sf
Veteran
It came this morning at 9:15 or so Pacific time by UPS.
Less than two days in post from England.
SEE THE PICS! People always take so many pictures of their babies.
The viewfinder seems to be (CORRECTION : totally perfect). The infinity alignment is perfect if I back off like a millimeter from maximum. Very perfect camera. Beautiful lenses.
Both the 65 and 45 are nearly the same size. The camera with the 65mm is smaller than my D70(with its 50mm F1.8 AF) by 2 of 3 measurements and only larger by maybe half a centimeter by the 3rd (width). Both cameras weigh the same, near as I can tell.
I put some of the new Velvia 100 (not 100F) into the camera, mostly because i just want to start with a Fuji spool in there when i hit the street tomorrow. I went down stairs and fired the camera off at a few apertures. WOW. It is nearly silent (the actual shutter movement), then that really strange sort of gurgling howl follows at a mouse's voice level. Both sounds together amount to about the sound output of the M3 I listened to at Glazer's in Seattle. The shutter itself is almost inaudible. Too bad we can't choose manual shutter recharge because without the weird sound, most people would not even know the camera went off at all.
Loading film wasn't terribly difficult, but not very easy either. Not something that could be done in the field without focusing on it. But that is normal for MF work anyway. With the fuji spool hook, that will improve alot.
For my trip, I'm not even going to bring the lens caps. I just bought some Hoya UV filters. . . . cheap but couldn't be noticeably worse that the next level puchase. The camera with 65mm attached and a 45mm with viewfinder all fit in a nice small camera bag that would be comfortable to carry around. It takes up as much space as my D70 with its 50 attached and the 28mm on the side. Nice.
The focusing mechanism is not as quick and fluid as the Mamiya or as Leicas are, but that is nice because it helps you slide into perfect RF alignment easily. No clumsy or numb hands will make focusing difficult. The RF patch is better than the Mamiya 7II that i tried out at Samy's. I find that the LCD display is visible and out of the way, but that the lens does protrude into the viewfinder's view.
Good packaging by Robert White.
Now, I will go out and buy protective filters for the lenses and some film. E-6 since I have no way of getting any scans. Maybe I will try and have some negative film scanned at the Icon.
I bought two Hoya UV filters, a little bag for the camera, and some film. Thanks to the cutie at Samy's for giving me the free Velvia.
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Day #1 of actual usage :
Went out today to shoot some rolls around LA - went to the Farmer's Market on Fairfax. Shot some Neopan 400 and some NPZ800, both regularly (no pushing, pulling). The camera is easy to focus in low light (I went out after dark), but I had some help from the lights in the market. I think people actually took notice of me more than they might have had I been shooting with a little digital p&s, but oh well. This is actually the second time i have ever attempted "street photography" - mostly I just shoot landscapes and portraits. So this was a nice change of pace, and the RF645 made it easy. The leaf shutter made a HUGE different for hand holding down to 1/15th and even 1/4 (braced).
Using Fuji film makes a big difference, having the little hooks on the spools so that one doesn't have to wrestle with loading. If I were going out to shoot around the farmer's market again, I'd shoot something 1600ish rather than the NPZ, though, because I had to stay around F4-5.6 for reasonable shutterspeeds (from 1/15th to 1/90th depending on the light.
The camera is noticeable around the neck - definitely heavier than most street-able cameras I have used, but I carried it around my neck for a couple hours without chaffing. I found that i had it in my hands and up to my eye more.
The rangefinder breed is so much more streetable, thanks to compactness and stealth, that i felt far less noticed than I did with my MF slrs. Infact, thanks to the lack of a glowing LCD that turns on after each shot (my D70), the camera has become the most low-key of any I own.
All the controls are really nicely placed. I made use of the AE lock regularly, and used the self timer a couple times today for some Velvia work this morning. The little LCD screen inside is nicely out of the way, but easy to see when you want the information. I used both the 45 and the 65, and found that the external viewfinder for the 45 is not VITAL, but does help alot because without it, you have to really strain to imagine the framing. I shot without it at the Farmer's Market. It is not easy to change lenses, because, as someone else here has said, the little red dots are not easy to see in low light.
