Recommendation for starter MF?

[anandi]

Well I just picked up the Yashicamat that was being sold in the classifieds here, based on the critical mass of advice. I am assured that it is in fully working condition, so I can't wait to get my hands on it. I actually have no idea how to load 120 film. When I did the shoot with the rented Hassy, I had the store load the film back for me.

Adam, my camera addiction is probably every bit as bad as yours and is only tempered (or funded) by the fact that I haven't bought a DSLR and instead have picked up the gear that other people are selling for, relatively speaking, next to nothing. I'm looking forward to being able to get relatively high quality scans from my epson flatbed and in a strange way will save me from getting a dedicated film scanner for a while longer.

Thanks everyone, I'll start paying more attention to the MF section from now on!

Cheers,
-Amit

 

[anandi]

The TLRs are the safe route, and the Yashicas have a very good price / performance balance.

Glad to hear it!

 

[ghost]

where are all of the recommendations for the pentax 67???

 

[Alastair Smith]

I am really surprised that no-one has mentioned the Koni-Omega series of 6x7 interchangeable-lens rangefinder cameras. There are four models, all now extremely cheap on Ebay etc. and usually come with the standard 90mm lens, which is very sharp. There are three other lenses available, the 180mm is the cheapest and the 135mm the rarest. OK, so the camera is LARGE, but not as bulky as most TLRs and the push/pull wind-on mechanism is really fast. The film pressure pad lifts as the film is advanced, minmising scratches, then presses again to ensure film registration.

Try to handle one of the K-Os, they are great fun, like an oversized Leica.

Alastair

 

[Kyle]

I just browsed this thread, but I didn't see any mentions of the Iskra. If you can find a good example, its a great camera! A 6x6 coupled rangefinder for ~$100, hard to beat that!

 

[Gravatar]

How about a Fuji

How about a Fuji

The GS 645 pro is usually fairly reasonable. (The one with the crash bar.) It is 95% mechanical and is still functional even without batteries for the light meter. The downside is that it is a fixed 60mm lens (around 40mm equivilant in 35mm) so no lens changes. However, it is light and the lens is razor sharp, and you can get on for between $275 and $400 in fairly reasonable shape. Sadly mine is in the shop at the moment. The Fuji 690's are nice too, but have a bit steeper learning curve due to the reduced DOF... at least on the 90mm one. Great tonality when you get it right though.

Grav