stephen_fretz

I'm considering this lens in Olympus OM mount, because the Olympus light meter can't be beat for low-light night photography, and AFAIK there is no other ultra-wide angle lens available for the OM system (zoom or prime), or at least none that's semi-affordable. Just ... how bad was it?

I've got an Oly OM-2s and I can't get the exposure ring to turn to the two red speeds - B or 1/60th. Is there some sort of interlock I'm missing? Thanks.

I just got mine and needed to fix some light leaks in the bellows and replace the back batteries before proceeding. I'll say this: it looks massive but there's a lot of plastic and composites. It's heavier than a Mamiya RB, but it balances OKish in your left hand while you focus/shoot with the right. And for such a big camera there's no perceptible mirror slap, even if you don't use the lock-up. Everything is electronic and feels very, very damped; like shooting my Nikon D600; my old Pentax 67 was like shooting off a powerfull handgun in that respect. That said, given the narrow DOF of the "normal" lenses I'd be most comfortable hand holding with 65 or 50 and Portra 400. I'm planning to buy the 65 w/November's pension money, and will report back after I shot a roll walking about the neighborhood with it.

The Bronica ETRSi typically costs more than a Mamiya 645, but the lenses have leaf shutters. So if you're doing portraits with flash, get the Bronica. Otherwise, I'd get the Mamiya - those things are tanks, and can be had cheaply. I shoot a 645J - with the 55mm 2.8 it was $160 off Craigslist. If you're scanning with an Epson or Canon flatbed scanner, I actually recommend the Mamiya Press/Universal; scanned 6x9 shot on slow film won't have any visible grain, if you do it right.

I switched from Kiev 88 to Mamiya 7, and honestly regretted it. The Mamiya 7 glass is super-sharp, but it lacks character. As others have pointed out the Mamiya isn't good for close-ups, either, and only has a few lenses. That said, the Kiev broke too often - the importer was nearby and fixed it while one waited, but it still got frustrating. After a few months I sold the 7 and got a Pentax 67. Nowadays I'd get a Mamiya RB67. The older ones are only a bit more expensive than the P6, and it's likely to be more reliable. You also have a choice of cheap lenses - the "C" series, or the K/L stuff, which is really good, and only a few dollars more.

<p>Why wouldn't you just use 120 film and crop down in post? It's not like there's much price difference....</p>

<p>Do you have a Nikon Coolscan 9000? Getting one would be cheaper than any Hassie-compatible digital back, and at least you'd be getting the most you can out of your film, short of drum-scanning. (And if you're able/willing to by a 2000ish era PC or Mac, there are affordable drum scanning options, too)</p>