david_purton

Just to add my input. I've been around long enough to know it's "horses for courses". In my career I have owned and used Mamiya, Hasselblad, Bronica, Fuji and Linhof in mf, Nikon and Fuji for 35mm and digital. I loved the Blad for studio and weddings, the Linhof for its superb build quality and movements. Many studios used the RB's and benefited from great optics and a "10x8" proportion format. Obviously being digital for virtually all "paid" work now, it was with hobby in mind I re-invested in mf film cameras..a couple of c220's and all 7 lenses and more recently a Mamiya Super 23 with 50mm, 75mm, 100mm, 150mm and the massive 250mm f5! All in superb condition which speaks volumes for the original finish and build quality. After all they are around 40/50 years old now! In terms of lens performance the TLR is more than capable of producing excellent 24" square prints...and larger if necessary with care taken at the taking stage. The Mamiya Super 23 is another step up in my opinion. In answer to the "criticism" of the optics we should remember the 50mm is a "Biogon", the 75mm is a "Super Angulon" and covers the larger polaroid image size and has no problem then with 6x9. Ok, the 100mm is a Tessar but it also covers 6x9 and collapses to enable one to use schleimflug movements on the film back. The 2.8 100mm is of course a "Planar"!! The 150mm is also a Tessar but covers the larger Polaroid frame. The 250 f5 is an Ernstar, forerunner of the Sonnar. If you want to know how a quality lens made entirely from metal and glass feels, pick one of these up! Not too shabby then. The film backs load easily and are renowned for being just about the best for film plane flatness. I am not going to knock the Blad though, the lenses were indeed superb as were the ergonomics but the mirror slap dictated a minimum shutter speed and was far more destructive to image sharpness than any test lab lpmm's. Tripod and mirror lock up wasn't always possible. And there's something to be said for the image not blacking out at the moment of exposure? Recent results from the Mamiya Super 23 with 50mm and Kodak Portra 160, scanned by AG Labs (£15 a roll inc process!) resulted in virtually 100mp equivalent file size images, effectively around 30 x 20 inch print size. And very lovely they were too....:)

I have owned, and used, Hasselblad with 40/60/80 and 120mm optics, Bronica SQ's with 40/65/80 and 120mm, Linhof 23 with Schneider and Zeiss, Rolleiflex 2.8f with the Schneider lens and the Fuji GS69. I am even currently getting wonderful images from a Mamiya C220 +7 lenses and the Mamiya Press with 50/75/100 and 250mm optics. I have been pro 33 years but still pursue photography as a hobby... Back in the day I printed my own work on a De Vere 5x4 wall mounted enlarger with the multihead fitted with Nikkor and Rodenstok enlarging lenses. I can report that the Fuji GS69 lens was up to their usual standard being very sharp and as is often the case with Japanese, high in contrast compared to the gentler tones of German optics. The Japanese often designed towards high resolution/contrast and the Germans liked even coverage and flatter field? This came as no surprise from a company that has a monopoly on Japanese TV camera optics, their own highly regarded lenses for their current Xpro's digital and it has to be remembered it is Fuji who made the lenses for the Hasselblad HD series!! But frankly if you are not getting sufficiently "sharp" pictures from any of the MF cameras I mentioned, it is unlikely to be the camera that is at fault?