Quest for a portable MF camera.

T

thegman

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Hello all,
For a while now, I've been looking for a portable medium format camera. 6x6 or 6x7 is ideal, 6x4.5 in landscape not portrait is OK too. I tried a Rolleiflex, but I'm not mad about the dim screen, top-down composing, or the stares I get whilst using it.

The GF670/Bessa III is fantastic, but a touch pricey. I like the Mamiya 645AFD, but I just got a Leica R8, which introduced me to "electronic" style cameras, and I'm not sure that wild about it, so perhaps, a 645AFD would be a step too far in terms of electrical operation.

I don't mind batteries for meters etc. but motorwind might be too much for me.

I don't mind heavy, I don't even mind it being all that big, but it needs to be something I can pick up and put to my eye. I've tried using my Hasselblad by hand, and it's not for me.

If I was a rich man, the Alpa 12TC would be getting my attention, but as it stands, it's too expensive.

So my thoughts are:

1) Are there cheap ways to get something like an Alpa 12TC?
2) Have I forgotten any other obvious choices?
3) Whilst I don't think an old folder is right for me, RF or SLR is all good.

Thanks for the input!

Garry
 
Vince, for some reason the old folders don't appeal. Maybe it's that I see them as being a bit delicate, and maybe I'd worry about light leaks. I've not ruled it out, but I'm not sure it's for me. I think also it may draw attention, which I don't really like.

The Pentax 645n is on my list, alongside the Mamiya 645, I like that they sort of look like DSLRs to the untrained eye, so should not get too many stares.
 
Too bad that you don't get along with your Hasselblad. I am actually a little stoked right now after having mine out for just 2 exposures. Something I have seen and wanted to shoot, the light I knew would be what I wanted at 6:30ish am, and I did it this morning.

If you are willing to take your time when you are shooting, I will say that I also like my AGFA Record III. It is a folder, but the features, or lack there of, which I like are the uncoupled rangefinder, to focus you set rangefinder, then transfer the distance to the lens. It also doesn't have an automatic advance stop, which is another mechanism it doesn't have which I don't have to worry about breaking, red window advance, frame spacing is always right. Maybe not that fragile?

Just my observations which you may want to consider.
 
rover said:
Too bad that you don't get along with your Hasselblad. I am actually a little stoked right now after having mine out for just 2 exposures. Just something I have seen and wanted to shoot, the light I knew would be what I wanted at 6:30ish am, and I did it this morning.

If you are willing to take your time when you are shooting, I will say that I also like my AGFA Record III. It is a folder, but the feature, or lack there of, which I like is the uncoupled rangefinder. To focus you set rangefinder, then transfer the distance to the lens. It also doesn't have an automatic advance stop, which is another mechanism it doesn't have which I don't have to worry about breaking, red window advance, frame spacing is always right.

Just my observations which you may want to consider.
Click to expand...

Actually I really like the Hasselblad, but only on a tripod, I can't get on with it handheld. I think on a tripod they are hard to beat.

The Agfa looks nice, I'm not sure if an old folder is quite for me, but they are certainly tempting for the money.
 
I wonder if you are only considering new cameras, because there are quite a few more options if you would consider a used medium format camera.

My experience was similar to yours; I started with a Rolleiflex, but the 6008i, the SLR model. It's a fantastic "system" camera with endless possibilities, but I also disliked the top-down composing, and the camera was just way to big and heavy for carrying around.

Hence I bought another MF camera, a Plaubel Makina 670. The size and weight of this camera are fantastic, the collapsible lens mechanism makes it very flat. Yet it feels sturdy and with the Nikkor lens it takes great pictures (most of my flickr pictures are from that camera). Check out the original brochure here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/35816501/Plaubel-Makina-670
The only problem is, that the camera is a bit rare, and although it does show up on eBay for reasonable prices at times, often people want collector prices for it. The good news on the other hand is, that the Plaubel factory in Germany still services the camera; my shutter stopped working, and I had it fixed right at the factory (less than 3 weeks and 200 Euros later... anyway).

Nevertheless, if I would do it all over again, I think I would go for the Mamiya 7II. Too often I wished I had a wide angle lens. I tried to get the Plaubel Makina 67W, essentially the same camera as the 670 but with a 55mm lens, but used-prices of that one are pretty unreasonable. With a Mamiya 7II you have a choice of 6 lenses (43, 50, 65, 80, 150, and 210mm), pick your favorites and you have one hell of a portable MF camera.

