ottokbre wrote:
I think 6x4.5 has a lot to offer too in terms of size and camera designs.
I shot a Fuji GA645 for a while and it was hardly bigger than a Leica and the lens is so incredibly sharp.
Those 4 extra frames go a long way too.
I've always want to try the Bronica RF 645
Yeah, I think the 6x4.5 is so under-rated. People forget how much bigger it is than 35mm!
I use a Hasselblad H1 - traded a Mamiya 645 Pro TTL for it - and while it is great, it is a huge heavy beast.
So it is a serious effort to take it along.
But with 220 film - 32 shots per roll is pretty sweet. 16 is not bad either with 120.
Bronica 645 looks like a great size. I just don't want to buy any more gear! I also like the Fuji GA645 P&S, but it seems they are now failing...
ottokbre wrote:
I will probably stop shooting Cinestill just because they have been copyright trolling their competition over using shorthand like 800T.
I decided to return the z8 that I recently purchased and got a z7 instead here on the boards. I plan to mostly use it for scanning anyway and the occasional AF use so it was overkill for my needs anyway.
I may regret it with only 10 shots a roll, but with the “savings” I bought a Mamiya 7, 65mm and 150mm kit from the boards. I guess a 645 would be better and may end up with one eventually, but I wanted to at least try the Mamiya.
And on the topic of changing cameras, my black paint MP is gorgeous. But my m7 is so ridiculously easy to use I often just grab that for “family stuff”.
So I sold the MP today on the boards here, same price I paid. The great thing about buying and selling here is being able to try out gear for minimal or no loss. Currently plan to use either the m3 or Mamiya 7 for the other stuff.
Now I just need the advance lever removal tool to arrive so I swap out the m7 advance lever for the MP style one (thanks Huss). ...Show more →
Hey! You get ten exposures with the 6X7, if you had bought a Texas Leica, it would have only been eight! It’s good to experiment and figure out what will be the best fit. There will be situations where the Mamiya will be the best camera and you’ll be glad you have it.
The M7 is the one to have for spot on exposures without a lot of fiddling. If you’re using color film, maximizing the amount of well exposed images on a roll is a plus. Have fun and can’t wait to see some of those 6x7 images!
madNbad wrote:
Hey! You get ten exposures with the 6X7, if you had bought a Texas Leica, it would have only been eight! It’s good to experiment and figure out what will be the best fit. There will be situations where the Mamiya will be the best camera and you’ll be glad you have it.
The M7 is the one to have for spot on exposures without a lot of fiddling. If you’re using color film, maximizing the amount of well exposed images on a roll is a plus. Have fun and can’t wait to see some of those 6x7 images!
Thanks. I shot a test roll through the Mamiya 7 yesterday. Loading and unloading the film was super easy. How important, if at all, is it to load/unload 120 film in a dark place?
There's nothing wrong with a company protecting its trademarks.
From the .35mmc.com link above, Cinestill's goal is to:
...protect the usage of their US registered trademarks for “CINESTILL” and “800T” which extends to the common law word mark “800Tungsten”.
I don't buy their statement that the registered Trademark "800T" extends to cover "800Tungsten", but that's a battle that I'm not in. Otherwise, a trademark is a trademark.
lifeandmylens wrote:
Thanks. I shot a test roll through the Mamiya 7 yesterday. Loading and unloading the film was super easy. How important, if at all, is it to load/unload 120 film in a dark place?
Just make sure to be in shade. So if you are outdoors in blazing sunlight, turn around so the sun is at your back and you shade the camera.
I decided to return the z8 that I recently purchased and got a z7 instead here on the boards. I plan to mostly use it for scanning anyway and the occasional AF use so it was overkill for my needs anyway.
I may regret it with only 10 shots a roll, but with the “savings” I bought a Mamiya 7, 65mm and 150mm kit from the boards. I guess a 645 would be better and may end up with one eventually, but I wanted to at least try the Mamiya.
I really enjoy the 6x7 aspect ratio, I think you will too. Just nicely off from the oh so common 3x2 & 4x3 formats!
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Desmolicious wrote:
Yeah, the M7 is so under-rated. The best film M if you are just concerned about getting the shot.
I like the idea of AE in the M7, and in fact there's one available locally that I have been eyeing.... But I have seen a few come up in the past that had failed and were stuck with only 1/60th & 1/125.... I guess like expensive P&S's it gives me pause. Leica isn't still repairing them are they....?
Desmolicious wrote:
Yeah, I think the 6x4.5 is so under-rated. People forget how much bigger it is than 35mm!
I use a Hasselblad H1 - traded a Mamiya 645 Pro TTL for it - and while it is great, it is a huge heavy beast.
So it is a serious effort to take it along.
But with 220 film - 32 shots per roll is pretty sweet. 16 is not bad either with 120.
Bronica 645 looks like a great size. I just don't want to buy any more gear! I also like the Fuji GA645 P&S, but it seems they are now failing...
I also quite enjoy 645, medium format image quality with 16 shots a roll is pretty nice! The Bronica 645 has long interested me as it is quite a bit smaller than the Mamiya's... But they don't come up often, and when they do they aren't the deal they were just a few years ago. Plus the more desirable ones with a serial number over 1m are even harder to find and more expensive...
In the meantime I still have my GA645i, in fact just put a bunch of rolls though it in Alaska. Hope it goes for many more years 😬🤞🏻
helimat wrote:
I really enjoy the 6x7 aspect ratio, I think you will too. Just nicely off from the oh so common 3x2 & 4x3 formats!
