I need a **medium format** "Portrait" camera...Help Please

flipflop

flipflop

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Hi,
I am interested in shooting some portraits. I dont have a ton of cash to spend. I have a yashica 124, but I would like a prism finder, I find it hard to compose without it.

I am currently looking into the Kowa 6...is this a good camera...or should I go with something like a mamiya rb?

THanks
 
Mamiya. THey are BIG cameras - and heavy, but you'll have easy and low cost access to anything you'd ever need.
 
flipflop said:
Hi,
I am interested in shooting some portraits. I dont have a ton of cash to spend. I have a yashica 124, but I would like a prism finder, I find it hard to compose without it.

I am currently looking into the Kowa 6...is this a good camera...or should I go with something like a mamiya rb?

THanks
Click to expand...

I like 6x6, but I find it is not the ideal portrait format. 6x4.5 works well, as does 6x7 or 6x9 if shot sideways. 6x4.5 has the advantage of being vertical already. In that format, the world's your oyster. I'd look at the Pentax MF SLRs, but there are others. I shoot Bronica, but that's 6x6 and the only prism available is yucky, very dim.

Of course, there are those who retrofit a prism to a 6x6 TLR, you can always go that route if the only problem you find with your TLR is the prism finder. Mamiya TLR's had factory porro-prisms availble, they tend to go cheaper these days. Beware that a lot of them are shot-out and worn-out ex-pro wedding rigs, though.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
I ended up buying almost every medium format camera possible..
All to find something I liked... I ended up with Hasselblad.

Do you want 645 or bigger?

The rb67 is nice and big, you need a tripod with it.

I have a rolleicord, it is 2 options instead of using the WLF.
The rolleimeter is a rangefinder device.
 
yeah I am afraid of the mamiya because of too many "PRO's" abusing them and then selling...

Does anyone know anything about the Kowa cameras I have heard good things from a couple people on photo.net...
 
back alley said:
find a mamiya 645j model with a 150 lens.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a good one. Both the Pentax and the Mamiya 645's tend to sell for less due to the non-removable backs, wouldn't you say? Both have excellent lens selections as well.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
flipflop said:
yeah I am afraid of the mamiya because of too many "PRO's" abusing them and then selling...

Does anyone know anything about the Kowa cameras I have heard good things from a couple people on photo.net...
Click to expand...

The Mamiya 67's are often used by pros, not so much the 645J, I think...

The Kowa series is nearly cultic in legend and proportion, but remember, they're gone - or rather, they do rifle scopes now, nothing photographic. Only one fella I know of does the repair work on them, and when he's gone...

Oh, Ross Yerkes is the fellow in question, BTW.

I can't say that Kowa is good or bad - never had one. Considered them deeply, then went with the Bronica C (2 of them) for the lenses and very low prices. In the end, I don't use them much, but the prices have dropped so much now, I won't sell. Wall-hangers, I guess.

If you *want* Kowa, then I'd say get that, because otherwise, you'll think you were talked out of them somehow. I can't help with your validation, but I'm sure someone here can!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
yeah that GA645 is nice but I dont think I need another rangefinder and I dont think it does portraits very well...

Anyone have links or tell me a little about this 645j?
 
kowa had a bad rep back in the day. no personal experience tho.
the mamiya 645 was never a pro's camera, they used the rb/rz mostly.

i just found 3 buy it now auctions on the bay and for 300 bucks you got a body and insert and a lens. just need a prism, get one w/o a meter, very cheap.
i had one years ago, the lenses are sharp.
 
Mamiya and Pentax 645 cameras are nice...
But... I like to shoot portraits verticle. This means you have to hold a 645 camera sideways.
That is why I bought and sold Pentax and mamya 645 systems.

The RB series can be bought cheap... the backs revolve. Parts and repairs are easy to find.
 
I've a mamiya 645e, I quite like it - new construction, bit plasticky, but prism, metering, and aperture priority built-in. Mirror lock up, grip, etc. Not a fan of the shutter release button or sound, but not a bad thing. When I bought it a year and a half ago, it was just a bit more than the price of an equivalent system pieced together out of older, potentially unreliable parts.

Mamiya glass is really incredible, too -- or at least, the 80mm f/2.8N is.
 
Get something Mamiya, because they have revolving backs - at least the RZ series does - and I believe the RBs do too. It is incredibly helpful. Especially since the camera is too heavy to handle otherwise.
 
flipflop said:
yeah that GA645 is nice but I dont think I need another rangefinder and I dont think it does portraits very well...

Anyone have links or tell me a little about this 645j?
Click to expand...

http://www.camerareview.com/templates/reviews.cfm?camera_id=21

Designed to be a low-cost body for the Mamiya family of 645 lenses. I don't know much more than that, except pros often kept them as inexpensive backup bodies, so they didn't tend to get worn out like the full-on big brothers.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
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