zhengs photos

<p>The Sinar Copal shutter with a proper Leica M-> Sinar adapter board will be easier to do, since I saw your digital back already has a Sinar mount adapter. The Sinar Copal shutter has big enough opening so you can do it behind the lens, and the lens and CCD can be farily close to each yet safely apart.</p>

<p>Hello Yongfei, thanks for sharing the DIY project! One quick question for the f/1.4 photo, where did you focus on?</p>

I use V700 while a colleague uses M1 Pro, and we have been comparing notes. I scan both medium and large format using Epson scan software. For 4x5 I normally use 2400dpi 48 bits otherwise the files are too big to handle in CS3. He scans medium format and 35mm and use SilverFast Ai software. The conclusion for medium format is that both scanners can produce comparable results after tuning the parameters and work flow. And for 4x5 I would assume the difference even more insignificant.

 

Some of his comments on M1 Pro can be found in the following thread:

 

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/72157606012236665/?search=microtek

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/pacemaker_crown/pacemaker_crown.htm

Latest news from Fujifilm's Photokina overview (2nd last paragraph in the English PDF):

 

"The FUJIFILM GF670 Professional medium-format camera, developed jointly by Fujifilm and Cosina will also be displayed at Photokina 2008 as a reference exhibit (the camera will be marketed under the FUJIFILM brand in Japan only)."

 

http://www.fujifilm.com/photokina2008/pdf/release/overview_e.pdf

There is a glut of large format gear out there, and you can certainly put together a very competent system under $500. KEH has always been great for me, and even bargain grade equipment turns up in excellent condition. But for a complete ready to shoot kit, maybe it will be easier to find locally on craigslist or something like that. Lens in the focal range of 127mm-210mm are so plenty that you can find modern multi-coated ones around $100. One great place to learn from great people and buy used equipment is Large Format Forum:

 

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/index.php

I would say go for it if the bellows are light tight, and the lens and shutter in good condition. The 120 is very much like my 110A, except the lens and shutter as Noah mentioned. You can find the full spec on Land List, and it has separate viewfinder and rangefinder like my 110A. It is not all that bad, even for environmental portraiture.

 

There are people who can convert it into 4x5, like Razzle, East Camera Tech, etc. I have only heard good words about the Yashinon in Seikosha shutter, and they can reach quite high price on the big auction site due to its rarity.

 

Alternatively you can ask Minh to convert your Polaroid 120 into a medium format camera (up to 6x12 but in reality about 6x10), so you can use any 120 roll film. I did it with my 110A, and it is a great way to re-use the wonderful lens (mine is Ysarex 127mm in Proto SVS shutter), the all metal construction and a great camera in general. Let alone the compact size and coolness.

 

You can also find option8's Polaroid conversion website for DIY info.

I would certainly recommend anyone to try the Voigtlander Vitessa 35mm folding rangefinder camera: the overall quality of engineering and design, the pop-out of barn doors, the coffee plunger advance/shutter cocking, and the wonderfully 3-Dimensional color photos from the Ultron 50/2 lens. If only the viewfinder is as big and bright as a Bessa R!

Thanks Yann, I will check out Chris's camera page.

I was bitten by the folding 35mm bug and acquired a few of them, a Voigtlander

Vitessa A5, a Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35 (later one with Tessar T*), and a Retina

IIc. So far an awesome experience, but the film is yet to be developed. They all

have their quirkiness, but the workmanship and aethetics just amaze me. You can

feel they are made by people who are very proud to put their name on a product.

 

In case I do like them and want to give them a proper CLA for regular use, do

you have any recommendation for good craftman who work on these jewels? I'm from

San Francisco Bay Area, and local experts will be even better!

 

Thank you all and I sense this might well be the beginning of my classic camera

adventure!

Thanks for the pointers and will try my luck with this weak dollar.

 

Yes I have been to Munich quite a few times, and the 2 hours is separate from doing the proper bierhaus and etc. :-)

I hope this is not totally off topic, but I will have a short business trip to

Munich later this month, and would like to use this opportunity to look for a

few classic folder 35mm cameras such as the Voigtlander Vitessa L/N/A and Zeiss

Ikon Contessa 35. They look to me represent the high point of German optical and

mechanical engineering excellency, just like my Rolleiflex. Any good suggestion

for 1-2 good shops since I might only have max 2 hours to do any shopping. I'm

planning to use the cameras but would also prefer those in good cosmetic

condition too. Since beholding them is also very enjoyable. Many thanks!

