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Archive 2012 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)

  
 
igmolinav
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


Hi,

I have been thinking lately about the square format,
and about how much I like it.

As I was thinking today about it, a friend shows me his
iPhone and the square format pictures he can do
with the instaprint(?) application.

I still own an old Hasselblad, and I am thinking about
shooting some film and afterwards scanning the nega-
tives. But, as nice it is to do this, it is also a pain in the
neck to do this with the digital revolution already here.

What I liked the most was composing with the square
format. I remember the first few times I saw square
pictures, I thought they were cropped. Later, I found
out that there were cameras with a square format.

I wonder if in the near future there will be a quality
digital option to compose in that format. There has
already been done an attempt with the Ricoh GR Digi-
tal II, but the quality of the optics may not be not as
good as the ones previously used with many medium
format cameras. Digital backs are still very expensive,
and not all of them go square. A link to the Ricoh
camera is the following: http://jpgmag.com/stories/4594

Do you also miss or find fascinating the square
format??

It'll be interesting to read your thoughts.

Kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!



Feb 22, 2012 at 02:12 AM
pw-pix
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


If the Pentax 645D had been a 66D it would make it more appealling to me.
So far none of the digital MF outfits has had a square sensor, and none have been full size (mainstream anyway).
I recently bought a Bronica SQ-A outfit from the buy and sell forum here as I had wanted a square format camera for a long time and decided to try this approach. It's a lot more fuss and bother to shoot film and scan it, but there aren't a lot of alternatives with an affordable price.



Feb 22, 2012 at 05:34 AM
peter_n
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


I use a Rolleiflex TLR. Love it. No digital necessary!




Feb 22, 2012 at 11:48 AM
igmolinav
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


Hi,

If the Pentax 645D had been a 66D it would make it more appealling to me. So far none of the digital MF outfits has had a square sensor, and none have been full size (mainstream anyway).

I don't get that, because there is a market for people using the square format. Not only pure commercial use, but also for fine art. I remember looking at the website of the London School of Economics, (LSE), a while ago and the pictures there, were in square format. I also saw a GAP campaign in square format. One could shoot in rectangle format and then crop, but is not the same. Wether one is doing pure art, (thinking perhaps of Howard Schatz), or just documentary photography, (I just thought of Maya Goded). A lot of more creative work could be done if that format had a more economic digital solution.


I recently bought a Bronica SQ-A outfit from the buy and sell forum here as I had wanted a square format camera for a long time and decided to try this approach. It's a lot more fuss and bother to shoot film and scan it, but there aren't a lot of alternatives with an affordable price.

Perhaps in five years an inexpensive digital back is made. A new Canon EOS 5D Mark II is around $2,400 now. In a few months, the price is supposed to go down, perhaps to $2,000, or less. A 6x6 square format is about 3.5 times the surface of a full frame 35 mm. camera. We could suppose that, sensorwise one needs 3.5 times the sensor of a 5D, or 3.5 x $2,000 = $7,000. Perhaps in three to five five years that will be a solution costing half of the price for a 20 to 22 Megapixel back or camera. Rumors has it that sony has promised a full frame 35 mm camera for this summer for around a $1,000. So, perhaps there is a bit of luck or us in some time : ) !!!


I use a Rolleiflex TLR. Love it. No digital necessary!

My first medium format camera was a Yashica TLR. The feeling using it was amazing!
Then I got a Hasselblad with one lens for a good price.

Kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

P.S. The work of the two photographers I mentioned does not appeal a lot to me at the moment. I'll try to list the work of some photographers I find more appealing later on : ) !!!

P.S.2. Any medium format forum(s) you may want to recommend ??



Feb 22, 2012 at 01:06 PM
peter_n
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


igmolinav wrote:
My first medium format camera was a Yashica TLR. The feeling using it was amazing! Then I got a Hasselblad with one lens for a good price.


Ah yes, the Hasselblad. A great camera, but bulky and noisy. A Rolleiflex is the opposite, small, light and an extremely quiet shutter. Great Schneider or Zeiss lenses too. Having a camera with a fixed lens is not an issue for me, I'm a 35mm rangefinder user so plenty of interchangeable lenses there.

