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stop the madness...MF temptation

Dan,

< looks into crystal ball >

I sense a medium format camera of some description in my future. Just biding my time for the right camera at the right price. I'll also need to get a proper scanner, as my cheap Canon Canoscan 8400F flatbed is somewhat meh... at least with 35mm filum.

< /looks into crystal ball >

Joe
 
Joe Petrik said:
Just biding my time for the right camera at the right price.
Click to expand...
Joe,

It seems pretty easy these days. It appears the UK thrift shops are awash with TLRs ;-) . I just got my 'user' rolleicord (see previous page) for not a lot of cash from ebay. I was eyeing plenty of sub-$200- autocords, and mamiyas TLRs at the time, and when the rollei came up with a good buy-it-now price, I bit. It's in great shape - just a bit of paint wear on the back, and a missing ISO indicator - otherwise quite minty. I think getting one with a leather case helps, since it's spent most of its time protected.

I look forward to seeing what you end up with.

Dan
 
Dan,

I had this crazy idea of getting a medium format panoramic camera — something along the lines of a Fuji 617 — until I discovered that they still sell used for more than the price of a small car. Too bad, as I would have been the coolest kid on pfm.

fuji-617-1.jpg


Joe
 
Thanks Ian

Dan, I did mention it once before, but that was before I bought it. It has the advantage of being light enough to lug around in addition to a DSLR, so you can take both formats at the same time, if you feel the urge

Joe, that GX617 is a brilliant camera. There is a guy in Hong Kong called Laurence Lei who takes shots of the harbour with one of those and they are brilliant - sharp and contrasty, even blown up to large poster size.

Cliff
 
The Fuji 6*9 cameras have quite a following, but i've not seen anything wider go for a reasonable price. If you think about it though, to get the same aspect ratio as the 617 you could crop a 6*9 shot to a 3*9 and get something similar and 3cm of film in the vertical direction is still plenty of resolution (more than a 35mm frame's 24mm for example).

So if you really want panoramic at a reasonable price, try a 6*9 camera and get cropping.

Cliff, the Fuji GA645i sounds really interesting. I must meet up with you at some point when you've got it in tow and stick a film through it!

Cesare
 
Hi Cesare, it is an interesting toy. I've shot everything on autofocus mode so far - point at the subject, part press shutter and then reframe. Apparently it is tricky to use in manual focus mode because it is stepped rather than continuously variable. So I am expecting a mix of sharp and cocked-up focus prints from the first few rolls !

If you plan meeting up near dusk, bring something fast, because maximum aperture is F4, and if in broad daylight something slow as the min aperture is F22 at which aperture it only does a maximum of 1/400th - strange beast since at F11 it allows 1/700th

Cliff
 
cliffpatte said:
Hi Cesare, it is an interesting toy. I've shot everything on autofocus mode so far - point at the subject, part press shutter and then reframe. Apparently it is tricky to use in manual focus mode because it is stepped rather than continuously variable. So I am expecting a mix of sharp and cocked-up focus prints from the first few rolls !

If you plan meeting up near dusk, bring something fast, because maximum aperture is F4, and if in broad daylight something slow as the min aperture is F22 at which aperture it only does a maximum of 1/400th - strange beast since at F11 it allows 1/700th

Cliff
Click to expand...

Hmm, that change of speed with aperture is interesting - a quick google shows that the leaf shutter is driven by a stepper motor, so it's possible that the camera doesn't actually have a separate aperture and shutter, and just opens the shutter as far as it needs for the chosen aperture, then closes down after the shot. This way it could open enough for f/11 and f/16 quickly and close back down hence the faster maximum shutter speed...

Manual focus sounds weird as well with you basically choosing a focus distance since it's got no rangefinder.

Sounds very interesting though. I tend to travel with MF at 100, 400 and 3200 since this covers most eventualities :)

Cesare
 
Guy,

Did you manage to pick up a rolleifix? In typical ebay fashion, rolleifixes are going for more that pistol grips (which have a rolleifix attached) - I saw a few grips go last weekend in the UK for less than $20-, but some sellers are asking up to $80- for a fix :rolleyes: I'm curious what you ended up with. Seems like the must-have rollei accessory.

Dan
 
Buy a pistol grip. Apparently if you take it apart by undoing a couple of screws, you get a poifect Rolleifix. Mine still in post courtesy of eBay.
 
If you add a Rollei Prismfinder to the Pistol grip, you end up with one of the sculptor Henry Moore's favourite combinations.

Nick
 
Joe Petrik said:
Dan,

I had this crazy idea of getting a medium format panoramic camera — something along the lines of a Fuji 617 — until I discovered that they still sell used for more than the price of a small car. Too bad, as I would have been the coolest kid on pfm.

fuji-617-1.jpg


Joe
Click to expand...

Hmm ... I am sure I have seen these being sold at reasonable prices second hand? They are no longer made, and if you can find one at a decent price, I would not hesitate to buy one, as they are capable of delivering exceptional images. (It's essentially a half-frame 5x7 large format camera with a fantastic Fujinon lense stuck on the front). The G617 has a fixed 105mm lense (about 24mm equivalent in 35mm terms), and is a real workhorse. I carry mine up mountains regularly, because it is so easy to put in the back of the car in its case;

G617_1.jpg


There is also the GX617, where the lense can be changed, with 90mm, 105mm, 180mm and 300mm lenses being made. I had a moment of madness when I was living in in Japan and bought a body and 300mm lense;

GX617_1.jpg


I keep it in a cardboard box in the car boot, because I couldn't find a decent means of carrying it. I can't walk for miles with it, but it is probably the camera for mountain and landscape photography, and complements my large format and digital stuff.

I have albums full of panoramic transparencies and negatives which have never been scanned because my old Agfa scanner couldn't handle the format, and I couldn't afford to buy a 5x7 enlarger. Patience, I keep telling myself, patience .....
 
Dan - the Rolleifix/grip thingy arrived today. Unscrew the completely ridiculous pistol grip; and you get a Rolleifix, and a rather useful remote cable too.

One minor issue - the main screw hole on the Rolleifix-from-a-Rolleigrip is 3/8", so you need a 3/8" to 1/4" adapter for most tripods. Non-Rolleigrip-Rolleifix's might have 1/4" screws?
 
Guy - you may already have the larger thread fixture for your manfrotto - I know my head came with both types
 
Nice one, concrete.

I am envious of your vignetting, poor corner performance and residual spherical aberrations. The camera's optical flaws really work well in that picture.

Joe
 
Does anyone know anything about Rollei SL66s?

They seem to barely get a mention -- are they rare? Silly expensive second hand? Or just no good? Or is the idea of a MF SLR just not as useful as it sounds?
 
Nothing wrong with MF SLRs, whether Hasselblad, Bronica, Pentax, Rollei. The only drawback with something like an SL66 is likely to be availability of lenses, backs, etc, since they don't seem to have been made in quite the quantity of some other options. If you're looking at a cheap way into MF SLRs a Bronica SQA would be a good choice.
 
concrete,

Residual spherical aberrations should be the theme for the next competition.

If I recall correctly, spherical aberration has to do with incoming parallel light rays not being focused by a lens onto a single point. It's a lens flaw but a Holga strength.

Joe
 
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