Anyone out there using medium-format RF for street-shooting

[photogdave]

Fuji GA645!
AF, AE, relatively small, light to carry, excellent IQ.
If you have the means, I highly recommend one!

 

[kuzano]

OK... Fuji GA645 PLUS the natural replacement

OK... Fuji GA645 PLUS the natural replacement

Now move up to the Fuji GA645Zi.

Minor increase in size.
Zoom from 55 to 90mm as opposed to fixed focal length

 

[pevelg]

I use the Mamiya 7ii and it seems fine to me. Delta 400 and Velvia 50.

 

[35mmdelux]

Mamiya 6, f/8.0 and be there!

 

[OwenStegemann]

I've been using my recently acquired hasselblad swc in the street and have been getting some good results. Someone (I think it was on here) referred to it as the sawed of shotgun of cameras. I'd say that is pretty correct.

Edit: Just realized this is mf/rf shooting. The swc is more like the bessa r of mf cameras.

 

[shiro_kuro]

I shoot a Plaubel Makina 670 .... great camera for the street ... But then again I love this camera and the way it feels in my hand ,the finder ,sound of the shutter and those wonderful negatives .... I feel that I approach things differently when using this camera ..with Plaubel I just take my time and interact more with people to make the images I want ...people seem more open to being photographed when I am shooting with this camera ...maybe its just me slowing down ... with the M6 I am in a different mind set ... like a ninja or something ,dunno just different styles......

A very good friend of mine has been using a Plaubel Makina 67 W for years ... amazing images ...

http://jeanjacquesdicker.com/index.htm

 

[gns]

You should check out Tod Papageorge's book, "Passing Through Eden". In the intro, he describes the cameras he used (Fujicas, Plaubel Makina, and some others), and some of his reasons for going to medium format (the impact Brassai's pictures made on him).

None of the MF cameras are ever going to feel like a leica. Even the Plaubel or the Mamiyas. There are always going to be some trade-offs.

I never really got those 645 cameras. Switch to roll film and then get a half-frame camera?

Cheers,
Gary

 

[Al Kaplan]

Going back to the late sixties/early seventies I had a Century Graphic with the RH-67 back. Focus was OK but framing was always hit or miss. I also played around with a baby Speed Graphic equipped with a 100mm f/2 Angenieux lens but I could never get the Kalart rangefinder adjusted well enough or stay adjusted. My last attempt at medium format rangefinder about five years ago was a Brooks-Plaubel Veriwide 100 with a 47/8 Super Angulon. The camera makes 6x10cm negatives, seven per 120 roll. Leitz supplied a modified 21mm finder marked for the Veriwide 100 but I preferred the open wire frame finder. It was a fun camera that I'd bought at a good price but then I got an offer to sell it at a fantastic price. I couldn't resist.

The later model Veriwide makes standard 6x9cm negatives and is really based on the Graflex system. Enlargers that offer negative carriers for 6x9cm film pack negatives are perfect for the 6x10cm negatives.

The Koni-Omega is probably the most user friendly of the medium format rangefinders.

http://thepriceofsilver.blogspot.com

 

[abumac]

I try it with a Super Ikonta III






and see also

http://mimpresion.blogspot.com/2009/07/summer-in-city-1.html
http://mimpresion.blogspot.com/2009/07/summer-in-city-8.html

 

[uhligfd]

Simple to do: google Sonia Handleman Meyer :


she used a Rolleicord in the 1940s and 1950s in NY and did great street work, just walking about the city.

 

[eavis]

thanks, all. what a great community this is.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Alpa. These are 38/4.5 Biogon on 66x44mm with my 12WA.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Turtle]

fastest MF RF IMHO: Bronica RF645, however, vertical format might not suit you.

My honest view is that 35mm RFs are the way to go for speed. I use a Mamiya 7 when I want better quality and am aiming more for street scenics. when I want fast I use a 35mm RF.

The trick is not to adjust aperture and shutter speed when you shoot, but beforehand (if shooting B&W). lock in a good shadow value and adjust only when that needs to change. you adjust your settings much less than an auto camera will tell you and you will get better exposures too.

 

[Pherdinand]

i like my super ikonta iii for street too. Has only the novar anastigmat on it but it's excellent in the centre.

Would love to use the fuji 6x9 too, but reloading after 8 frames is a bit inconvenient
Anybody knows a source for (cheap) 220-type black and white film? Is there any 220-type BW made?

 

[Pherdinand]

The trick is not to adjust aperture and shutter speed when you shoot, but beforehand (if shooting B&W). lock in a good shadow value and adjust only when that needs to change. you adjust your settings much less than an auto camera will tell you and you will get better exposures too.

i absolutely agree with that. TTL light meters are overhyped.

 

[rxmd]

Alpa. These are 38/4.5 Biogon on 66x44mm with my 12WA.

I'd ask whether that counts as a rangefinder, but today is no gear talk day.

So here is a picture instead:

 

[emraphoto]

mamiya 7, 43mm and neopan 400 souped in d-76

(does that count as gear talk?)

 

[furcafe]

Unfortunately, w/so many pros gone digital, pickings have become rather slim in B&W 220.

Here in the U.S., Kodak Tri-X Pan (the studio version of Tri-X, ISO 320) is the only B&W that's available in 220.

Anybody knows a source for (cheap) 220-type black and white film? Is there any 220-type BW made?

 

[furcafe]

If you include TLRs, the universe of famous street shooters & photojournalists using medium format expands dramatically, e.g., Berenice Abbott, Alfred Eisenstadt, Robert Doisneau, etc., etc.

Simple to do: google Sonia Handleman Meyer :


she used a Rolleicord in the 1940s and 1950s in NY and did great street work, just walking about the city.

 

[Trius]

John,

That wasn't gear talk, but it wasn't "street".

Nice shot. Doesn't Louie Palu shoot Mamyia 6 & 7 as well? Or did he destroy them all in the miner project? LOL