Medium format portrait camera

[astrosecret]

hassy. you may discover that you enjoy the WLF as well and the prisms are great. less awkward than a rollei to use with prism.

 

[michael_isaev]

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions so far.

I mainly shoot informal portraits while I’m volunteering abroad, only ever handheld, and I’d really prefer to stick with an eye level viewfinder.

This sort of thing (if I manage to post an image) AC260815142413-09 by Andy C, on Flickr

Nice portrait!

It’s not that easy to shoot anything closer than that on MF camera. Most of the cameras have minimal focusing distance of 0.8-1m for 80mm lens or so. If you want to get to head and shoulder portrait, you would need a 80mm lens with mfd around 0.5m, or 150mm lens with mfd around 1m. It’s hard to make them for RF camera as far as I understand, and would be tricky to focus accurately. So if that’s the goal, you would need some SLR or mamiya TLR. SLR would make handheld shooting indoors a bit harder though, as the mirror would demand shorter shutter speeds, and extender rings or tele lenses are not particularly fast in the first place.
There are some prism viewfinders available for mamiya c330, maybe that would be kinda of solution that’s better for you.

 

[lynnb]

One of our Ragdoll cats taken with diffuse window light, Yashica Mat 124G with Rolleinar 3 close up attachment. TMAX400 in TMAX developer. V700 scan. See my Flickr for a larger version.

TLRs are very quiet which makes them good for portraiture, and you can easily hand hold at slow speeds (no mirror slap). The Rolleinars will give you a tight head and shoulders, but at a close subject distance.

princess portrait #712 by lynnb's snaps, on Flickr

 

[Hari]

lynnb: that really shows what can be done
with the Rolleinars!

 

[Abbazz]

I would recommend the SEM Studio, a dedicated TLR specially designed to shoot portraits in photography studios. The Sem Studio has a longer lens and focuses much closer than the Rolleiflex Tele. It is equipped with a nice 150mm Berthiot lens, which delivers gorgeous half-body or head-and-shoulders portraits.

Picture credit: Collection-appareils.fr

The camera is not very common but it is not rare either, as it was used in many portrait studios, mainly in France and Western Europe, but also in the US, where is was imported for the professional market.

There was also an "Atelier" version, with a "cow bar" and a swinging tripod mount designed to facilitate film loading with the camera on a tripod:

Picture credit: Collection-appareils.fr

And for these long studio photo sessions there was even a version with a high capacity back for up to 150 exposures:

Picture credit: Collection-appareils.fr

Cheers!

Abbazz

 

[aizan]

If you want to use an eye-level finder on a 6x6 SLR, there are four clear standouts ergonomically:

1) Bronica SQ with prism finder and speed grip
2) Pentacon Six TL, Kiev 60, Arax 60, or Exakta 66 with prism finder (or Norita 66)
3) Rollei 6000 series with prism finder
4) Hasselblad 503cw with winder grip

Because the accessory grips are right handed.

To get a tight head shot with a 150mm lens, you'll probably need a +1 diopter close-up filter or short extension tube (21mm or so).

 

[pvdhaar]

Bronica SQ has bellows..

Wow, you're absolutely right.. I never knew that this existed.

Same goes for the ETRS bellows that Vince Lupo pointed out.