True. I am amazed by looking at the photographs posted by Wolfgang Moersch on Facebook since most of them were shot with Holga 120N.
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Pentax made a couple of 110 SLRs with interchangeable lenses, flashguns and an optional motor winder. The lenses were pretty good (apparently the 24mm standard lens wasn't particularly wonderful, but the others don't embarrass themselves even now). The main problem with 110 seems to have been that the film wasn't held as flat as it needed to be for the best results, so you tended to get images which weren't evenly sharp across the frame.
Sure, if you put anything in the hands of someone with a good eye for an image you'll get great results. But equally there's a reason why the big names don't use a cheap fixed-everything toy compact for their serious work. There's a balance between your skill and the abilities of the kit.
The wonderful thing with 35mm SLRs is that providing the body is light-tight, the shutter speeds accurate, and either the light meter is accurate or you have a handheld one, you can get the same results whether that body is a £250 pro-grade classic model or a £10 consumer-level model which someone found in Grandad's wardrobe and stuck on ebay. Put a good lens on the front of either and you've essentially got the same tool, it's up to you to make the best of it after that. That's why I'm always telling newbies to film to get hold of a Pentax P30, P30n or P30t - they're cheap, solid, simple cameras which can use any K mount lens. Stick a Pentax 50mm on the front and you won't find better for twice the price.
Isn“t that the case with LF as well? ;-)Quote:
The wonderful thing with 35mm SLRs is that providing the body is light-tight, the shutter speeds accurate, and either the light meter is accurate or you have a handheld one, you can get the same results whether that body is a £250 pro-grade classic model or a £10 consumer-level model which someone found in Grandad's wardrobe and stuck on ebay. Put a good lens on the front of either and you've essentially got the same tool, it's up to you to make the best of it after that.
Well yes, but you tend to have to spend rather more for larger formats (and there's no such thing as a consumer grade MF body - they're all pro-grade!)
You're forgetting all those mid-century folders (and box brownies!) that shoot 120/620 in 645 and 6x6 (and even some 6x9) formats. An Agfa Isolette, Billy or Clack was NEVER a pro camera :) And even the more complex ones like the Voigtlander Bessa II, Zeiss Ikon, and the Soviet equivalents like the Moskva were not aimed higher than serious amateurs when they were new.
Preach on.
I don't give a rat's ass what the format is -- it's just part of the tool you use to get the image in yr head into someone else's line of sight (be it on a monitor, in a print, etc).
Plus, each format (and tool in that format) has some very distinct advantages/disadvantages. Learn these, and you will be the master of every format.
So objectively, if you want portability and lots of auto-everything (and don't get me wrong, I use an F5 precisely for the excellent metering and autofocus at the speed of thought), use 35mm. But don't expect the sort of detail you'll get from 8x10 or even 6x6.