Any Advice? Mamiya 645 Photos for Website

[nicholas_steben]

<p>My friend’s family has asked me to shoot some photos for their company website. Photos which include their company cars and establishment in the background. From what I have been told so far it would have to be early in the morning around 7 am, before the trucks/cars/vans go out on the road. The business is located in a well lit up area with plenty of room to work with. No trees and big parking lot. <br>

I have a Mamiya 645 manual focus camera with a 45mm, 80mm, and a 150mm lenses. I do not have any flashes. <br>

I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions or helpful information that could be useful in my situation. (What kind of film to use? which lenses to use?)<br>

Also, what would be a fair pricing for this job? It would probably be less than 2 hours of work. (Sorry if this question was in the wrong forum)<br>

Thank you<br>

Nick S.</p>

 

[q.g._de_bakker]

<p>Bring all of your lenses, a tripod too, and a film like Kodak Ektar 100, or Portra 160 NC.<br>

Not having a flash is good!<br>

Since it is nearly family, you need not worry too much. Just take it easy, take your time to find the images you need, and shoot lots.</p>

<p>Make sure that you shoot what they need though. The images have to fit the content of the pages. So have a talk about how many pages in the website, how many pictures needed per page (approx.), and what subjects are needed.<br>

So do not take photos of trucks/vans/cars only. Buildings, inside and out. Offices, and other work areas. And include the people that work there!</p>

<p>How are you going to scan the films?</p>

<p> </p>

[nicholas_steben]

<p>Thanks for your advice! I appreciate it a lot. <br>

That's another thing I would have to think about. I do not have a scanner yet but when I get my photos developed I usually have them scan them and put them on a cd along with my prints. I’m not sure what type of scanner that they use, but would it be a good idea to have them do it for me all at once?<br>

If not, what scanner would you recommend? <br>

Thanks<br>

Nick S. </p>

 

[steve_levine]

<p>It sounds like you and the Mamiya haven't worked together before?This could easily be a really disappointing day for everyone if you aren't careful.</p>

<p>I would highly suggest you shoot a practice roll under similar circumstances before hand. This way you have a shot at anticipating your results at the actual shoot. Just be methodical in your loading and exposing and follow the same procedure.</p>

<p>I also recommend the LEARNING tab atop this page. The articles are all well written, and easily understood.</p>

<p>FWIW, bldg exteriors with vehicles in frame will work nice with a step ladder for a shooting platform. Easiest film to use IMHO, would be a 400 speed color negative film. Kodak VC400 comes to mind. Use a meter and expose for the darkest part of the scene or the shadows. This assures a nice dense properly exposed neg. This of course makes printing/scanning easy.</p>

<p>Of course If it were me. I'd shoot with a good point & shoot digitial camera. A website really only needs a fraction of medium format's resolution.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>A tripod is a definate must. Remember that on a Mamiya 645 the shutter speed must equal or surpass the focal length of the lens.</p>

[philip_wilson]

<p>Get a tripod, take lots of film, if you are unsure bracket exposures (use print as it is more tolerant). Steve gives good advice take a ladder to get high (or try shooting from low down) changing the angle of the shot can produce good results. You should lso try and get a good idea of how they want the photos to look - creative and eye catching or more of a record shot. you probably aslo want a polarizer (reflections off glass) and perhaps an ND grad if you expect very bright light.</p>

[q.g._de_bakker]

<blockquote>

<p>"A tripod is a definate must. Remember that on a Mamiya 645 the shutter speed must equal or surpass the focal length of the lens."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Just so this is clear: it is not a peculiarity of the Mamiya, but a general 'rule', which says that to avoid blur in handheld photography, the shutter speed in seconds better not be shorter than the reciprocal of the focal length in mm. A 'rule' that is equally true (or untrue) for any camera.<br>

You will always get better results using a tripod. </p>

[dave_parry]

<p>That "rule" is based on the focal lengths used on 35mm cameras (it just so happens to be a happy concidence). An 80mm lens on the mamiya gives roughly the same field of view as a 50mm on 135, thus camera movement is manifested in the image to the same extent (all things being equal...). Thus based on the integer shutter speeds on the mamiya you're looking at 1/60th should be fine for the 80mm, 1/30th for the 45mm and 1/125th for the 150mm.</p>

<p>However, having said all that, the mirror slap on the mamiyas is so severe compared to a 35mm camera you'd do well to ignore my advice and stick to 1/125th for all lenses for situations where you can't lock up the mirror. This is the main disadvantage of handolding MF SLRs with those huge mirrors. In terms of handholding I should easily, and often can, get sharp shots at 1/60th with the 80mm, but I still get robbed by mirror slap quite frequently.</p>

[q.g._de_bakker]

<p>Mirror slap is nothing to worry about when handholding.<br>

Your 'steady' hands shake much more worse than what a mirror can produce.</p>

[dave_parry]

<p>We'll have to agree to disagree on that.</p>

[e._r._averitt]

<p>Another vote for Kodak Portra VC 400, plus a tripod.</p>

<p>You might also experiment with some exposure bracketing too. Take extra rolls of film, and all of your lenses.</p>

<p>Do practice in the same light before your shoot, this will able you to become more familiar with you setup. Try to keep f stops greater than f5.6, will allow more objects in your photo to be in focus.</p>

[nicholas_steben]

<p>Thanks for all the advice! Ill definetly will help me out.<br>

Nick S.</p>