Help with choosing a camera, probably MF.

[thegman]

If you're OK with a range finder, Mamiya 7 and GF670 are well worth a look. The GF670 is about as portable as modern medium format gets.

[kbrede]

Thanks all for the advice. Just to clarify, I don't do a ton of true macro. It's just that something I'm photographing close up, sometimes draws me in. Like the other day I was doing some close up shots of a fish I found on a lake shore. The next thing, I'm photographing fish scales.

This question is going to reveal my ignorance. All my film cameras have at least 1/1000 shutter speed, at the top end. The Mamiya has a top shutter speed of 1/400. The Kowa, from what I can see is 1/500. I shoot at anytime of the day and usually have 400 ISO film loaded. I may be in bright sun or a darker ally. The 400 gives me flexibility. I was thinking 1/400 would be too slow for me, but if I got a couple backs, I could load one with 100 ISO and one with 400. I suppose I could also use an ND filter, if need be in the bright sun. Do you guys feel 1/400th of a second limits you in anyway? How do you handle bright sun and lower shutter speeds? I find myself 1/1000 at f/16 or higher sometimes. I don't often have to worry about freezing action too much, except trees and prairie grass, when I shoot landscapes in the wind.
Thanks,

[thegman]

My Fotoman 69 maxes out at 1/500, my Hasselblad did too. In fact, I don't I've never had a medium format camera which went any faster. It's never been an issue for me. If you're shooting colour negative film, over exposing by a couple of stops is no big deal generally. It's a non issue for me, in fact 1/250 would likely be OK for me. If you're using slide film, where exposure is trickier, then ND filters may be the order of the day.

[Peltigera]

Can't think of when I last used ISO 400 film. And I am way north of Nebraska and have much less light to play with. Almost all my photography is done at ISO 100. Why do you need such a fast film somewhere that is so sunny?

[kbrede]

Can't think of when I last used ISO 400 film. And I am way north of Nebraska and have much less light to play with. Almost all my photography is done at ISO 100. Why do you need such a fast film somewhere that is so sunny?

Wooded areas or back alleys that block the sun. We often have cloud cover here as well. We also get a lot of wind in the plains, so higher shutter speeds help freeze trees or prairie grasses when using small aperatures. Early morning and dusk are also not very sunny. 400 ISO allows more flexibility for where and how I shoot.

[Sirius Glass]

Hasselblad with the 80mm lens. A 45° PME light meter prism. More lenses are available than for the Rollei;, service is available; lighter than the Mamiyas. Most of all, you will not regret it.

[kbrede]

Hasselblad with the 80mm lens. A 45° PME light meter prism. More lenses are available than for the Rollei;, service is available; lighter than the Mamiyas. Most of all, you will not regret it.

Which models would you recommend?
Thanks,

[Sirius Glass]

I have the 503 CX. I did not get the 503 CW because I will not have a need for a power film winder. I have not used the Classic, 501 C and 501 CM but I have been told that they are great. Check out the prices at www.keh.com, because they are conservative about their ratings, they can do repairs and they have a liberal return policy. I have never been disappointed with buying from them because the few times there was a problem they promptly corrected it, paid for my return postage and did not charge me for shipping for the replacement.

I also have the 903 SWC, the 50mm, 80mm, 150mm and 250mm lenses. I am very happy with the sharpness and quality of the lenses.

[John Koehrer]

The Hasselblad is 6X6 but a 645 back is available. The TLR's are inconvenient with close-up work unless you have the
paramender mentioned above.
There's also a 645 and 6X8 back available for the RB's The prism finder is really heavy, both the metered and un-metered variety.
One advantage to the leaf shutter is flash synch at all speeds so it may be more convenient if you want to use fill flash.

[MattKing]

Thanks all for the advice. Just to clarify, I don't do a ton of true macro. It's just that something I'm photographing close up, sometimes draws me in. Like the other day I was doing some close up shots of a fish I found on a lake shore. The next thing, I'm photographing fish scales.

This question is going to reveal my ignorance. All my film cameras have at least 1/1000 shutter speed, at the top end. The Mamiya has a top shutter speed of 1/400. The Kowa, from what I can see is 1/500. I shoot at anytime of the day and usually have 400 ISO film loaded. I may be in bright sun or a darker ally. The 400 gives me flexibility. I was thinking 1/400 would be too slow for me, but if I got a couple backs, I could load one with 100 ISO and one with 400. I suppose I could also use an ND filter, if need be in the bright sun. Do you guys feel 1/400th of a second limits you in anyway? How do you handle bright sun and lower shutter speeds? I find myself 1/1000 at f/16 or higher sometimes. I don't often have to worry about freezing action too much, except trees and prairie grass, when I shoot landscapes in the wind.
Thanks,

I've been looking for a table of specifications for the Mamiya RZ lenses, but cannot seem to locate one with the information I wanted.

I do have a copy of the table for Mamiya RB lenses, and it indicates that all of those lenses have a minimum aperture of either f/32 or f/45.

So 400 ISO film is generally fine for them, even in bright sun.

Remember too that with a 6x7 negative, you will start out with considerably less depth of field when compared to 35mm (assuming the same f/stop). So with the exception of those relatively rare circumstances when light levels are high, and you want razor thin depth of field, the 400 top speed isn't a big problem.

It would be different if you wanted a shutter speed to stop high-speed action.