I decided to sell a bunch of stuff on eBay during the last few weeks, and made enough money to buy a Mamiya 7II and a 50mm lens for it. It's still in the mail... so I cannot report on my experience yet. However, if you google for that camera, you will find an immense number of raving reviews about the exceptional quality of the lenses, and the camera's portability. Here is a good video (although low-fi) that gives you a good overview of the functions etc. of the Mamiya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVEX9CgWC0o

Other portable MF cameras that come to mind are the Fuji ones. They made a series 6x7, 6x8, 6x9, and also 6x4.5 (portrait, what you don't want). They are praised for their good lenses, good built-quality, and are usually available for not too much money. The reason why I didn't go for a Fuji however is, that they don't have a built-in meter. I know most people would tell me it's better to use an external meter anyway, and that it's easy. But I never had lots of wrongly exposed slides with the Plaubel and neither with other cameras with built-in meters, and I just prefer the convenience of a built-in meter, especially in situations when I don't have the time to get out an external meter.

Well, these are just my experiences and opinions, your preferences may be different. But as long as you consider used cameras as well, there should be plenty of options. If you are worried about buying a lemon, consider buying at keh.com, where you get a six month warranty on used items.
 
It's a problem a lot of us face. In the end, large negs require large cameras, and the smallest of these would be folders. A Bessa RF or Bessa II will give you very high quality shots, but since they're 6x9 they're a tad big. Bellows issues rarely come up on these. For 6x6, the cameras shrink a lot, and a Welta or Super Ikonta III w/ Tessar are both good shooters because they have coupled rangefinders. The Zeiss is faster to use, as it isn't a red window camera.

I have the same issues that you do w/ TLR's and 'blads on the street, but folders seem to attract less critical attention. Nearly all 6x4.5 cameras are portrait based because that way you get 16 shots on a roll. One thing about TLR's, if you use a Rolleiflex Standard (tiny 6x6 shooter), it's a lot less conspicious, and you can shoot these candidly pretty easily. Most people don't know when a TLR has taken a photo.
 
Once upon a time I bought a Yashica Mat 124 to get into Medium Format. It cost me 100 euros, although it need a CLA. Yes, it is a Rolleiflex clone and you WILL get stares, BUT... results were (and are) amazing. Although I have a Hasselblad 500 C/M now too, I use the 124 a lot more. It is easier to carry, lighter and can be used handheld. The lens is, once stopped down a bit, breathtakingly sharp. The finder is also very bright.

Here's a recent pic that I made with it in India:


India: Medium format pictures, Chandigarh by Ronald_H, on Flickr
 
DrTebi,
Thanks a lot for the reply, I actually used to have a Mamiya 7, but sold it for Hasselblad. Perhaps that was a mistake. I'm perfectly fine with used/older cameras, in fact I tend to prefer cameras from the 70s to new models.

I would consider re-buying a Mamiya, but I do want to consider my options first. The Plaubel is an option too, and I'm pleased to hear they can still be serviced, that does make them a lot more tempting.
 
Steve M. said:
It's a problem a lot of us face. In the end, large negs require large cameras, and the smallest of these would be folders. A Bessa RF or Bessa II will give you very high quality shots, but since they're 6x9 they're a tad big. Bellows issues rarely come up on these. For 6x6, the cameras shrink a lot, and a Welta or Super Ikonta III w/ Tessar are both good shooters because they have coupled rangefinders. The Zeiss is faster to use, as it isn't a red window camera.

I have the same issues that you do w/ TLR's and 'blads on the street, but folders seem to attract less critical attention. Nearly all 6x4.5 cameras are portrait based because that way you get 16 shots on a roll. One thing about TLR's, if you use a Rolleiflex Standard (tiny 6x6 shooter), it's a lot less conspicious, and you can shoot these candidly pretty easily. Most people don't know when a TLR has taken a photo.
Click to expand...

I didn't know the Super Ikonta was coupled, I'll have to check that out.
 
You may also want to consider what you will end up doing with your images. It does not matter too much if you print a lot, I guess, but for other purposes there are a few things to consider:

6x6 -- you can find slide projectors for this size for not too much money, for digital viewing on a monitor I find the format a bit of a "waste" since most monitors tend to to have a 6x10 or 6x9 aspect ratio.
6x7 -- slide projectors are expensive, especially ones with magazines; quality however is fantastic.
6x9 -- you may find some old slide projector for this format, but usually not of the greatest quality. However, 6x9 looks great on monitors as it fills most the screen, and the format is also most "common" for pictures etc.

Just something to keep in mind. I love slide MF slide projection ;)
 
If you didn't like the Mamiya 7 and you don't mind a heavy camera, how about a Pentax 67?

You do realize that the Alpa 12TC is a scale focus camera, right? It's small and portable but I don't think it's ideal as a handheld camera unless you want to use only wide lenses and hyperfocal focusing.
 
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