heeellllp with camera choice

Hello people im a first time poster looking for a little help. As you can see from the title im looking for a

new camera to purchase and i want all you lovely experienced people to help me out !

 

in terms of budget i want to buy a camera that is going to last me a very long time so im willing to spend

to get that something little extra .

im looking for a film based camera as im still not sold by the whole digital format but if you can sell go for

it! im open minded.

 

when i was at uni my fave camera that they had in the stores was a hassleblad unfortunatly i dont know

the model but it was pretty old. i love medium format but im wondering if its too heavy and slow as i do

allot of documentary work. the amount of times i got stopped doing a doc project while using a mamiya

645 because people wanted to know what camera i was using annoyed me and because of my love for

documentary i have been thinking about getting a rangefinder like a leica or a ziess ikon but im looking to

slip into some more conceptual photography. so would rangefinders still be good for that kinda stuff? i

only worry because you dont really get an accurate reading of the textures of the picture looking into a

range finder correct me if im wrong.

 

if it helps cameras i've been eyeing up lately have been the voightlander chrome b3, leica m6&m7, a

Rolliflex tlr (i loved the mamiya c330 and the rolliflex looks the bomb!), hassleblad 503. i know those are

all really expencive cameras but there the ones catching my eye and at the moment i live at home so i can

save the money but cheaper options are desireable!!!

 

any way thanks for reading and if you can help me out that would be great!

 

hope to hear from you guys n gals

Hi Fazil, sounds like you're basing your choices on the 'vibe' of these cameras - although there's nothing really wrong with that I think you need to start out with the one that serves your immediate purposes best.<p>One day you might end up with all of them but for now what should be catching your eye is what you're pointing them at.<p>Have fun finding out, Johnny.

thanks johnny you have a valid point! but i just finished uni and im young and ambitious and

dont have a clue! :P but thanks for the food for thought if you have any more please tell

me :D

Fazil,

 

My suggestion to you, pick up a working M6, and any lens you can afford (50, or 35). The Hasselblad will follow close behind in your collection. Also, look for a Hasselblad 500c, or 500cm to get started. Almost no difference between them (cm and later c's, you can swap out the focus screen).

 

I have both M6 and the 500cm. Sometimes I wear both out, hidden under my jacket, one on each shoulder like a hitman.

 

For accurate detail.. it's all about the lens, not the camera. On a 35 rangefinder, you're not going to get as close as you want to be for that kind of detail, but that's expected w/ a 35. I've had some success w/ detail for abstract and floral w/ my 35, but it can't hold a candle to the clarity of a longer lens.. or a Hasselblad. ;)

 

Start with anything. That's my advice. grown from there. You may find your path changing as you go along it. I had no idea that I wanted to try 4x5 till I had both M6 and the Hasselblad.

 

good luck!

You might not like the Rolleiflex as much as the Mamiya TLR. The Rollei doesn't focus

nearly as close without accessories. It IS smaller and lighter than the Mamiya though.

cheers joel i suppose i should look more into lenses rather than bodies do you know of any

web links resources or any one with lots of info on this type of stuff? lol i spent four years

studying photog and i feel like a right newbie!!! basically my photog course was an fine art

course so we learned lots about finding our artistic voice and conceptual art but we were

taught didderly squat about technical stuff!!

hmmm thats what i loved about the c330 but at the same time i hated its size and weight.

wierd non?

smells funny to me

fazil,

 

i love dealing w/ keh.com, and even more so with some of the people that have been on this forum (rangefinder) for a while. It's where I found my 35mm Summicron f2 ASPH. ..and it was perfect. The cameras I bought local. The Hasselblad from a store, and the M6 from craigslist.

 

Just know what you're looking for, and ask good questions here. Almost all of my questions were posed here before I bought anything. Some great advice.. but remember, opinions are like asses... everyone has one. That runs even deeper when it comes to cameras ;) ..because everyone likes something different.

 

Yeah.. i'm in the movie biz, and going back to film made me feel like a newbie as well!

 

trust your eye.. and search here and flickr for the lens that most appeals to you eye. take it from there!

 

cheers

-J

I agree with looking for the lens that appeals most to your eyes.

 

I would just like to point out that with film cameras, it's the lens/film combination that you should be looking at. Different films, when paired to the same lenses, can produce radically different results.

 

If you stick to just one type of film, then when you find the lens that you like most, try to use the same film. Changing the film may give you unpleasant surprises. I speak from personal experience.

how about a beater nikon f3hp and 35mm 2.0 lens? could probably find that combo for $300-$400. buy a lot of film and go shooting.

 

that and a cheap canonet rangefinder and rollei tlr is what i do most of my shooting with.

 

<a href=" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/180/430299623_2f13643bc5_b.jpg" width="1024" height="1020" alt="musician" /></a>

cool will check em out. im thinking im going to evaluate where i want to be with my

photography and become a bit of a nerd and research a perfect camera for my use.

 

Joel tell me more about what you do in the movie bizz?

The best camera is the camera one uses and no amount of money or gear can trump vision.

 

Here, on the Leica Forum, you say you want a Valentino suit, to use a metaphor. Fair enough I say! But have you learned to dance? That is the question.

 

What cam you use doesn't matter a hill of beans. What does matter is that you get out and use it. The more, the better. Choose one, any one, and go for it.

 

Regards - P

Fazil -- Just out of interest, what exactly is "conceptual photography"?

 

--alun

Fazil,

<p>

I'm a visual effect artist and supervisor for feature films. I learned most of what I know about photography from my times on location, and from my wife, who has 4 years of photography school behind her... that she doesn't even think about any more, and enjoys watching me make mistakes. ;) For the most part, I spend all my daylight hours working on a computer, adding things that were not there on the day they were shot. Here's a list of the <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0036884/">movies</a> I've touched so far.

<p>

 

Right now.. my day job supports my camera lust... just barely. ;)

<p>

cheers,

<p>

-j

wow joel thats a pretty impressive resume!! and i see you had a part to play in jurassic park :O thats one of a fave films after watching that when i was a kid i bought loads of dinosaur books and started to study all the different kinds of dinosaurs, i was like ross from friends :P but ah you didnt really need to know that! but man thats awesome. i have so much to ask you! do you have msn or anything like that by anychance?