What should I buy? Up & Coming fashion and beauty photographer in need of advice

[vanessa_rogers]

I am a young photographer , been studio manager for 2 years and have been testing

and freelancing off and on. I'm making a big move to Florida from New York City and

I need to be prepared to have enough equipment to shoot without use of the studio i

now manage and without rental houses at hand (moving to naples florida, closest

rental houses are in miami, or at least i think that's the closest, have done some

research)

I currently have a canon d60, an old ricoh i rarely use, 1 profoto 1200 (12) pack with

two heads, an elinchrome octabank, boom, stands, a 700ws travelite monolight, etc,

apple superdrive powerbook and an epson 2200. Now I feel i should probably

purchase a medium format camera to make it somewhat official.

I'm looking for something versatile, portable, and excellent for on location fashion

photography. H1 looks great but I am really not in any financial situation to lay down

for that camera and everything that goes with it. Honestly I shouldn't even be looking

new but I would consider trying for financing or a lease if that makes the most sense.

I want something sharp, reliable and medium format, probably 645af and digitally

compatible.

I like special affects and i'm somewhat annoyed that mamiya and contax only sync

with electronic flash up to 1/125th of a sec. Is there anything i can do to get that

darkened daylight sky look with the mamiya or contax with a 1200 ws pack?

 

With that said, can anyone give me insight on the pros and cons with a few medium

format packages with price and the above in mind? is 645 big enough? Is d60 good

enough for magazine editorial? advertising? Probably not and I know that some mags

i've spoken with insist on medium format already.

 

on another note these forums have already been a great help to me and I only wish i

had found photo.net sooner.

 

thanks in advance for your help!

[aguilabrava]

Get a used Hasselblad 500CM. Not AF, but a great system ,very versatile, reliable and flexible, excellent optics, you can either buy used lenses or just rent them as you need them (they have most of the stuff available at most places), used by most fashion photographers worldwide than any other camera system and the flash sync. speed is any from 1 second up to 1/500th.

[paulrumohr]

With equipment costing what it does today, I would rent until your jobs can pay to

buy the gear.

 

If you are going to take on the additional expenses of living and competing as a

photographer in New York, buying a complete medium format kit could curtail your

career (especially if you are starting).

 

I hate to point this out to you, but most working pros have SEVERAL systems. For

example, several Pentax 67s with a Mamiya or Hasselblad system, 35s, Digital SLRs

and maybe even LF. This may seem at first because of camera fever, but the truth is

every assignment requires different equipment.

 

Unless you are financially independent, I think the best course of action is to rent

(even on personal tests you do to gain familiarity with the equipment). You can

always write rental off on your taxes, too.

[larry_lambert1]

Large Format+Fashion=Mudd

 

6x7+Fashion=Well, studio bound unless your pretty strong

 

6x6+Fashion= Good! But...

 

(6x6+Fashion)+ Auto focus= Rollei, and you'll probably crop it anyway

 

(6x4.5+Fashion)+Auto focus= Probably the better route

 

Throw digital and sync speed into the equation, well, Hasselblad H1 is a logical choice! Is it big enough, what are you're peers using, a Sinar? (see option 1)

Doubtlessly H1 is very digital friendly. Florida's a tough market right now, though, so please! make sure this move is a definite gravy train!

 

I would think that F 22 and 125th with 1200 w/s to push up your subject would be suffiecient for a dark sky with 100 speed film (they are human subjects?) Some of the lenses for MF will stop down to 32, or 45 in the case of the venerable Contax 120 Apo Makro Planar. D-60 may be enough for many apps, but once again, be sure of where your paycheck is coming from in Florida, because it sounds like you are very well established in New York!

[fotografz]

Vanessa, I will sell you a hardly used, mint-, Contax 645 Kit for

$2,350. This has been my back-up camera to another Contax

645 fitted with a Kodak 645C digital back. The kit comes with

everything you need to get going: Camera body, 120/220 back,

metered prism, 80/2 zeiss lens...as a bonus I'll include an AE/AF

Contax extention tube as part of the deal (expensive bonus!).

 

For another $250. I'll throw in a never used battery grip that uses

AA batteries for extended location shooting, and makes vertical

(portrait oriented) shooting a snap.

 

One thing I like about the Contax 645 is the ability to instantly

take over the AF for manual tweaks without flipping a switch.

Another neat advantage of this system is that it has a built in TTL

flash meter for studio work with your strobes. Sync speed is

1/125th, and the top shutter speed is 1/4000th, which is nice

coupled with the fast Zeiss glass available for this camera (

helps with shooting at f/2 in bright daylight to isolate the subject

against the background).

 

As far as whether 645 is big enough...I got the Contax 645 on the

advice of the NY fashion/editorial/commercial Photographer Alan

Kaplan who does a lot of editorial type work for AT&T, Budwiser

and the like. Works for him, works for me (I do a lot of

commercial studio work for clients like Unilever/Best Foods and

editorial work for financial institutions), so my guess is that it

probably will work for you.

[h._p.]

