Mamiya Medium Format owners group

joxby said:
Well........maybe..

some peeps just want to go xlarge or not at all, right from the off, its not really a question of avoidance, they enjoy spending their money on things they want even if shortly afterwards they lose interest, there's always something to go xlarge with, it seems more of a personality trait, if the finance is available its just a different approach to an enjoyable pastime, you only live once and you can't put a price on happiness..:)

I bet, if you woke up with a million quids in your Saga account....lol......you'd still be down the booty with an 83p budget in the purse looking for bargains, cos you can't put a price on happiness..:D
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Well I suppose on thinking, if you have the money go ahead and spend and if you don't like film you can always say "been there done it"
But for me getting things cheap is in the blood from the war years and just after with very little or no money, and you might be lucky and get something like a tin of peaches on the black market if you did have some money :D My neighbour who who owns a massive house and others, always on holiday now around the world and I sometimes see him at the bootie, well it's in the blood with him as well as he came to this country with nothing and made his way up. (y)
Sometimes I play the violin to my sons and they just laugh and you probably find my little story amusing as well :D Oh dear off topic again :rolleyes:
 
Nah, I get it in both ears, our lasses Mam is like that, shes in her 80's and fit as a fiddle but she can't escape the war years.
Her telly broke last week, she's like..well it was alright yesterday, but today...broke....why ?, and I'm saying I dunno, sh1t happens, you have had it 25 years, but it was ok yesterday, why's it broke today..??????
She gave us a joint of beef out the freezer a few weeks ago, and she was asking had we enjoyed it, well the sell by date was 2008 so I had to tell her we daren't eat it, and we chucked it out, its just not worth a week off work or worse, a trip to hospital.
She went nuts, during the war we ate sh1te she said, an I'm still ere fit as a fiddle, 87 ya don't know yer born lad......:ROFLMAO:......never heard her swear before.
Theres definitely a generation of thrifties out there still living war time rationing.
 
They are stunning. I need models and a studio and time and lights ... oh and some talent.
 
Those photos are brilliant!
I've just finished shooting my 7th roll through the 645 today, slowly getting used to the camera and after a couple of wasted exposures I've definitely slowed myself down and find myself making sure of the exposure settings before every shot, probably still end up with 14 out of 15 as duds though ;)
Sending off 2 rolls of Portra to Peak for processing tomorrow which I'm excited to get back, in the mean time I have started a rocky relationship with Fomapan, once I've finished my 5 rolls I will decide whether to just pay a bit more for some FP4.

Adam
 
Still waiting on my 65k/l, it landed in Stanstead, on Monday, from Seoul where it was dispatched last Thursday. Its now spent longer at the local depot than it has in transit from half a world away. Nice one Fedex...
 
ok i just picked up an RZ67 Pro off the bay. Body and back but no lens. So im looking for a lens while the body wings its way to me from the land of the rising sun. Not knowing much about the different types out there what are the good ones to look for. Something in a portrait range as my new years resolution was to get back into the studio, so around a 100mm equiv would be nice i guess and a wider one for the landscape stuff?
 
ok maybe someone who isnt out to just up their post count may have some ideas of the merits of the wider lenses against each other?
 
AshleyC said:
ok maybe someone who isnt out to just up their post count may have some ideas of the merits of the wider lenses against each other?
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Sometimes I'll make a short post as an invitation to engage in conversation, its not often returned with attitude though.
 
If you're after knowledgeable comments on the relative merits of the different lenses available, this post won't help you. The only Mamiya RB/RZ lenses I've used are 50mm, 75mm shift, 90mm, 110mm and 180mm, and only a single sample of each. My own experience is limited to what works for me, and the way I "see" my subjects. On that basis, I now use the 110mm lens for about 99.9% of my photography. I found that the 50mm was wider than I liked except in the special circumstances of not being able to stand far enough back to get everything in. I'm not a devotee of the extreme perspective effects of wide angle lenses, nor do I subscribe to the opinion that once you've found a marvellous landscape in front of you, you must shrink it to vanishing to make sure that you can get a large rock in a bottom corner to act as the main point of the image. Now, if you have any sympathy with this view, take it as a reason for questioning the use of a very wide lens.

As a second thought for you: I found that although as I got older I came back more and more to using the standard focal length for the format more and more, it still remains that different formats have for me differences that go beyond their size. If I had to pick a two lens outfit for 35mm, I'd go out with my 21mm and 90mm macro lenses. They suit the way I see in this format. For 6x7 and 5x4, I prefer a single lens of 110mm and 210mm respectively and wouldn't hesitate to go out with just a single lens..

There are special cases when a different focal length is needed, but in general I prefer the normal way of seeing, and the standard focal length suits me for its angle of view.