It takes more force than is comfortable, when changing lenses. Gotta put some muscle into twisting them on and off. Not as smooth and easy as most other cameras, but, that little film protecting shield is nice to have. The trouble with taking them off and putting them on, is that there is no easy to grab portion of the lens that doesn't twist (aperture ring and focusing ring), which makes it hard to twist off the lenses and put them on).
Film flatness : At first, I didn't think that the film was very flat, after loading new film, but over time, I have gained some skill with loading film properly, and have gotten so that my film is always very flat. All of my shots are very well cut on the negatives, which goes to show that the film is indeed very flat. Perfectly flat.
One thing I don't like about the camera is the film winding lever. It is always kind of loose (like the Mamiya series as well), but it is fast (1 wind is always enough). Note : I have felt more Mamiyas now, and they do have a more wobbly, unstable feeling wind lever. The Bronica is more sturdy.
The little sound that the camera makes is really strange. Like, as I said before, a little mouse in a lot of pain. But, the camera is very quiet and quick to use. Just as quick as the Pentax 645NII, and surely better glass.
The camera feels like a rock. More solidly built than any other camera I've ever held, with the only real exceptions being the M3, M6, and my old Canon AE-1. Of course, there are other cameras of similar heft and density, but this one is pretty spectacular. Everything inside is metal. Very sturdy and permanent. Feels more solidly built than the R3A I used to have. Pounds the Mamiya 6 and 7 cameras into the ground. Hard.
While I was in England and France, I was working with the camera in impossible weather, really low light, really bright light, in crowds, in the rain, on subways and bullet trains, in airports . . . everywhere. Even in a squall on the moors in northern England. It performed perfectly. I only wish that I had not babied it so much, and had instead taken some shots that I let pass because of the awful sideways rain.
This review will be totally updated / rewritten soon.
Less than two days in post from England.
SEE THE PICS! People always take so many pictures of their babies.
The viewfinder seems to be (CORRECTION : totally perfect). The infinity alignment is perfect if I back off like a millimeter from maximum. Very perfect camera. Beautiful lenses.
Both the 65 and 45 are nearly the same size. The camera with the 65mm is smaller than my D70(with its 50mm F1.8 AF) by 2 of 3 measurements and only larger by maybe half a centimeter by the 3rd (width). Both cameras weigh the same, near as I can tell.
I put some of the new Velvia 100 (not 100F) into the camera, mostly because i just want to start with a Fuji spool in there when i hit the street tomorrow. I went down stairs and fired the camera off at a few apertures. WOW. It is nearly silent (the actual shutter movement), then that really strange sort of gurgling howl follows at a mouse's voice level. Both sounds together amount to about the sound output of the M3 I listened to at Glazer's in Seattle. The shutter itself is almost inaudible. Too bad we can't choose manual shutter recharge because without the weird sound, most people would not even know the camera went off at all.
Loading film wasn't terribly difficult, but not very easy either. Not something that could be done in the field without focusing on it. But that is normal for MF work anyway. With the fuji spool hook, that will improve alot.
For my trip, I'm not even going to bring the lens caps. I just bought some Hoya UV filters. . . . cheap but couldn't be noticeably worse that the next level puchase. The camera with 65mm attached and a 45mm with viewfinder all fit in a nice small camera bag that would be comfortable to carry around. It takes up as much space as my D70 with its 50 attached and the 28mm on the side. Nice.
The focusing mechanism is not as quick and fluid as the Mamiya or as Leicas are, but that is nice because it helps you slide into perfect RF alignment easily. No clumsy or numb hands will make focusing difficult. The RF patch is better than the Mamiya 7II that i tried out at Samy's. I find that the LCD display is visible and out of the way, but that the lens does protrude into the viewfinder's view.