Paul has given you some good advice. Rent until you've found your feet UNLESS you can buy a real bargain that will pay for itself in one or two jobs (hint: Hasselblads and Mamiya RB67s seem to be coming up for silly money at the moment).

 

Don't spend any of your capital now and don't take on big financial commitments until you're on your feet. I did something similar to you thirty-odd years ago and grossly underestimated how long it would take to find my feet in a new area. It worked out eventually but I made the mistake of expending too much capital too soon and that gave us some nasty moments, I can tell you.

[gl5]

6x7 reigns king in the fashion world as does Mamiya RB67.

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personally i use a Hassy because i prefer the 6x6 square format and the difference from the pack that it provides.

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<img src="http://tristantom.com/photo/people/images/samarabeach.jpg"> by <a href="http://www.tristantom.com/">Tristan Tom</a>

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but i don't only shoot fashion, i also shoot landscapes, etc. if i was shooting fashion exclusively, i would probably go for a 6x7 camera.

[gavin martin]

If you're looking for a versatile MF system, Hasselblad's are great & the 6x6 format means that you do not have to rotate the camera between portrait & landscape. Trust me this can be a sourse of annoyance. Second hand kit is cheap as anything as people are upgrading to new versions or dumping kit on ebay to finance their Digital SLR's. Extra's backs, lenses & bits are easy to come by second hand for good prices as opposed to new & generally the Hasselblad kit runs & runs for thousands of years without too many glitches. Lenses are a little pricey as most contain shutters but the Glass is pin sharp and is some of the finest money can buy. Flash Sync at all speeds!! :)

 

Otherwise RZ6x7 is a favourite. Large & heavy (wouldn't want to be lugging one through the mountains for 3 days) but a great kit & again, has a good market for parts. Plenty of lenses & options to cover everything. The back rotates too so you don't have to turn the camera.

 

Finally Bronica SQAi. 6x6 again, a cheaper alternative to the Hasselblad if only buying brand new, has plenty of usefull features like TTL Flash & spotmetering prisms. Good kit, never actually owned one though so I couldn't comment on it's long term use.

 

Some people will call me a snob or a fool but I love the Hasselblad system. Everything's compatible with everything & the kit's of top quality. I can't say a bad word about it so far.

 

Hope this offers some help.

 

Gavin

 

www.urban-landscapes.co.uk

[douglas_green1]

I agree with Harvey that now is a GREAT time to pick up a Used Hasselblad or Mamiya System. I would also add Pentax 67 to the mix, but you'll need a 165mm Leaf Shutter lens with that, IMHO. FYI I just bought a complete RB67 for under $400 (including 90mm lens), and a complete RZ67 for under $800, including the fast 110mm lens. I've also determined that I can get a used 180 or 250mm telephoto for the Mamiya cameras for under $400.

 

I believe that with careful shoppng, for under $1500, you won't have any problem getting yourself a starter Pro MF system, with a couple of bodies (and/or 1 body, several backs) and a normal and telephoto lens, from either the older Hasselblad 500CM, Mamiya RZ67 system, or Pentax 67 system. (FYI, the RZ67 is much faster handling than the RB67 - an important consideration for fashion work). Perhaps Bronica as well, but I am less knowledgeable about those. Now these are all different types of gear, and you should determine which makes the most sense for your shooting style (The Mamiyas are the least hand-holdable of the three, the 'Blads are the lightest).

[paul_.]

You didn't say whether you were going to do mostly location work or would put together a small studio at home. The RZ is faster than the RB but it's still huge with the prism finder and NOT as fast as you may need for location work with the waist-level finder. Something like the Contax 645 will let you work quickly on location and think about what you're doing more than the camera. Magazines, brochures and books are the one place where 645 really shines: you get enough extra film to look noticeably better than 35mm. 6x7 is great for larger prints but the trouble isn't worth it if you won't often make an image that will be reproduced larger than 11x14. I use an RZ in the field, and it's doable, but I'm also printing much larger than you will probably need to. A used Hasselblad 501c w/prism or the Contax mentioned above should be very productive for you.

[bill_dewberry]

If you go to spdonline.com and search for patrick Demarchelier, you can read what tools he uses. If you search google for Sarah Silver, you can see her hasselblad stuff; same for Howard Schatz. The current hot item is an AF 645 that takes a digital back, that would be my first purchase, followed by an RZ 67. Whatever you buy, make sure it takes a digital back, even the Hassy.

[paulrumohr]

Hey!

 

Everyone responding to this thread should go and check out Vanessa's website-

www.vanessarogers.com.

 

It seems like you're already shooting quite a bit, Vanessa. Whatever you're using or

borrowing or renting or owning seems to be working.

 

Remember, the camera does NOT the photographer make.

[wayne_crider4]

I think the bigger question is, Fashion in Naples? I thought all that was going

down over in Miami on S. Beach. But who knows, maybe you'll find something

going on over in retirement city. Seriously, everyone I know in fashion or tv for

that matter wants to work in N.Y.

 

As far as camera equipmet, work with what you know till you get started. No

use making purchases till you get situated. Once that is done I'd be shooting a

6x6, but there are many shooting the Mamiya's as well. I just prefer the 6x6's

in my hands.