This "Digital Rolleiflex" has been on sale for some time here in Europe, at least on the large German online shop technikdirekt. Last time I looked they were on sale and now it's no more, so apparently they are now moving to fresher territories where curiosity are still high. It seems more like a toy than anything else, another OEM/rebranding/merchandizing exercise...

I've been living in Europe for a few years now, and traveled to different locations, and I can assure you that you shouldn't be too worried about carrying expensive camera gear around. Just use some common sense and get an insurance, like others suggested.

 

After all, what can be more satisfying than wandering the narrow streets of the Latin quarter in Paris, with a Rolleiflex or Hasselblad loaded with Tri-X, in the spirit of Atget and Brassai? On the other hand, a small digital camera with longer zoom might be very helpful in isolating the interesting architectural and cultural details.

 

Enjoy the trip and the experience!

I agree with Craig and Carl. Canon should bring out a superzoom (8x-12x) digital camera with Imaging Stablizing, and priced around US$500-600, to compete in this very popular segment. Now we got Olympus C750/C740, Minolta Z1, Fuji S5000/7000, Panasonic FZ10, but there are still plenty of room to improve since all of the cameras above have some weak points. Canon already got all the essential elements, like CCD/CMOS sensor, Digic image processor, Image Stablizing lenses, and AF assist light. Also the price point should be in $500-600 to avoid cannibalize their consumer DSLR business.

I have some doubts about the delay of Olympus C5050 camera. 2 weeks ago I tried friend's older Olympus models (C4000, C3020), and the shutter delay was so long that I always moved camera before the shot was actually taken. I came from film SLR background and have only briefly played with Canon 10D, so maybe my expections are too high. Are there any significant improvement for C5050 in the shutter delay department?

 

Here is an interesting Japanese review, where he compares multiple 10x plus superzoom DCs for handling qualities that are not visible from the specs. The list include Olympus C745/755, Minolta Z1, Panasonic FZ2/10, and Fuji S5000. You can try babelfish for a rough translation.

 

http://allabout.co.jp/computer/digitalcamera/closeup/CU20031030A/index.htm

Hi:

 

I want to use my Nikon SB24 with a manual medium format camera

(Rolleiflex TLR). It does not have hot or cold shoes, so I got a flash

bracket, and plan to use a PC sync cord to connect the camera and

SB24, and set SB24 on "A" mode.

 

Now comes the question: the cold shoe is totally metal, so do I need

to insulate tape it before mounting the SB24? Since there are quite a

few contacts on SB24, and I don't want to fry the circuits.

 

Anyone has similar experience before? Any advice will be appreciated!

Hi:<br>

<br>

I'm looking for a "digital Yashica T5", i.e. carry-everywhere

photographer's snapshooter with good image quality and some manual

control. My requirements are very compact size and light weight, 3-4M

pixels, good lense, exposure compensation, and if possible aperture

priority.<br>

<br>

I just find this new Minolta G400 fits almost perfectly my

requirements, at least according to the marketing materials and

specification. It tauts the world fastest startup and shot to shot

time, slim design, 2EV exposure compensation, and aperture priority.

The optical viewfinder seems tiny, but I guess I might have to get

used to use LCD instead. <br>

<br>

<a

href="http://www2.konicaminolta.jp/english/products/consumer/digital_c

amera/dimage/dimage-g400/index.html"> Link to: Minolta G400 </a>

<br>

Now my question is has anyone already have some hands-on experience

with this camera? How does it compare with leading supercompacts like

the Canon Ixus 400 and Pentax Optio S? <br>

<br>

Thanks, Bruce

I fully agree that color prints cannot tell you much or even misleading. Try slide film, a good handheld meter, and lots of shots under different lighting conditions, at different aperture and shutter speed. If your Rolleiflex is in good condition, you should expect a lot from it and be satisfied.