N.B. Portraits are outside my subject range and they are one area where a longer than normal is usually necessary to obtain a pleasing perspective and still fill the finder. Not that I haven't seen excellent work with a standard lens (Rolleiflex anyone?) and even wide angle and panoramic formats.
 
Ok Ashley, when I purchased my RZ (new) some yrs ago I did extensive reserch on which two lenses I would buy. One for landscape and another for portraits. So I went for the 60mm & 180mm and they seem about right to me.
What ever you go for.... enjoy using it!
 
Well about 25 years ago I played safe and bought the RB 65mm Why? Well I believed then that it was more difficult to design the 50mm and would need more R&D to get minimum distortion the wider the lens. ...no scientific backup for my view and just my thinking at the time.
 
Glyn Carnell said:
Ok Ashley, when I purchased my RZ (new) some yrs ago I did extensive reserch on which two lenses I would buy. One for landscape and another for portraits. So I went for the 60mm & 180mm and they seem about right to me.
What ever you go for.... enjoy using it!
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Yeah its not so much the sizes, i know small numbers mean wider lenses. Its the fact that there are different types, the 50 mm f/4.5. Two versions exist, the non ULD and ULD L. The 65 mm f/4, two versions (the second one has a floating element). Thats what i mean, different types, do people have experience of the benefits of the one type over the other?
 
It is with great sadness that I must sell an rb67... Mainly because I bought another!

I got a pro-sd attached to my 65mm k/l for about the same money. Any reason to keep the pro-s over the pro-sd, beyond the fact I know it's in good working order?
 
steveo_mcg said:
Any reason to keep the pro-s over the pro-sd, beyond the fact I know it's in good working order?
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Keep it as your second body, you can have one loaded with B&W and one with colour film and it's quick to swap between them on a shoot.









Yes, I know ;)
 
steveo_mcg said:
It is with great sadness that I must sell an rb67... Mainly because I bought another!

I got a pro-sd attached to my 65mm k/l for about the same money. Any reason to keep the pro-s over the pro-sd, beyond the fact I know it's in good working order?
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I have learned my lesson in this department; I will always have a second body for my main camera system. It's not only important as a backup, but also as a reference point or second body for even just testing or identifying issues.

Although I rarely use my SQ-B, having it around has helped me to sort a number of potential concerns with my SQ-A before they became problematic. It saved me from needing to send my SQ-A for service just last week.

Something to think about.
 
skysh4rk said:
I have learned my lesson in this department; I will always have a second body for my main camera system. It's not only important as a backup, but also as a reference point or second body for even just testing or identifying issues.

Although I rarely use my SQ-B, having it around has helped me to sort a number of potential concerns with my SQ-A before they became problematic. It saved me from needing to send my SQ-A for service just last week.

Something to think about.
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Hmmm, not sure the wife would appreciate another lump of steel hanging round.
 
steveo_mcg said:
Hmmm, not sure the wife would appreciate another lump of steel hanging round.
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I suppose the SQ series is a little different though because I can actually travel with two bodies pretty easily, but that's much harder to do given the size of the RB67, so your second body is likely to sit around a lot more. I usually take both the SQ-A and SQ-B with me when I travel along with two lenses and two backs.

I don't think my wife would appreciate my grumpiness if I only had one camera and it stopped working while on holiday...
 
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I'm not sure I'd want to be faffin about with 2 RB's.
I'd always have some sort of back up but apart from anything else, economy takes a dive if you have to buy 2 of everything just in case.
I'd rather choose something easier to handle as a second choice, or even just a change of approach like a 35mm kit or something.
There are things that are not very convenient to shoot with MF box cameras, I wouldn't want to tie myself down to 1 two bodied equipment set, especially if one was just a spare.:)
 
skysh4rk said:
I suppose the SQ series is a little different though because I can actually travel with two bodies pretty easily, but that's much harder to do given the size of the RB67, so your second body is likely to sit around a lot more. I usually take both the SQ-A and SQ-B with me when I travel along with two lenses and two backs.

I don't think my wife would appreciate my grumpiness if I only had one camera and it stopped working while on holiday...
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joxby said:
I'm not sure I'd want to be faffin about with 2 RB's.
I'd always have some sort of back up but apart from anything else, economy takes a dive if you have to buy 2 of everything just in case.
I'd rather choose something easier to handle as a second choice, or even just a change of approach like a 35mm kit or something.
There are things that are not very convenient to shoot with MF box cameras, I wouldn't want to tie myself down to 1 two bodied equipment set, especially if one was just a spare.:)
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Yeah, not sure I'd ever have two RB bodies with me. A redundancy too far for my liking. Its pretty unlikely it would ever be my only camera even if I resorted to using my phone or a compact.


