Mamiya RZ67 For My First Medium Format Camera ?

[jon_kobeck1]

<p>I have been shooting 35mm B&W for years and lately digital, but I have been transitioning back to film. I want to buy my first medium format camera. I wwant to get a good used model. Being a fan of the Nikon FM2 I thought I shoudl buy a similar all manual Medformat. I was looking at the RZ67 or maybe the RB-67. I also looked at the 645AF but worry about the electronics.<br>

I do mostly fine are and documentary-street work. I realize that these camaras are probably too big for the street. <br>

Any advice on what to buy would be greatly appreciated</p>

[bms]

<p>Get an RZ. They are cheap, sturdy. They are not fully manual (i.e. there is a battery somewhere), but I only use it with a hand held light meter. If you want to carry it around and not putt on a tripod, a waistlevel finder should be enough. I think there are grips you can get, but holding that thing up to your eye with a prism will attract cops who think you will really shoot someone :)<br>

However, consider a Mamiya 6 or 7 if you want to do mostly street work..... you'll need to spend a few more monies, but prices have come down quite a bit IMO.</p>

 

[bms]

<p>BTW, looked at your website and the location looked familiar! Here is a shot with a Mamiya 7....</p><div></div>

[jon_kobeck1]

<p>Benjamin I have a copyright on the main concourse at grand central station :)</p>

[jon_kobeck1]

<p>Do you think the RZ will be too heavy to carry around the city with no tripod ?</p>

[benjaminoliverhicks]

<p>I carry an RB around the city from time to time. You will be fine with the RZ or RB, although those rangefinders would be better for solely street work. I want to pick up a 6 at some point for more handholdability.</p>

[jon_kobeck1]

<p>Yea I hear ya. I have an FM2 that I love and carry that around when I want to go light, but I want to try medium format for the high quality and fine art type of work. <br>

I also have a 5D which sits on the shelf alot lately</p>

[bms]

<p>Jon, sorry about the infringement :) Regarding film, I get you :) My D300 had sat on a shelf for a few months until last week where film was just not practicable.</p>

<p>I have carried around the RZ - you can probaby get one with a back and lens for a few hundred $ and sell it at near the same price if you are not happy....</p>

[berlinhennig]

<blockquote>

<p>I do mostly fine are and documentary-street work.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Depends on what we will understand in that. But if you don't have to compose your fotos, if you don't want to use a tripod, if you don't want to take your picture in common with the weatherforecast - forget the RZ. For any kind of moment-catching-street-work it is positively to heavy and unpractical. Alone the DOF is only good enough for sunny days or speedy films or a tripod or a combination of it.</p>

<p>What's about the 645? You don't have to take the AF. There are also the 645Pro and 645ProTL with good lenses and no electronics - if you don't wish. This camera is handy and easy and the pictures are great.<br>

<img src="http://www.berlinhennig.de/photonet/_MA_0023.jpg" alt="" width="510" height="680" /><br>

Available Light, freehand, Ilford XP2 400, Mamiya-Sekor C 55mm 1:2.8 N</p>

[Lou_Meluso]

<p>Jon, I have an RZ67 system and a Bronica SQ-A system. The RZ doesn't get out much anymore though it's great in the studio. The Bronny is OH-SO-MUCH lighter to haul around especially with the waist level finder. good prices on them, too. Years ago, as a younger guy I humped a RB67, and prism, everywhere, but these days I rather give up a cm in film size for a much more comfortable shooting (and walking/climbing) experience. That said, for street shooting, it's hard for any reflex camera to compete with a fast handling MF rangefinder.</p>

[sfcole]

<p>Jon, I use both a Bronica S2 and a Mamiya 6 on the street. The Bronica is similar to the Mamiya--big and heavy. But it works and I have lots of great street photos. People seem to react differently to it. They think I'm some kind of big shot. The Mamiya is of course MUCH faster, especially with winding to the next shot, and I can hold it up over my head and put it on AE in a crowd. Having picked up a Mamiya RB recently at a shop, I don't know if I would go that far... just too big and heavy. <br>

I will say that while the Bronica is portable by itself, lugging just a couple of more lenses is MUCH bulkier and heavier than the 6. The Mamiya RB will be even heavier to carry as a system.<br>

