TLRs and night photography

I would like to hear from those of you who use TLRs for night and/or

low light photography. I do a lot of night-time photography and I'm

thinking about adding a TLR to my 35mm line-up.

 

I primarily do night-time urban landscapes. I work at a pretty

deliberate pace and I typically don't do rapid paced action street

scenes so portability is not a big issue. I also meter by hand.

 

I've rented a Mamiya 7 and it works great for my purposes but it's

just too expensive.

 

I can get along with the bulkiness of a TLR but I would just like to

know if there are any quirks with these cameras that make them

difficult to use in low light situations.

 

Thanks

 

Van

I would be a little concerned about focusing in low light. If there are bright highlights, you probably won't have a problem. But the TLR doesn't usually have any focusing aids on the screen, though you do get a pop-up magnifier. The question is whether you will have enough brightness to use the magnifier. For citiscapes you will probably be working close to infinity focus, though, making this less of a problem. If you use a tripod you can stop down, and then it's no problem. I would give it a try, since you are so inclined.

I don't think you'll have a problem. I use my Rolleiflex TLR at night on occasion. Working with a TLR on a tripod is a joy because you get to look down at the screen, rather than scrunch up behind an SLR/Rangefinder. They're really not as bulky as you'd think either. I carry mine in the same small shoulder bag that I used to use for my Leica gear. Focusing shouldn't be much of an issue, and if it is, the focus dial has clear DOF markings. Give one a try.

I have no problems with focussing at night with my Rolleiflex Standard 3,8 from 1932. No brightscreen and the viewing lens is a dark 3,1. The ground glass shows a fine grained image, and I use the magnifier when I focus.

The view through any reflex camera may be rather dim at night. One thing you might try is a laser pointer; shine its dot on whatever you want to focus on and you might find it easy to focus on the red dot. Of course don't aim it at people etc.

Bulky? A TLR? A Rolleiflex 3.5F is less bulky than an EOS 3 and 28-135. Sure, it's bulkier than some, but you won't get a much more compact 120 option. They're easy enough to use at night (remember a torch/flashlight to check the settings), and are pretty much ideal for this type of photography. Focusing is no more tricky in low light than with any other type of camera. Give it a go!

Looks like it can be done....

 

<img src="http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=1164870&size=md">

van,

get yourself a mamiya c3330s, ditch the waist level finder and buy a prism finder. you have very little peripheral vision with your face stuck in a w/l finder. at night you need to know what is going on around you for safety reasons. Also it is faster to level a lateraly reversed image with a prism. As for focus. Don`t bother. Preset your lens f.22 @ 5mtrs. D.O.F. with a 80mm is 2.3m to infinity! Hit the loud button and start counting. Avoid tlrs with a fixed lens. Buy a couple of supplementary for the c330. SIMPLE!

Regards Jim.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

 

If all the great answers did not instill me with confidence in the TLR...the cool photo of the guy standing on the boxes (at night, no less) sure did!!!

 

Van

I have several 35mm cameras and a YashicaMAT 124G. The YashicaMAT 124G is the only one I use for night photography. The large viewing screen is a big help. Camera batteries and exposure meters are not always needed. I usually use Ilford Delta 100 film set at f22 and a 1 to 2min exposure. There are some great books on low light photography at most public libraries. Take their exposure data with you, bracket a few shots, and take notes. With long exposure times you can have a variance of plus or minus 20sec and still get a good negative. The essential gear is a good tripod, watch, cable release, lens hood, flashlight, and a small notebook for recording exposure data. Some good effects can be done with an electronic flash. Some of the best subjects are fireworks, carnivals, lighted fountains, industrial facilities, and city streets on a wet misty night. Good luck and have fun.

Tried a TLR (YashicaMat), found it tough to focus in the dark, but I don't like SLRs in hard-core darkness either. Much happier with a rangefinder (Mamiya Press). Think of it as a really ugly Mamiya 7 with no automation or idiotproofing but with 6 x 9 backs. I've fallen in love with 6 x 9 -- even 6 x 7 now seems small somehow. You want accurate focusing because f22 sounds like a solution until you see the 20-minute exposures you end up with.

 

And if you're interested in night shooting you really need to go take a look at http://www.thenocturnes.com

I switched from a TLR to the Mamiya 7 and a big part of the reason was the ability to shoot at night. I found it difficult, even with a brighter screen installed, to focus in low light conditions, without a tripod. Even with a tripod, I found it much more difficult than a rangefinder.<p>

 

Compared to an SLR, there may not be as much difference, but compared to the rangefinder, it's very obvious. I shoot handheld at night quite a bit (usually with film rated at 800) so it made the choice easy for me.<p>

 

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<img src="http://www.spirer.com/images/nightven.jpg"><br>

<i>Oaxacan Ice Cream Vendor, Mamiya 7, Copyright 1999 Jeff Spirer</i>

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The Rolleicord TLRs (except for Vb) have dim viewfinders. However, you can get them fairly cheap (paid $70 for my 'cord IV) and add a $120 intenscreen with split-center grid focusing screen so you don't have to guess the focus. Make sure the mirror is good and clean. It is extremely light and faithful.