So any reason to keep the S over the SD?
 
Sentimentality?
 
Well I have been off gathering a few things for my RB67 project for this year, I decided after some sadness to let my Pentax 645N go as it was fitting in the middle of my Nikon 35mm collection and the RB and generally just confusing me. So I now have a lovely top non metered prism which is well sweet. Waiting for my 50mm F4.5 to arrive from the states and have 2x120 backs loaded and good to go.
 
steveo_mcg said:
I think the old one will have to go. I have a feeling I may regret that decision...
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More than likely.....so there's your reason to hang on to it.

There again, if it sees no use....???:rolleyes::D
 
steveo_mcg said:
Does any one know if they made a K/L lens in 50mm? I can't see any on the usual suspects and I've decided I need more flare suppression than I get with my original 65mm or my C 50mm. So I'm trying to decide between the 65 K/L or a different 50mm and trying to work out if its just my lens that flares so badly.
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Must just be the design of the WA lenses, my 65 k/l flares too... Doesn't look as bad as the original but not nearly as clean as the 127 mm. Ach well live and learn...
 
steveo_mcg said:
Must just be the design of the WA lenses, my 65 k/l flares too... Doesn't look as bad as the original but not nearly as clean as the 127 mm. Ach well live and learn...
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Are you using a hood? That's always the first stop for reducing flare.
 
anyone interested in swapping their magnifying lenses out? The one in my RZ67 is a +1 and useless for my eyes. I had a look around ebay and they seem to be hard to get hold of for replacement. I have no idea what "strength" would suit me but if anyone is in the same boat and has something other than a +1 and wants to swap then let me know :)
 
Took the RB67 out to day and it's quite amusing as you are so careful with 10 shots and 35mm in comparison is like machine gunning...anyway had one shot left when I got home so decided to takes the 125th shot of the back garden. well the camera wouldn't fire WTF h'mm checked everything and eventually found the back had swiveled around by about 5 degrees....I think because the camera was in a bag in a top box on my motorcycle and in bouncing around over pot holes etc it must have moved.
 
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excalibur2 said:
Took the RB67 out to day and it's quite amusing as you are so careful with 10 shots and 35mm in comparison is like machine gunning...anyway had one shot left when I got home so decided to takes the 125th shot of the back garden. well the camera wouldn't fire WTF h'mm checked everything and eventually found the back had swiveled around by about 5 degrees....I think because the camera was in a bag on a top box on my motorcycle and in bouncing around over pot holes etc it must have moved.
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So you've finally geo your bike back on the road, well done Brian. No excuse now for not turning up at film meets, maybe we should organise the next one in Slough? @Carl Hall did say he didn't want the next one oop north.
 
RaglanSurf said:
So you've finally geo your bike back on the road, well done Brian. No excuse now for not turning up at film meets, maybe we should organise the next one in Slough? @Carl Hall did say he didn't want the next one oop north.
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Funny you should mention my bike as indeed I eventually got my powerful 750cc bike on the road and after all that wait and huge expense, found at my age it was too heavy for me, so bought a much lighter 250cc bike and am using that :rolleyes: yep I'll look forward to a film meet (not in London) to show off my T70, somewhere like Arundel would be nice on a dry day.
Slough is excellent to test a photographer's ability to turn a pig's ear (of a place) into a silk purse :D
 
Strappy said:
I think Slough's potential is gritty social documentary rather than silk purse. Come friendly bombs and so forth. ;)
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The council have decided to make Slough even uglier like in the link...h'mm two exhaust pipes that do what in a bus station? Seems a good idea for a challenge.....a shot of the ugliest building in your area and along side another shot on how you have turned it into a thing of beauty lol if possible.
http://inhabitat.com/worm-like-slou...to-pedestrian-access/slough-bus-station-lead/
 
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The phrase that passes through my mind (and stays there) is Slough of despond.
 
excalibur2 said:
Funny you should mention my bike as indeed I eventually got my powerful 750cc bike on the road and after all that wait and huge expense, found at my age it was too heavy for me, so bought a much lighter 250cc bike and am using that :rolleyes: yep I'll look forward to a film meet (not in London) to show off my T70, somewhere like Arundel would be nice on a dry day.
Slough is excellent to test a photographer's ability to turn a pig's ear (of a place) into a silk purse :D
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Been giving thought about possibly selling my Suzuki 1000cc V-Strom and maybe changing to the likes of a 400cc or 650cc Suzuki Burgman scooter, I'm hardly getting to use my large/lardy bike this year.
See what happens...

regards;
Peter
 
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