dermot_conlan4

I went a few years back for the first time in July hoping for some storm light. Of course for four days straight it was clear blue skies and nice temps on North Rim but on the fifth evening things changed quite a bit and a small storm came through. I was waitng in the same spot as the last four evenings, the idea was to pick a few locations and re-visit them over a five day period. I carried a Mamiya RZ67 Pro-11 and found myself using just two lenses a 180mm and a 360mm with Velvia 50. I've had two images published from that trip, check out Rainbow over Mount Hayden in my landscape gallery at http://www.dermotconlan.com/gallery_landscape.html

You are in a pickle, you are chasing your tail...your going to loose lots of $$$ and gain a piece of a myth. The Bronica is worth next to nothing on the used market and the quality is close to the Blad so close I doubt you could pick one from the other. Believe me I've been down this road in search of the holy grail of the best medium format camera and lost a lot of money along the way...hey I'm trying to ditch a Hassey 60mm CB Distagon cheap. No Art Director has asked me yet if I'm using a Hasselblad or Mamiya or a paltry Pentax, use what you have. Hey I know, it's falling on deaf ears...

As stated above B+W wide angle hoods work perfectly, I use them on the Pentax 645 55mm and on a Contax's 28mm f2.8, famous for vignetting. Pentax has addressed this problem with the newer AF lenses the hood for the 35mmAF works wonderfully and has a cut out slot for polarizer rotation.

Well yes this is a MF forum the questioner asked for

recommendations I gave mine as an experienced traveler with

several MF systems over the years. I did not say you could not do

great work in 35mm obviously a good photographer will make

good images regardless of camera used.

Why pay all that money for the Hassey only to leave it in the closet? I've traveled to Spain and home to Ireland many times with a Mamiya RZ and Pentax 645, the Hassey is a baby compared to RZ...and for the guy who thinks 645 is no better then 35mm sorry last time I looked the film area is around 2.7 times larger. All my friends who shoot 35mm want to make these crazy big prints like 20"x30" try to compare a 35mm to a 645 at this size. You'll be happier later looking at your bigger chromes or negs, "you" just have to decide if you can hack humping two relativly small lenses and a body.

All the rangefinders I've used (Fuji to Linhof) benefit from what Bob says above, you need to create some tension, with the left hand (heel and thumb area) while attaching the film leader to the empty spool. Also wind on with slow deliberate strokes this helps with even spacing between frames, if you are consistant you'll avoid the spongey roll effect, I had this happen my first few rolls with a Fuji GSW

Forget about B+H for used gear they get a lot of walk in pros and tend to have a lot of heavily used gear, they are NOT conservative in grading. I just returned a demo lens which had a scratch on it and the aperture #'s had worn in the middle area of the ring...so this was not a demo model...they just said hey that's the way it came from the manufacturer!!! They do have a good return policy like KEH, KEH's prices can be a little high on certain equip but very competative on Contax and Pentax gear. Try photo.net for great prices, I've been trying to sell a Hassey 60mm CB in exc++ ((I rate conservcatively)cond for $900 less than Calumet has one for but to no avail....so go figure. Read the post from last night on KEH someone did have a bad experience.

A lot of the Hassey gear on the used market has been used

professionally...when you are getting paid regurlarly for your work

you look at your gear as a "tool" it makes you money you don't

always have time to baby it. Now that digital mania is sweeping

the land Hassey gear is more available to the amatuer set a lot

of whom spend their time polishing and shining this gear

reading test charts and arguing on forums about which one is

sharper, but rarely use it. KEH (www.keh.com) in Atlanta have

lots of used Hassey gear and offer a 14 day return policy. Barring

all this just buy new and you'll eventually add your own dust

Easy, one is a specialty high performance lens designed to

deliver the goods wide open and work with the APO1.4 XE, the

other is no longer is the Hassey catalog, you are dealing with a

lot of variables with long lenses such as keeping them steady,

looking through a vf at f5.6 and coping with air polution etc,

technique is probably a more important factor... do you have a

$5,000 -$7,000USD budget, can you re-coup the money with

sales of your work, are you independently wealthy?

Córdoba, Sevilla and Granada could alone occupy you for two

weeks. Try a circut of the "white villages" including Zahara and

Grazalema (a great place to stay). Arcos de la Frontera is one of

my fav plaves a small town perched on a rock high above the

plains, go in and try the tapas at Pacos's "Bar Alcaravan" open

after 8pm, there's a great Parador here to stay at.

Doñana for nature images, I'd avoid Cadiz and for me Malaga is

not what Spain is all about.. Also try to visit Rhonda theres a cool

gorge that divides the town old and new I think it's a sunrise shot

as in the evening it's mostly in shade.

I think you are barking up the wrong tree so to speak...you need

to spend the six months working on your scanning and

photoshop skills. Photography is a life long learning experience,

moving to medium format may help your photogaphy over time. I

would buy the best lenses I could afford for 35mm and work on

my technique...you could try renting different systems at the

weekends and see what suits...don't go out and buy a Mamiya 7

just because it works for somene else, what if you hate

rangefinders! As you can see everyone has given you their

preference I can only add I've used everything out there in MF

wasted a lot of money buying and selling....for me a small Pentax

645 has turned out to work best for me...cheap but great lenses

and yes on a par with Hasselblad...I've got both so don't get

caught up in equipment it's an endless money pit.

