Medium Format ... long may it live!

Keith said:
Aside from the reputation of the camera system itself I really like the look of what I've seen from the Zeiss lenses. A couple of years ago there wasn't really a lot of MF images being posted on the forum generally and I remember one of the portrait threads that was running at the time had been nearly all 35mm stuff. Someone posted a portrait taken with a Hasselblad and 80mm lens and I near fell out of my chair when I saw it!

I think the square is by far the most versatile MF format and I am starting to like it more and more. The Mamiya 220/330 is obviously a great system as are many others but I really like the framing accuracy provided with an SLR!

From what I can gather a 500CM and a couple of lenses isn't going to break the bank. I was prepared to sell off a couple of 35mm rangefinders to fund this move but it seems I may not actually have to do so ... of course if I hate it I can sell it again! :)
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Recently I've been feeling a strong hankering for that 80mm Planar. I have one on a Linhof Technika 70 - but that makes the RZ67 feel like a flyweight. Not something my back would survive carrying around on a daily basis.

I may instead get it on a Rolleiflex SLX mk II. The Mamiya's still going to be my main love, though. ;)
 
Keith said:
Someone posted a portrait taken with a Hasselblad and 80mm lens and I near fell out of my chair when I saw it!
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Does anyone know of a good photograph example that punctuates what Keith is talking about, e.g., the difference between a good European lens and a good Japanese lens?
 
Jay Decker said:
Does anyone know of a good photograph example that punctuates what Keith is talking about, e.g., the difference between a good European lens and a good Japanese lens?
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I think Keith's point was in noting the difference between a portrait done with a 35mm camera and one done with a medium format camera.
 
FrankS said:
I think Keith's point was in noting the difference between a portrait done with a 35mm camera and one done with a medium format camera.
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Spot on Frank ... in a sea of 35mm images this was a resolution sledgehammer. :D
 
FrankS said:
I think Keith's point was in noting the difference between a portrait done with a 35mm camera and one done with a medium format camera.
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Your right... I referred to the wrong person. Here's who I should have quoted:

Dfin said:
Thank you Keith, for starting this thread. Unfortunatley, I have nothing scanned to post. I have looked at every page, and what strikes me, is the difference in the Look of the photos. The european lenses have a creamyness to them, were as the japanese lenses have a harder edge, dare I say almost digital look, all excellent just different. I prefer the creamy euro look, but each to their own.
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I would like to see example photographs that illustrate this difference...
 
I see a huge difference in the portraits (and other pictures) I take with 35mm vs MF cameras. The tonality and detail in the MF prints makes it feel like you could step into the frame. It's almost hyper-realistic because with the print you can examine it closely and notice finer detail than you would of the actual subject.
 
Jay Decker said:
Your right... I referred to the wrong person. Here's who I should have quoted:



I would like to see example photographs that illustrate this difference...
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Keith said that he noticed the difference on the computer screen, but to really see it, you should be looking at actual prints, and my preference and experience is with silver gelatin wet darkroom prints.

I was showing another photographer some of my 8x10inch prints just a couple of days ago and he easily picked out the MF prints.
 
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Jay Decker said:
Does anyone know of a good photograph example that punctuates what Keith is talking about, e.g., the difference between a good European lens and a good Japanese lens?
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In my experience I have found the Fuji to be much sharper than the Planar - with the Planar having the smoother, creamier bokeh - tough to choose!!
 
Frank and I talked about the Zeiss lenses at breakfast this morning, as I had three Zeiss MF lenses when I had a Rollei SL66 kit. I agree about their character vs the Fujinons, though my Fujinons are LF lenses for 4x5. I think the Fujinons are a good choice for large format, especially for landscape, nature detail, architecture and product. I did one good portrait using the Fujinon, but if I were to do more portraits I'd probably get a Tessar.
 
It's all good

It's all good

It's hard to argue against Tessars and Sonnars in any format.

Conversely, I would never be without my Fujinon 125mm/5.6 46mm filter ring view camera lens.

Horses for courses and all that.

Meanwhile, I sit here surrounded by too much stuff. Neither a Hasselblad nor a Rollei SL66 in the lot. Where did I go wrong? :D ;) :cool:
 
Yeah well, what can I say? We've had breakfast meetings a few times a year over the last several years. Often there are several of us.
;)
 
Rolleiflex 2.8
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Todd
 
I see the discussion turned to quality of the tonal range and the smoother tonal values that a MF negative will deliver. Again so much is the basic size of the original negative. I too, also believe that as much as I love my Leica. The MF negative gives a better tonal quality. As this was my first roll on my then new 500 cm. Oh yes developed in D76. The only developer I knew of at the time.

Mr Atkiens was a missionary in South Africa for most of his adult life. I met him at age 107. I was very young at the time. He was the British "liasion" for the Boar War Treaty !! This is shot in 1974. He died at age 114. He was also a client of WD Gann ! We played chess many times. He lived at Mount San Antonio Gardens in Claremount Ca.

 
larmarv916 said:
I see the discussion turned to quality of the tonal range and the smoother tonal values that a MF negative will deliver. Again so much is the basic size of the original negative. I too, also believe that as much as I love my Leica. The MF negative gives a better tonal quality. As this was my first roll on my then new 500 cm. Oh yes developed in D76. The only developer I knew of at the time.

Mr Atkiens was a missionary in South Africa for most of his adult life. I met him at age 107. I was very young at the time. He was the British "liasion" for the Boar War Treaty !! This is shot in 1974. He died at age 114. He was also a client of WD Gann ! We played chess many times. He lived at Mount San Antonio Gardens in Claremount Ca.
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I love this pic and what an amazing man!
 
Tonality

Tonality

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I was not happy then, think I am learning about tonality now :)

RH design analyser surely helps.
 
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Thankyou Keith, For your show of approval for this old image. I only wanted to underline that the real technical quality is in the larger basic negative. Because at the time I did not have clue what I was doing. On any level !

MF has really ended up the orphan when the digital wave came. In the end the new super large sensors will be so superior that the large format boys will be on the outside looking in...I think. For me MF Film is the perfect balance of quality and flexibility.

I only met this great person as a result of my great grand mother. She lived at this same retirement home. At one time in the early 70's there were more people over 100 than in any other location in North America.

Mr. Atkien's was so active right up to the last days of his life is was crazy. He swam laps every day and walked several miles each day.

People used to say how was this possible. When he was in So. Africa he was required to visit each of the Catholic churches different churches and other sites. He walked over 20 miles everyday for at least 30 years. There was a movie about the Boar War. In the movie a charcter that was supposed to be "him" was shown riding a horse...he told me. We could not afford a horse so..I had to walk ! All the Best....Laurance
 
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