Good packaging by Robert White.
Now, I will go out and buy protective filters for the lenses and some film. E-6 since I have no way of getting any scans. Maybe I will try and have some negative film scanned at the Icon.
I bought two Hoya UV filters, a little bag for the camera, and some film. Thanks to the cutie at Samy's for giving me the free Velvia.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Day #1 of actual usage :
Went out today to shoot some rolls around LA - went to the Farmer's Market on Fairfax. Shot some Neopan 400 and some NPZ800, both regularly (no pushing, pulling). The camera is easy to focus in low light (I went out after dark), but I had some help from the lights in the market. I think people actually took notice of me more than they might have had I been shooting with a little digital p&s, but oh well. This is actually the second time i have ever attempted "street photography" - mostly I just shoot landscapes and portraits. So this was a nice change of pace, and the RF645 made it easy. The leaf shutter made a HUGE different for hand holding down to 1/15th and even 1/4 (braced).
Using Fuji film makes a big difference, having the little hooks on the spools so that one doesn't have to wrestle with loading. If I were going out to shoot around the farmer's market again, I'd shoot something 1600ish rather than the NPZ, though, because I had to stay around F4-5.6 for reasonable shutterspeeds (from 1/15th to 1/90th depending on the light.
The camera is noticeable around the neck - definitely heavier than most street-able cameras I have used, but I carried it around my neck for a couple hours without chaffing. I found that i had it in my hands and up to my eye more.
The rangefinder breed is so much more streetable, thanks to compactness and stealth, that i felt far less noticed than I did with my MF slrs. Infact, thanks to the lack of a glowing LCD that turns on after each shot (my D70), the camera has become the most low-key of any I own.
All the controls are really nicely placed. I made use of the AE lock regularly, and used the self timer a couple times today for some Velvia work this morning. The little LCD screen inside is nicely out of the way, but easy to see when you want the information. I used both the 45 and the 65, and found that the external viewfinder for the 45 is not VITAL, but does help alot because without it, you have to really strain to imagine the framing. I shot without it at the Farmer's Market. It is not easy to change lenses, because, as someone else here has said, the little red dots are not easy to see in low light.
It takes more force than is comfortable, when changing lenses. Gotta put some muscle into twisting them on and off. Not as smooth and easy as most other cameras, but, that little film protecting shield is nice to have. The trouble with taking them off and putting them on, is that there is no easy to grab portion of the lens that doesn't twist (aperture ring and focusing ring), which makes it hard to twist off the lenses and put them on).
Film flatness : At first, I didn't think that the film was very flat, after loading new film, but over time, I have gained some skill with loading film properly, and have gotten so that my film is always very flat. All of my shots are very well cut on the negatives, which goes to show that the film is indeed very flat. Perfectly flat.
One thing I don't like about the camera is the film winding lever. It is always kind of loose (like the Mamiya series as well), but it is fast (1 wind is always enough). Note : I have felt more Mamiyas now, and they do have a more wobbly, unstable feeling wind lever. The Bronica is more sturdy.
The little sound that the camera makes is really strange. Like, as I said before, a little mouse in a lot of pain. But, the camera is very quiet and quick to use. Just as quick as the Pentax 645NII, and surely better glass.
The camera feels like a rock. More solidly built than any other camera I've ever held, with the only real exceptions being the M3, M6, and my old Canon AE-1. Of course, there are other cameras of similar heft and density, but this one is pretty spectacular. Everything inside is metal. Very sturdy and permanent. Feels more solidly built than the R3A I used to have. Pounds the Mamiya 6 and 7 cameras into the ground. Hard.
While I was in England and France, I was working with the camera in impossible weather, really low light, really bright light, in crowds, in the rain, on subways and bullet trains, in airports . . . everywhere. Even in a squall on the moors in northern England. It performed perfectly. I only wish that I had not babied it so much, and had instead taken some shots that I let pass because of the awful sideways rain.
This review will be totally updated / rewritten soon.
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