“The contemplation of things as they are, without error or confusion, without substitution or imposture, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention”
Get a Rolleiflex and the Rolleinar closeup lenses (Rolleinar 3 gives the tightest closeup).
That will work great for closer portraits and such but not true macro. If macro is a top priority then a TLR is not what he wants. I have nothing against TLRs, I love them and own many but they are not the right tool for macro work.
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"Well, my photos are actually much better than they look..."
My favorite medium format camera that I have owned is my Hasselblad 500cm but for portraiture I favored the RZ67 that I used to own. With it's bellows focussing you can focus really close and Mamiya also offers extension tubes for it. I realize it's not square like you asked.
The Rollie SL66 is a very fine camera. It also has bellows focussing like the Mamiya RZ and is square format like the Hasselblad. It is also expensive like Hasselblad. A very good friend of mine has one and loves it. The only problem is that it is getting harder and harder to find parts for these cameras or so my friend tells me. It would be something to look into before purchasing one.
For now I'm opened to TLR and SLR, but I'm leaning towards SLR due to macro requirements. On the other hand, TLR is more convenient.
An SLR is a natural choice for macro work.
TLR can be smaller and lighter but I would not necessarily say they are more convenient. You can't change lenses on most of them. There is no autofocus or built in metering. There are no motor drives. Frankly they are quite restrictive in comparison to SLRs. I am not the kind of person that likes to fiddle with knobs and levers. With some medium format SLRs all you have to do is turn them on, focus, and shoot. The camera takes care of the rest. If you want more control you can set the aperture.
To be honest your criteria are not all that restrictive. Any number of camera systems would work for you. The only recommendation I can come up with is SLR because of the Macro work.
Originally Posted by k.hendrik
But why my dear TS won't you go for the best of both worlds ? Mamiya RZ67 pro ii !
His enlarger only works up to 6x6.
Originally Posted by jernejk
I know I want 6x6. I like the square format (I had Lubitel before it was cool, sadly I gave it away) plus my enlarger only goes to 6x6.
A TLR for general purpose work, including some macro work, plus an SLR oriented toward macro.
A Mamiya C series TLR with a 65mm and 135mm lens set will do most of the work. If you add a paramender, it works well for close focus up to about 0.8 life size (with the 65mm lens).
6x6 in the SLR world means, most likely, either Hasselblad or Bronica. It will cost you a bit to outfit them for macro work, but they are wonderful cameras. Hasselblad will most likekly be serviceable for longer.
If you consider 645, that would expand your SLR choices to Mamiya, Pentax or Contax. Mamiya or Pentax can be had fairly inexpensively with close focus lenses + extension tubes.
If you expand your choice to 6x7, the Mamiya RB67 is cheap, easy to use and has built in close focus capabilities with most lenses. It is very big, however.
I am a Mamiya user - C330 TLR, 645 Pro and RB67.
The attached was shot with the RB67 and the 140mm macro lens (+ the #1 extension tube - maybe ). The non-macro lenses like the 65mm or 90mm will give you higher magnifications, at the expense of some flat-field performance.
Matt
“Photography is a complex and fluid medium, and its many factors are not applied in simple sequence. Rather, the process may be likened to the art of the juggler in keeping many balls in the air at one time!”
Ansel Adams, from the introduction to The Negative - The New Ansel Adams Photography Series / Book 2
So what; my Opemus meopta III accepts 6x7, 6x9,6x12, 6x400 the film slide goes only up to 6x6, so you have to make the same crop you did in your RZ67 viewer: 6x6
Last edited by k.hendrik; 02-12-2013 at 02:39 PM. Click to view previous post history.
I use a Rollei TLR, but if you want macro, get an SLR. I know you can get the bits and bobs, and they're actually pretty nice, but an SLR is very much the best choice I think. I like Hasselblad, but looking at the SL66, I'd be very tempted with that.
Last edited by thegman; 02-12-2013 at 04:04 PM. Click to view previous post history.
Adv Reply
no landscape or portrait changes for you! With all the lenses/parts/macro/backs (digital too!) or whatever your weary hart could wish for ! And prices are a shame 
Originally Posted by Nick Merritt
