New work, back to film with the Mamiya 7II

<p>Since I've had some good advice from this forum over the years, I thought I'd share some new work.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.noahaddis.com"> www.noahaddis.com</a></p>

<p>All of the work from Lima was shot with the Mamiya 7II with the 50mm and 80mm lenses. The web scans will be redone soon, in fiddling with the website design I downsized and resaved them a few times and they look a bit strange. </p>

<p>I traveled with two M7II bodies and 50, 65, 80 and 150mm lenses. Some days I carried the 150mm and made a few frames with it but mostly I worked with one body and the 50 and 80mm lenses. The 65 and extra body stayed in my room as a backup in case my primary kit was lost or damaged. Much of the work was handheld but I had a small benro tripod and used it for maybe 30% of the photos.</p>

<p>After working on the Brazil portion of the same project last year with digital, it was a pleasure to go back to film and an even bigger pleasure to see the results from the big negatives scanned on my LS 9000. Medium format, and specifically 6x7cm., suits the direction I wanted to take my work in and also it's the largest format that is practical for the way I work. I'll be making some 40x50in. exhibition prints soon, and from my early tests I'm extremely happy with the look of the prints.</p>

<p>The best thing is that I didn't even take a laptop with me! And I didn't have to spend my evenings stuck in the hotel downloading cards. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Noah - there's some great stuff there. Do you know Alec Soth's 'Dog Days Bogota'? It reminds me of this. Love the delicate, muted colours...<br>

Thx for posting!</p>

<p>Thats one dusty place...</p>

 

<p>Your images are amazing and an inspiration.<br>

Thank you.</p>

<p>These look great- congrats!</p>

<p>Noah- I've heard great things about the Mamiya 7 and 7II (and the lenses) but I've always wondered how you guys handle filters. I guess you can sort of align polarizers manually, but do you ever try to use graduated ND filters? I had a friend who swore he could hold the filter in the right place, but I was always a bit skeptical.... </p>

 

<p>Thanks for the kind words.</p>

<p>Brian, I can't really offer any advice since I don't use filters for my work. Holding them in place does sound a bit sketchy though. I'd say if polarizers and grads were important perhaps an SLR may be a better system to use.</p>

 

<p>Nice photojournalistic touch. How do you avoid netwon rings? My glass holder forms them all the time; I'm starting to wonder if it has to do with the low-humidity of where I live, causing film to adhere to the glass.<br>

Even a pass with the anti-stat cloth doesn't seem to help much.</p>

<p>I am using the glass carrier on the LS 9000, but I had problems with newton rings as well, even when I used the included film spacer masks. You are using the masks, right? </p>

<p>Anyway, even with the masks I was getting rings. I ended up removing the bottom glass from the carrier and making a neg carrier out of mat board with a hole big enough for a 6x7 frame. The AN glass on top doesn't cause rings and there is no glass between the sensor and the film. That combination works fairly well, though the film isn't absolutely flat so you have to pay attention to the focus point for each frame. </p>

<p>I may try fluid mounting, but this system works great for all but the most critical work. And even for big prints I've had great results. I have a roll of 44-inch paper just waiting for me to give it a try...</p>

<p>Nice work, Noah. Do you mind if I ask what film you used? </p>

<p>I shoot Kodak portra 160NC and 400NC. Even the 400 holds up well at large sizes, thanks to the nice big negative.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info, Noah. Again, congrats on excellent project.</p>

<p>Interesting series of photos. I use the same kit, but I've been photographing modern Bangkok, where I live, and ancient and historical sites, especially religious sites, with my cameras. I changed from using a Hasselblad to the Mamiya because the latter works quite well without requiring a tripod. Like you, I also like C-41 film, but prefer B&W and wet-lab printing overall.<br>

Keep up the good work. If your pictures show "the future" of our cities, I don't think I want to be around much longer. Things don't look quite that bad in BKK.</p>

<p>Noah, I really love your work. Congrats on being featured on the Hey Hot Shot blog. <br>

I too have been using a mamiya 7 for documentary/fine art work. Love the huge negs and light body. I would hate to carry around an RZ in the field. <br>

Check out the series I shot with the Mamiya 7:<br>

http://john-cranford.com/index.php?/projects/circle-acres/</p>

<p>Hi Noah,<br>

Well done, Noah! Your Mamiya 7 II did a fabulous job with 65mm and 50mm.<br>

I am glad you still stick with raising issues with alarmingly ever growing global squatters.<br>

I still have the Zeiss lens that you graciously sold to me quite a while ago.<br>

Wherever you go, just take care of your good health as well.</p>