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I like the idea of AE in the M7, and in fact there's one available locally that I have been eyeing.... But I have seen a few come up in the past that had failed and were stuck with only 1/60th & 1/125.... I guess like expensive P&S's it gives me pause. Leica isn't still repairing them are they....?
The M7 is still being serviced at many places including DAG and Leica. I guess it depends on what breaks if it can be fixed, and how it failed. 1/60 and 1/125 are mechanical speeds so the rest not working could be battery leakage, dirty contacts, impact damage, water ingress etc before you get to cpu failure.
It’s also why I would recommend a high serial # one - as well as the fact it will have the MP finder stock as well as the improved DX reader. Even though I wish it did not have a DX reader at all!
Desmolicious wrote:
1/60 and 1/125 are mechanical speeds so the rest not working could be battery leakage, dirty contacts, impact damage, water ingress etc before you get to cpu failure.
Yes of course, that was my point, they were being sold with only the mechanical speeds working as the electronics were either beyond economical repair or simply unrepairable.
The fact that Leica is still working on them is comforting, but then there must be supply issues as I suspect parts are no longer in production. Anyways, not poo-pooing the M7, just have my concerns as I already have several (what I consider somewhat expensive) cameras that at some point could suffer electronic failure, adding more might not be prudent... But I still find myself checking out listings for them.
Did they ever produce M7's with different viewfinders? I'd like to add a .58 to my kit at some point.
Desmolicious wrote:
Just make sure to be in shade. So if you are outdoors in blazing sunlight, turn around so the sun is at your back and you shade the camera.
Thank you, I tried this on roll #2 into #3. Going through rolls quick!
The meter in the Mamiya 7 seems very good and seems to meter for the shadows. It's not in the rangefinder patch, it's in the lower right corner of the image which seems to often be in the shadows / on the ground.
helimat wrote:
Yes of course, that was my point, they were being sold with only the mechanical speeds working as the electronics were either beyond economical repair or simply unrepairable.
The fact that Leica is still working on them is comforting, but then there must be supply issues as I suspect parts are no longer in production. Anyways, not poo-pooing the M7, just have my concerns as I already have several (what I consider somewhat expensive) cameras that at some point could suffer electronic failure, adding more might not be prudent... But I still find myself checking out listings for them.
Did they ever produce M7's with different viewfinders? I'd like to add a .58 to my kit at some point.
lifeandmylens wrote:
9. I’ve found I like vintage/character lenses on digital and the slightly more modern lenses on film.
I've kind of gone back on this one. I think I actually like vintage lenses on film also!
I got 3 more rolls back from the lab. This time Portra 160, 400 and 800. I won't be buying 160 anymore I don't really like it. I don't even know how to explain it, aside from maybe it looks almost like digital? 800 is probably my favorite. Of course...the most expensive one! . I've got Gold 200 loaded now, so am curious about that.
Of all the pictures (most of which were properly exposed), my wife's favorites were these two. She said just the vibe of the pictures. I guess I should start underexposing!
rji2goleez wrote:
The focus lever is rather somewhat stiff but achieving focus is OK. Would love to thoughts how to fix this!
I would re-grease it before the focus tab breaks off. You pull out the brass helicoid, drop it in some solvent (Zippo lighter fluid) and clean out the threads.
You will need a few things: optical grease (Helimax-XP is the perfect amount of resistance) and a $20 lens spanner (Neewer makes one and sells it on amazon), and a phillips head OOO size screw driver (JIS standard is ideal but I did ok with eye glass screwdrivers too). All of these things can be found on Amazon.
Then if you want it to look good, new camera leather, since you have to tear off part of it to get to the mounting plate.
If you the focus lever breaks then you can get one 3D printed. But then it requires a bit of filing, sanding and chasing new keeper screw threads.
lifeandmylens wrote:
I've kind of gone back on this one. I think I actually like vintage lenses on film also!
I got 3 more rolls back from the lab. This time Portra 160, 400 and 800. I won't be buying 160 anymore I don't really like it. I don't even know how to explain it, aside from maybe it looks almost like digital? 800 is probably my favorite. Of course...the most expensive one! . I've got Gold 200 loaded now, so am curious about that.
Of all the pictures (most of which were properly exposed), my wife's favorites were these two. She said just the vibe of the pictures. I guess I should start underexposing!
jcolwell wrote:
There's nothing wrong with a company protecting its trademarks.
From the .35mmc.com link above, Cinestill's goal is to:
...protect the usage of their US registered trademarks for “CINESTILL” and “800T” which extends to the common law word mark “800Tungsten”.
I don't buy their statement that the registered Trademark "800T" extends to cover "800Tungsten", but that's a battle that I'm not in. Otherwise, a trademark is a trademark.
I find it deeply annoying. I used to shoot Fuji T64 and every photographer knows what a T means next to an ISO value. "800T" is a very weak word mark and I see why the USPTO kicked it back the first time. I think the cease and desist letters should be ignored as a due diligence effort as it seems Cinestill is targeting actual brand counterfeiters out of Asia.
ottokbre wrote:
I would re-grease it before the focus tab breaks off. You pull out the brass helicoid, drop it in some solvent (Zippo lighter fluid) and clean out the threads.
You will need a few things: optical grease (Helimax-XP is the perfect amount of resistance) and a $20 lens spanner (Neewer makes one and sells it on amazon), and a phillips head OOO size screw driver (JIS standard is ideal but I did ok with eye glass screwdrivers too). All of these things can be found on Amazon.
Then if you want it to look good, new camera leather, since you have to tear off part of it to get to the mounting plate.
If you the focus lever breaks then you can get one 3D printed. But then it requires a bit of filing, sanding and chasing new keeper screw threads.