 

I got my first Rolleiflex 3.5F one and a half month ago, and shot one roll of color negative (Kodak 400UC) and one roll of color slide (Velvia) right away. The proof prints from color negative looks pathetic, not very sharp, color are bad. However, the Velvia pops up on my light table, with great sharpness and vivid color, as you can expect from Velvia with a quality prime lense. So I learned that my Rolleiflex is in perfect working order, but never use that lab to do my color prints again.

 

Lately I've been doing some color slides Kodak EPP for people, and more B&W Tri-X. Both impresses me. The quality of B&W negatives brings me back to the darkroom and the "wet" process, and increasingly enjoy the craft. It becomes a perfect companion, when more and more of my 35mm work will be migrating to digital.

 

Now if only I could find a metal lens hood for Bay II!

 

Bruce

Hi:

 

Does the Bay II to 52mm filter adapter plus filter obstruct the

viewing lens in anyway? What's your experiece? I have a 3.5F and some

quality B&W filters in 52mm thread, and are considering the camera-

depot adapter option. I will most likely only use one filter at a

time (e.g. a yellow for B&W portraits). The genuine Rollei Bay II

filters are hard to source and costly, even on eBay.

 

By the way, the chromes back from lab are simply awesome, let alone

the silky operation and the feel of mechanical quality. One gentleman

approach me to congratulate me that "I should be proud of owning it".

Now I need to get some inspiration from Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon,

Helmut Newton, and shoot more...

 

Many thanks,

Bruce

If you want something plain vanilla, cheap, powerful and reliable, you could use Vivitar 285 or 283.

 

If you wnat some good flash which you could share with your Nikon system, Metz makes the best portable flash units. They have full range of products so choose something to fit your purpose.

Simon:

 

Several pro photography shops in Sydney: L&P, Kayell, European Camera Specialist (ECS). They have good range of new/used MF gear as well as other higher-tier equipments.

 

//Bruce

Al:

 

Making a good B&W negative might not be a big challenge for you, considering your experience with lighting and color photography. BUT, making a good B&W print is very hard indeed. So if there are only a handful of customers asking for B&W and you don't have much personal interest in B&W printing, you might try the C-41 B&W films such as Ilford XP2 super and Kodak TMAX-CN and get printed in a pro-lab.

 

For some inspiration on B&W portraiture, the recent "Black & White" magazine has a "The masters" special edition featuring work of Anne Leibwitz, Herb Ritz and etc.

 

//Bruce

Diego:

 

It sounds you picked up a nice outfit for a bargain price!

 

I've owned Kowa 6MM along with two lenses (80?,150) quite a while ago, something to be careful. First wind the film using the knob instead of the crank, slowly and evenly, otherwise you ran the risk of wearing down the transport system, which is a common problem. 6MM means mirror-lock-up and multiple-exposure, so of course you can take double expsure, I cannot remember clearly how to do it though. With mirror locked up and lens closed down 2-3 stops, the Kowa system can be excellent picture takers. Actually they have some of the best telephoto MF lenses of their age, which is partly evident that Kowa quit camera business and becoming a telescope spotting scope comapny. Cannot help with the reapir thing, but it definitely will be hard because there are virtually no parts available. So if you can find another working/dead Kowa 6/6MM/66 body on a good price, buy it on the spot so you can have a backup or parts inventory. ;-)

Thanks Ed for the nice review. Here I'd like to add some info which is translated from a reliable photo website in China. Due to the geographic and historical reason, there are quite a following in the Kiev line in China. The following are brief translation of highlights:

 

1) The camera: new Kiev 88 body from factory will definitely have quality problems in the first month or half year (agree with Ed). The quality of parts inside the body are in fact quite good, but the assembly quality control is terrible. So a full adjustment by an experienced repairman is a must, especially the transportation system and the film center axis need aligned to avoid jammming and uneven spacing. But if the adjustments are done well, it should sustain medium load usage for a long time.

 

2) The lens: Kiev line lenses are good value for the money, the star lenses being:

 

i)30/3.5 fisheye, high optical quality and unbelievable low price(selling for less than US$200 in China, almost an insult to the excellent work of its designers), one of the reasons to go into the trouble of fixing a Kiev 88 body to go with it;

 

ii)65/3.5 medium wide angle, good optical quality and very cheap price;

 

iii)150/2.8 mid-tele, jam and bread lens for wedding and studio portraiture, excellent optical quality, about 1/10 of Hassy 150 price in China.