medium format lovers - portable medium format 120 camera

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gpc1

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Greg
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Hi All

So i have a yashica 124G, ensign selfix, olympus OM10.

Im looking for a small, pocket sized 120 format medium format camera.

somethig liek a Nettar 515 perhaps?

Im lokinmg for protability, great optics and fast lens. Im looking to create some portrais on portra 400 with super shallow DOF

Many Thanks
Rgds
 
gpc1 said:
Hi All

So i have a yashica 124G, ensign selfix, olympus OM10.

Im looking for a small, pocket sized 120 format medium format camera.

somethig liek a Nettar 515 perhaps?

Im looking for portability, great optics and fast lens. Im looking to create some portraits on portra 400 with super shallow DOF

Many Thanks
Rgds
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I think your asking a lot from a 120mm camera. Most of your options are folders if you want pocket sized but these are from 60 - 70yrs ago so the lenses aren't very fast about F3.5 - F4 with only a few exceptions. I have a Franka Solida II rangefinder which is a nice camera and takes excellent photographs, but it's DOF is nothing like as shallow as you would want for portraits
 
Eriktheviking said:
I think your asking a lot from a 120mm camera. Most of your options are folders if you want pocket sized but these are from 60 - 70yrs ago so the lenses aren't very fast about F3.5 - F4 with only a few exceptions. I have a Franka Solida II rangefinder which is a nice camera and takes excellent photographs, but it's DOF is nothing like as shallow as you would want for portraits
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yep, thats the struggle im facing. I havea fuji x100s and the size / quality is superb. So from size wise i was hoping for something like that. I dont mind folders really.

Im new to med format and would love something that i can carry around a shoot with alongside the Fuji.

There are some great old file camers on ebay. I was looking at a Zenit E the other day (not MF but still pretty odd / retro / cool)

Thanks again
 
gpc1 said:
yep, thats the struggle im facing. I havea fuji x100s and the size / quality is superb. So from size wise i was hoping for something like that. I dont mind folders really.

Im new to med format and would love something that i can carry around a shoot with alongside the Fuji.

There are some great old file camers on ebay. I was looking at a Zenit E the other day (not MF but still pretty odd / retro / cool)

Thanks again
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Please do not get a Zenit! :)
Get an OM if you want that look, they're better cameras and you're less likely to break a toe if you drop one! If you must get a Zenit let me know I've got one kicking around I never use...


If you're wanting to spend decent money a Super Ikonta is very good choice, its basically as small as MF goes (a 645 folder would be a bit smaller), you get an integrated range finder and they open up to about F3.5 which in MF gives a very (too) small DoF. The biggest problem will be the focal length is generally only 75mm, a little short for portraiture.
 
My medium format pocket camera is an Agfa Isolette I. Not the best lens or folding camera ever - and no range finder, but cheap as chips. Buying a folding camera though has it's extra hazard - leaky bellows. Making your own bellows and changing them is more than I'd wish on myself. I actually have two Isolette Is - bought my first for four quid, and another this weekend for fifteen quid, in a nice leather case. Is it a pocket camera? Well, yes, I'd say so - a large pocket. Mine even just fits in the back pocket of my jeans, and of course, in a coat pocket. Quality? Hey, it aint a 'Blad. However, for a low price, they can be a lot of fun. The Isolette I was the budget job, there are others in the range with better lenses and shutters. Just repeating my warning though - leaky bellows. That goes for any folder.

Here is my first one:

12880163635_d087abaed3_z.jpg


12880160995_3eeb79cb4a_z.jpg


and some of my meagre photographs recently taken in it:

12851466985_1fa07258de_z.jpg


15022510559_61c47497f9_z.jpg


15184123096_6a591507e0_z.jpg


As I said, not the best camera - or representative even of its own range. But cheap and portable as medium format gets. It attracts attention as well.
 
my Fuji GA645Zi will go into a coat pocket, i'll need clown pants to put in in there though :) But youre never going to get real pocketability with medium format.
 
XA2inmypocket said:
My medium format pocket camera is an Agfa Isolette I. Not the best lens or folding camera ever - and no range finder, but cheap as chips. Buying a folding camera though has it's extra hazard - leaky bellows. Making your own bellows and changing them is more than I'd wish on myself. I actually have two Isolette Is - bought my first for four quid, and another this weekend for fifteen quid, in a nice leather case. Is it a pocket camera? Well, yes, I'd say so - a large pocket. Mine even just fits in the back pocket of my jeans, and of course, in a coat pocket. Quality? Hey, it aint a 'Blad. However, for a low price, they can be a lot of fun. The Isolette I was the budget job, there are others in the range with better lenses and shutters. Just repeating my warning though - leaky bellows. That goes for any folder.

Here is my first one:

12880163635_d087abaed3_z.jpg


12880160995_3eeb79cb4a_z.jpg


and some of my meagre photographs recently taken in it:

12851466985_1fa07258de_z.jpg


15022510559_61c47497f9_z.jpg


15184123096_6a591507e0_z.jpg


As I said, not the best camera - or representative even of its own range. But cheap and portable as medium format gets. It attracts attention as well.
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nice one, thanks
 
I have a Yashicamat 124G and various medium format folders; but I'm gravitating back to slinging the Yash over my shoulder rather than putting a folder into a pocket. The Yash does not feel at all heavy and has the advantage, over the folders, of much easier framing and focussing, and a decent internal meter
 
Ross ensign 16-20, very small, about £30 ish, nice lens and completely manual.
 
And following up Andy's post - have you looked at this thread, where some of the cameras mentioned have been reviewed?
 
I think there's a rare camera with a nikkor lens that's a semi folder... Begins with p
 
Or as I like to call Plaubel Makeyoupoorina 67.....:D
 
theres the folder in the for sale section, 3.5 105mm rangefinder and 6x9 or 6x7
little tempted myself but im resisting :p
 
I'm more interested in a nice 35mm rangefinder in full working order, think I'd prefer the feel of that, but I could look more into the 5
 
excalibur2 said:
As a last resort you could always get a Ilford Sporti but I have no idea of the quality of shots from it. Might be something to play with if you get one from a bootie for a few quid:-

http://www.photomemorabilia.co.uk/Ilford/Sporti.html
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These cameras were made by Dacora; I have the Dacora version, in an Ilford case, from my late father. Shutter speeds appear to be B or I, and the aperture f/7,7 or f/11. It does not give me the feel of a quality job! Yes, the lens does retract, so it is "small", though not really pocketable. Get a Zeiss folder over this, any time!
 
The nettar is the bottom of the Zeiss range, probably still very competent but I'd be looking at at least and Ikonta if it were me. A 523 or 524 are about the best you'll get under a £100.
 
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theyre crackers, really not what id expect to see from that camera.
 
To be honest, the Color Skopar Lens is far superior to the Vaskar in mine if you're wanting to shoot colour film, but on B&W film the Vaskar's pretty damned nice.
 
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