As for forums well I'm a film guy so I use APUG. I don't know of any digital related forums where they're nuts on a square format.




Feb 23, 2012 at 02:06 PM
igmolinav
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


Hi,

Thank you : ) !!! Really cool forum !!!

Yes, the Rolleiflex is sweet, but all
the used ones I saw, were a bit pricey!

Kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!



Feb 23, 2012 at 06:27 PM
Keith B.
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


Square format is indeed fascinating, but there is no functional difference between having a native-square camera and cropping some other camera format to a square. Some folks need viewfinder lines for this, some don't. Are there aesthetic differences in the camera operation, and focal length-to-format relationship? Of course...but don't let your 1.5:1 aspect ration DSLR stop you from shooting square.


Feb 23, 2012 at 07:30 PM
igmolinav
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


Hi Keith,

Thank you : ) !!! I think it is what I'll do !!!
It is the most practical option to use a
dSLR !

Kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!



Feb 24, 2012 at 02:11 AM
peter_n
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


One of the things I like about the Rolleiflex is that the viewfinder has a grid which is extremely helpful in composition, so if you do use a dSLR think about getting a matte focusing screen with a grid for it. If you do get one consider masking the two sides so you're viewing a square and not a rectangle.

Rolleiflex cameras are expensive because they're so well made, and also recently because of the unearthing of the work of Vivian Maier which has caused a sensation.




Feb 24, 2012 at 09:58 AM
igmolinav
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


Hi Peter,

Thank you for this last post. It is amazing in so many ways!
Yes, I'll do the masking as I may get a Canon 60D. But
man, I am reading about the guy who bought the Vivian
Maier's negatives. He is shooting with a Rolleiflex now. He
dumped his point and shoot for it, and fell in love with pho-
tography. It is amazing how much a tool can "print" its
effect on the way pictures are taken. As soon as I started
to look at the first pics in this link, I knew they had to be shot
with a Rolleiflex:

http://www.vivianmaier.com/research/history/

I also find her personal life in many ways so interesting. Yeah,
well, I am also checking prices on the Rolleiflex too ; ) !!!
I have an old Hasselblad, but perhaps a Rolleiflex is the way
to go, he, he, he ; ) !!! (Just let me go and see if there is some
money in my bank account). Anyway, my cousin lives in another
city and he was was recently told of a person selling a Rolleiflex
K4/50TLR with 75 mm. Tessar f/3.5. The price is around $230
for this one. Another offer is a Rolleiflex for $200. The first one
is from 1951-53, the other one from the 1940's I wonder how
much does a CLA for any of these cameras would cost?

Kind regards,

igmolinav : ) !!!

P.S. I'll try to post a bit more with regard to Vivian Maier later on : ) !!!

P.S.2. Sad article from July 2009. Between 2003 and 2006, they
were still making the Rolleiflex TLR. Even one with a 50 mm. lens.
http://www.adorama.com/alc/news/Franke--Heidecke-to-close-causing-medium-format-upheaval



Feb 24, 2012 at 06:25 PM
IanMillar
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


I personally love square format, when I got my Lumix G2 and discovered it also shot square frame I was happily surprised but that quickly wore off- not sure why but 'pretend' square just isn't the same. I think part of the lure is the entire package of MF- it is a different approach and feel from the minute you pick up the camera. For me the feeling just wasn't there. If you started shooting in the digital age you may have different take on it. To each is own I guess- some only need to see the final product where other want to live the entire process.




Feb 24, 2012 at 08:22 PM
pw-pix
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Square format: gone, but not forgotten .... (?)


Keith B. wrote:
Square format is indeed fascinating, but there is no functional difference between having a native-square camera and cropping some other camera format to a square. Some folks need viewfinder lines for this, some don't. Are there aesthetic differences in the camera operation, and focal length-to-format relationship? Of course...but don't let your 1.5:1 aspect ration DSLR stop you from shooting square.


I make a lot of square pics with my dslr, but having the square viewfinder makes a difference I think. Also I like the idea of the waist level viewfinder.



Feb 25, 2012 at 04:50 PM





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