 

I have the 'cord III, 'cord IV, 'flex 2.8F and Yashicamat 124G. The one that I use the most for night time photography is the 124G. Fairly good, birght screen with f2.8 viewing lens. The 'cords and 124G are very sharp if you stop them down to somewhere around f5.6 to f11. Make sure to wear a hat if you're shooting where there is some kind of light over your head, or get a googgle viewing hood, or a black towel.

Would like to say a couple of things. I love tlr photography and am still learning a lot,but have found some intersting things along the way. For one,problems focusing at night could be resolved by using either a pen light as said before(prefably red) or a flashlight w/ a red filter on it-still can be focused on and it won't attract a lot of attention or distract drivers from the road if you're near the road

and not to mention mention, if you happen to be shooting portraits-red is a lot more pleasant the white..won't get too many hands over eyes or squinty looks..lol!! Another thing to point out...prisms-while they are nice to have an make life a lot easier to view things as they should be seen...one should not entirely trust them. Have heard people complain about them and I have had a few bad rolls come out from using mine. I still keep it on,but I do not use it...use a hand held meter instead,then bracket one stop over,under and one normal. And depending on what you're using-it's usually a really good idea to bring a tripod along,esp a really sturd one,as somne tlrs are a lil bit on the heavy side to lug around for long periods of time, and they make for good timed exposures too!!! :-) This pretty much all I can think of right now...so hope that this helps!!

Thanks for your time!!!

Daniel Taylor

Get yourself a Mamiya C330S and use it as a weapon to beat people who try to steal your Rolleiflex. Seriously, I've owned both cameras and you want the Rollei. It's much smaller and lighter, and the shutter/aperture controls are much easier to set and to see on the Rollei, especially in dim light. The interchangeable lenses are overrated, IMO, for the kind of photography you are interested in. There's nothing wrong with Mamiya's glass, but do you really want to be fooling around with changing lenses in the dark (it's tricky in daylight) and dragging those extra lenses with you and worrying about all those lens caps? No, thanks. I sold the Mamiya about 6 months ago and pretty much gave up on MF. Then a friend gave me his Rolleiflex because he didn't use it any more. The Rollei is so much more convenient to use and easy to carry around that I am now excited about shooting MF again.

 

The issues with low-light focusing are valid. You can get a brightscreen for most TLR's which, along with an f/2.8 viewing lens, should make low-light focusing almost as easy as with most 35mm cameras. You could also bring a laser pointer along to illuminate your subject for focusing in low light. That said, I don't have a brightscreen or a laser pointer and I manage to get the Rollei focused in very low light.

 

Aside from the obvious advantage of a much larger film frame, the TLR is better for low light than an SLR because there is no mirror to cause vibration, or to worry about having to lock up. You also have an uninterrupted viewfinder image so you can see the subject as the camera sees it throughout the exposure.

I've used both a Mamiya C2 and a Rolleiflex MX for nightscenes on a tripod and had no problems. It isn't harder than focusing a zoom on a 35mm SLR and the night scenes I shoot usually feature some strong contrast that you can focus on. More problematic is that streetlights can cause a lot of glare on a WLF, but it only slows me down a little.

If I took out a laser pointer in many of the places I shoot at night, I'd end up with a bullet in my head. I can't imagine shooting with one anyway, especially with people. Better to get a camera that can do what you want to do...

am i right in saying film can not be loaded in the rollei when mounted on a tripod! as for setting exposure if you need to look at the controls you need to practice. just count the stops.regarding focúsing,use either zone focusing or hypefocal. if your on the streets at night pointing lasers, fiddling about with camera settings and looking inapt, chances are you will get mugged regardless what kit your using.

hope this sheds some more light on the subject!

regards,james

2 weeks ago I purchased a 124G.....I have been reading as much as I can get my hands on and decided to go out and test some of the tips I found in this post.....I have no photography experience except the digital that I carry around in my bag. <br><br>

 

<img src="http://studiocouch.com/brooklyn2.jpg" width="450" height="446">

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this was a 30 sec shutter, the stop set at F22

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I tried all sorts of different shutter settings and just recorded what I had done.

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man....just get out and try it......it's so much fun!