I guess the hassy is better?

[rob_knight]

First, and most importantly, I would like to thank every single one

of you for the massive help in my very first question on Photo.net,

about Digital VS Medium format. 15 responses is exelent! Thanks,

Alot!

 

Well, I have read, and reread your responses and suggestions. The

Thing that I find is that I don't shoot that many action/sports

shots anymore, and am interested in Landscape, portait, and

archetectual photography (for the most part). The Action shots that

I do shoot are of skateboarding, and I rarley have time, or the

paitents for security trying to ruff me around. Trying to hide a

thousand dollars (ish)worth of camera equipment from cops, possible

gang bangers, or pissed off pedestrians isn't worth it any more.

Not since I fell in love with a series of portaits of my family that

I took a while back with my 35mm Nikon SLR (that is what I'm

shooting by the way, and a cannon AE-1 35mm SLR). I have shot with

this scince about age 13.

 

I guess, from what you gentelmen said, Is the Hasselblad the better

decition? I wounder about the huge price on the lenses though.

Would this knock out the hassy? Should I go for somthing less

expensive like a Bronica or some sort? The lenses are cheaper right?

 

OH, and by the way my teacher has an enlarger that can handel this

stuff in the back of the darkroom. (GOOD STUFF!)

 

What about making Quality prints off of digital? The right printers

can be supper expensive right? Any printers in mind that can do

11x14 (or bigger), prints if I go Digital?

 

I thank all of you kind, and patient people that are willing to help

me along this tough decition!! And being old enough to be my father

only makes me that much glader that I have experinced folks to help

me.

Much appreciated, ROB

[jason_enn]

I'm kind of in the same position as you. I'm still using a digi slr for work but I'm still buying a

hassy for what I actually want to shoot, since I just got rid of my old 6x6 TLR the other day.

 

If you ever get back into skate photos you'll love that the hassy system flashsync at all

shutter speeds (like most leaf shutters do). Square format is great, and since you've got

access to a darkroom, I don't see much of a question between digital and film at this point.

[vord.exe]

I'd go with Jean-Baptiste Queru's idea, buy a decent TLR and a good a DSLR you can afford.

People mentioned digital backs being availble for the Hasselblad, which is true ... but they I don't know of one digital back that'll cost you less then 8000 dollars, so that's an argument you can pretty much ignore I think.

 

If you are willing to invest time in learning to make a decent darkroom print then go for the Hassy, it's certainly more fun then touching up your photo's on a computer in my opinion.

 

What you could also do is go for the Hasselblad and buy one of the Epson photo scanners, you'd get a very good flatbed scanner and a very decent filmscanner in one pretty package, this way like Jean-Baptiste Queru's idea you'd have the best of both worlds so to speak.

If you learn to some touchup methods in Photoshop, you could get way better results then you would be able to get with one of the cheap "consumer" DSLR's. I believe one of these ways would be the best choice for you.

 

Personally I've yet to be impressed with digital, maybe one of the high-end digitals would be able to whooo me but certainly not any of the cheaper DSLR's. But digital could be a good fast way of learning, if you don't let the camera do everything for you and read a bunch of books on the side. Which I recommend .. read books on photography, it'll help you.

 

Hope this helped

 

Mick

[Ed_Ingold]

Please use a little caution before accepting advice on Photo.net. People are passionate about their hobby/business, especially about medium and large format. While sincere, there is a great temptation to "spend" someone else's money.

 

Medium format is EXPENSIVE, especially for a beginner - bodies, backs, LENSES, film and processing. There aren't many commercial processors that handle or print medium format film - and the field is shrinking. Few camera stores handle 120 film - I gave up and simply order my film in bulk via the internet. I was fortunate to find a processor only 15 minutes from home, so I don't pay for shipping and risk loss or damage.

 

Hasselblad is probably the best "buy" for used gear. It is expensive, but it is made to last, there is an huge amount and variety of gear available, and you can get most of your money back if you decide to get out (more, if you sell on Ebay). A TLR is interesting, but fits a niche market, originally a compact replacement for Speed Graphics in newswork (I was there). You get large negatives, often of very high quality - but are stuck with a single focal length and parallax. A TLR will only whet your appetite for interchangeable lenses and backs, and the versatility of a single-lens reflex. Hasselblad factory service is outstanding and reasonable.

