 is available? Anyone know? I’d rather not have to budget for dev & scan packages, as the scanning adds a fair whack to the price, but that is a fall-back option, with a dedicated MF slide scanner being likely stupidly expensive and therefore not worth it for my occasional use.
My plan for the TLR is to slow down, big time. Use slow film, take my time, be in the moment and such; I remember MF being very much a ballad of composition and patience, compared to the wham-bam of 35mm. This appeals to me, and could be a fun extension of my photo hobby. Who knows, might - in time - get that enlarger setup and make prints, but we don’t really have the space for this right now… but never say never, right?
My wife also cut her professional teeth with a Rolleiflex of some description, so she may also have a play, but basically I suspect this will be my toy.
My rough plan is to develop my own B&W film, as I did in the past. We have most of the bits and aside from renewing chemicals and possibly buying a changing bag (as I no longer have a light-tight room) I suspect we have most of what we need.
The bigger challenge is scanning. Whilst we still have an enlarger up in the attic, I’d prefer to scan images somehow, at least so that I have a digital copy.
A question: I have two digital systems that I wonder about using, somehow. One is the Q2, which is 47MP and has an excellent macro and also manual focus capability, but is a 28mm lens. The other is the Fuji X series - XT2 and XH2 - which has relatively poor manual focus but a selection of lenses (I have 13/1.4 up to 90/2, plus a 100-400 zoom, but no macro lens). In the back of my mind, you used to be able to buy an attachment type thing that allowed you to take photographs of slides as a sort of slide duplicator, and perhaps something broadly similar might be available for taking high resolution images of the negative. Those duplicators were for 35mm but hopefully something suitable for 6x6 is available? Anyone know? I’d rather not have to budget for dev & scan packages, as the scanning adds a fair whack to the price, but that is a fall-back option, with a dedicated MF slide scanner being likely stupidly expensive and therefore not worth it for my occasional use.
My plan for the TLR is to slow down, big time. Use slow film, take my time, be in the moment and such; I remember MF being very much a ballad of composition and patience, compared to the wham-bam of 35mm. This appeals to me, and could be a fun extension of my photo hobby. Who knows, might - in time - get that enlarger setup and make prints, but we don’t really have the space for this right now… but never say never, right?
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