What about a Hasselblad 500 series? They're fairly light and compact--25% lighter than my Bronica.</p>

 

[jack_welsh]

<p>Have a Mamiya 67 Pro-s. It's a great camera. Use it handheld and on a tripod. When I wanted to get a more hand holdable camera to carry around. Bought a Mamiya 645 Pro. Now, I have 2 great cameras. So, don't leave out the 645 for street shooting. Mine will be my traveling camera.</p>

[desmond_kidman]

<p>I have been fortunate enough to own an RZ Pro II sytem with nearly all of its lenses as well as many Hasselblad systems with most lenses. If I were going to be hand holding the camera 75% of the time, and it included sessions of several hours at a time, I would be going Hasselblad. If I were going to be working on a tripod for 75% of the time I would be going RZ. I have also owned Pentax and Bronica systems, for me it would come down to a choice of the Hassy or RZ. Being able to buy now at good used prices, with the prospect of getting out without getting hurt, is great in terms of finding what "fits" you. </p>

<p>There is so much "mine is the best, this is the only choice" that it is hard to get real down to earth advice. I ended up going through Leica, Linhof, Sinar, Hasselblad, Contax, RZ, Mamiya 7, as well as other systems and my conclusion really became that most advice folks gave me had little to do with the actual experience. If you have, amongst any photo shooting friends or pros that you know, one who you feel seems to have have "resonated" with you in terms of how they shoot and what they say about systems you have both tried go with their advice...so much better than folks you have never met. Try to find a store that might have used copies of any systems you are interested in and hold them for a while, focus on various objects, see how comfortable you are with them. Bring some film, then get it processed. Or, one by one, buy and sell (if you are not crazy over it) systems until you hit the one you love. </p>

[fast_primes]

<p>For street shooting you'll ultimately find the RZ way too big and heavy. Get a P645 or Mamya RF instead.</p>

[bill_dewberry]

<p>I own an Rz, no way for the street; I own a hasselbld- no way for the street; largest camera for the street is a 645, either pentax or mamiya. My favorite street camera, I love the images it produced, and produces, is a contax 167 MT with 85 2.8 lens- superb.</p>

[desmond_kidman]

<p>Leaving room for personal preferences and knowing that what fits one will not fit another is important to remember. </p>

<p>"No way" that a Hasselblad can be used for street? Wow, dogmatic statement. It surely can be used for street. Strangely, my best personal street images are with Hasselblad, despite having owned Mamiya 7 and Leica M6. Was this luck? My mindset? My familiarity with my first great camera? Things just fit other folks sometimes, though they might not fit you. Get the shot roughly framed, trip the mirror, wait for the subject, click.......a noiseless shot on big neg!</p>

<p>I have used to Rolleiflex E models, I preferred the Hasselblad for street.....certainly it is no larger. </p>

<p>Take a look at Doisneau's work sometime..he made good use of a Rolleiflex as documented in many places, this being only one:</p>

<p><strong><em>It’s interesting to note that Doisneau used a Rolleiflex in the early and middle parts of his career. Quieter though perhaps otherwise less unobtrusive than Cartier-Bresson’s Leica, it offered higher technical quality and this sharpness and richness of tone are evident in the book’s warm-toned reproductions.</em></strong><br>

<strong><em></em></strong><br>

Lots of room for personal preferences in the equipment used. </p>

 

[berlinhennig]

<blockquote>

<p>Leaving room for personal preferences and knowing that what fits one will not fit another is important to remember.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Hey, what a statement. I love it, if the people do only read the last post. The question of Jon Kobeck was</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I want to get a good used model. [...] I thought I shoudl buy a similar all manual Medformat. I was looking at [...].<br /> [...] these camaras are probably too big for the street. <br /> Any advice on what to buy would be greatly appreciated</p>

</blockquote>

<p><em>That's what he asked for:</em> an <strong>advice</strong> ! That's what <strong>he got</strong> . No philosophical consideration of the pro & contra of the ability of human beings to leave room for personal preferences under the special allowance of dogmatic statements in photographic expert thread.<strong><br /> </strong></p>

[doug elick]

<p>For street? Don't discount a TLR..... The rest has been discussed before.</p>

<p>Doug</p>