 

A flatbed scanner will work to a point, but the quality of the images are not as good as 35mm on a dedicated film scanner - just less grain. This is a stop-gap measure. If you want to realize the potential of medium format film, you need a better scanner. Medium format film scanners are expensive - atarting at $2000 for a Nikon LS-9000 with a glass holder (essential for sharp scans). Or you can get drum scans at $50 a pop. If your film is processed at a minilab, you can often get "high resolution" scans on a CD - actually low-resolution, 1800x1800 pixel, overcompressed, oversaturated JPEG's. Try it - you won't like it.

 

Printers are another thing - quite a bargain by comparison. Photo quality, desktop inkjet printers range from $100 to $900. The Epson 2400 is an outstanding, 13 inch wide printer which uses archival (pigment) inks. The resolution is on the order of 300 to 360 dpi (the advertised dpi is dithered over an 8x8 dot matrix to emulate tonality), which is better than most optical prints.

 

I love using medium format. I can get huge enlargements, wonderful tonality in portraits and detailed landscapes - if I pay meticulous attention to details (that suits me). Most of my shooting is with a Nikon DSLR - which easily surpasses 35mm quality and approaches medium format, up to 11x14 inch prints.

 

So my advice to a beginner is that you are probably better off starting with a 35mm film camera or a starting-level DSLR. If you buy into Nikon or Canon, most lenses are interchangeable between film and DSLR bodies, so you can trade up lenses or bodies as your interest (and income) permits. A medium format kit* to handle most situations will cost 2 to 3 times that of a basic DSLR, and 4 to 5 times that of 35mm.

 

* Hasselblad camera w/WLF, 1 or 2 backs, lenses 50, 80 and 150, plus a film scanner - about $5000 for openers. You can take smaller bites to start, but consider this kit a milestone. There's older, cheaper 'blad gear out there, but stick with stuff made since 1982 - parts are still widely available.

[harvey_edelstein1]

I would do my school darkroom work in 35mm using your old equipment. I would get a Fuji f10 digital. Then I would get a Mamiya 6 6x6 rangefinder which is a great street camera that is compact and take great pictures and has a built in meter.

[vord.exe]

I don't entirely agrea with what is being said above.

Medium format does not have to that expensive.

Granted if you want to buy a couple of more lenses a Hasselblad system is not the best choice because the lenses are very expensive, but.. a casual shooter will use the Standard lens 99% of the times anyway.

You have access to a Darkroom so you can develop your own B&W,

so if you stick with mostly shooting B&W the devloping and film costs won't be that high, however if you intend to be shooting ALOT digital is obviously the way to go, but my advice is.. don't shoot too much, if you try and only take photo's you think are worth it, you'll get more out of your photography,

the Hasselblad will probably automatically make you think better about what you are doing then when you've got a digital in your hands (that's the case with me and many others I've talked to).

The 'Better' Epson Flatbeds like the 4990 and the 4870 work perfectly with medium format (less good with 35mm), and like I said if you learn good scanning techniques and learn how to properly sharpen in Photoshop you can get ALOT out of these scans, not quite up to the dedicated medium format scanners, but it's more like a 300 dollar price difference instead of the 1500 dollar price difference, these scanners will do an excellent job on medium format for under 500 dollar (850+500=1350, that's just about as much a "decent" consumer DSLR right? with the additional cost of film offcourse, but film really isn't that expensive).

 

You can get great quality with this setup IF you take the time to learn about scanning and sharpening techniques.

 

You can take a look at my gallery the few images that are in there are scanned with a Epson 4870 Photo scanner. If you'd like to see bigger examples you can always email me and i'll scan something.

 

You should go with whatever you think will suit your shooting frequency and subjects. Do some long hard thinking and be realistic.

[wingedrabbit]

One word: Rent!

 

Rent a Hasselblad. Take it out to the skateboard place or on street. See if you feel ok carrying around $4,000 worth of camera.

[andrew robertson]

Pentax 67 is definitely the best buy in MF at this time. The lenses and bodies are much less

expensive than Hasselblad, and about the same as 35mm equipment.

 

The only other two MF cameras I would consider is a Rolleiflex or a Fuji 6x9.

[ron_stecher4]

Try picking up a Minolta Autocord or Mamiya C330 first. That way you can experiment with medium format on the cheap before you take the financial plunge with a Hassy system.

[rick_helmke]

Keep an eye out for a Rapid Omega or Koni Omega. Rangefinder MF in a very tough packeage and the glass is incredible. The best part is they can be found at economical prices. The bad part is that a lot of people know what they have and won't give them up. There are some very nice Fuji rangefinders in 645 format, again with super glass but without interchangeable lenses. Bottom lines is that now there is every kind of MF rig available at bargain prices. $500-1000 will set you up quite nicely with almost any brand you choose.

 

Rick H.