I use Pentax's 35mm AF and the 55mm which is manual. The

Pentax 35mm is closer to a 21 in 35mm terms and I find myself

reaching for it everytime I shoot, I use it mostly from f16 to f32

have not tested wide open. I already had a 55mm so the35mm

made more sense, for a light travel kit I can pack the 35mm

55mm and a 150-300mm zoom or really light with a 55mmm

and 150mm .On a recent trip to DC this worked well with a

carbon fiber tripod slung over my shoulder.

I would use slide film to compare your lenses and then find a

good E-6 lab, there are too many variables that come into play

using Prints.

Experience...the only way you could have igured it out. sounds

tough but it's true. Pro's get paid a lot of money for Weddings but

we expect them to figure out these types of probelms. I did shoot

weddings years ago but had assisted on at least fifty before

doing my first and even then I was nervous. I had something

similar happen to me on a foggy day in deep in the bogs of

Ireland..the video guy told me my flash was working but only

some of the time..I carried xtra snyc cords and quickly

changed...end of the day I had 60% of my images the rest were

lost to a sticky lens shutter..ah yes my old Bronica ETRS how I

miss it.

Brian try searching the Fuji Rangefinder section of photo.net

maybe there's more info on the Fuji Rangerfinder pages. I'm not

sure where or why..it's what I read in the recent past...RW started

discounting Fuji's straight away. As I don't shoot pans anymore

I'm not tuned into latest info.

I used both Linhof 90mm and Fuji 105mm in the past and felt the

90mm was better for my viewpoint, sort of similar to 24mm in

35mm terms. One thing to be aware of is the optimmum f stop

for the Fuji 105mm is around f16 (from Fuji) after that I found the

edges too soft (for my liking) the Linhof was OK up to f22-32

even though f64 was available...Also Fuji has discontinued the

GX617 they do not have the best of reps for keeping parts for

long periods.

 

www.dermotconlan.com

I've thought about it but never made the plunge as I have both

150mm and 120mm..I try to stick to available light and reflectors

out side it's more natural looking and it's a better learing tool for

light..Photoflex disc and holder fit on a light stand...cheaper. Try

www.keh.com for the135mm run some tests and you can return

after 14 days no questions asked. Forget the GS-1 it's too big for

what you want...I've found over the years that the more simple I

keep it the more work I produce...

Pall for Pro E-6 look into Boston Photo on Boylston St and

Spectrum Imaging on Melcher St...the best E-6 is outside the city

at Color Services in Needham... believe me I looked for a long

time, I also worked in Boston Pro-Lab scene for 8 yrs Drop me a

line when you get here if you need more help.

 

www.dermotconlan.com.

I don't have a flatbed but if you send me your snail mail addy I'll

send you both (as long as you return them) you tell me which is

mine and which is from WCI...

IMACON- - you spend the money eventually...unless you are

going to make 48 images and then sell the camera. After

spending $2500 on scanning using service bureaus I decided to

take the plunge and bought a re-furb model, check out the Photo

Village store in NYC they always seem to have at least one

demo or re-furb where you can save around $500-1K.. I've tested

the Imacon against West Coast's drum, same image and all I

can say is I'm very happy with my scanner...it's the most

important piece of gear I've bought in years.

Yes, the Alpa goes to 6x9cm and the Horseman to 6x12...start

saving your pennies.

Well you've reveived informed answer's all I will add as someone

who used the sw612 in the field for landscapes, the ground

glass is all but useless don't forget in the field we are working in

the dim light of early morning or late evening. I disagree about

the rise factor of the sw612Pro many times I was set up to shoot

a scene and needed just a little shift to compose correctly...you

cannot tilt the camera up or down slightly as you can with the

P67 and this will frustrate the hell out of you. And yes the lenses

are overpriced the helical mounts add up $1500 to the large

format price, I would do as Ian did and get myself a small 45 set

up with 612 back .

As stated above the 250 in pretty dim at 5.6 unless it's sunny and

for most of us we tend as outddoor shooters to be looking for

early or late light so the viewfinder is even dimmer...add a 1.4 for

f8 or 2x for f11 forget it, powerfull but how are you going to see to

focus? I mean it's tough enough to shoot landscapes but to

shoot wildlife which moves waste of time go to a camera store

and rent this combo for the weekend and try it under varying

conditions. If you want long then get a longer telephoto...350 or

500 apo, Jim Zuckerman shoots wildlife with these on a Mamiya

RZ but his 500 is a 5.6., have look at some of his books to see

what can be done.

These things are always a trade off, figure out the two lenses

most you use most, for me it's equiv to a 35mm and a 90mm in

35 terms and see how it goes on an overnighter...I mean this OM

stuff is light, I've done a weekender woth RZ67 + 3 lenses and I

learned from that..I now carry a P645N 35, 55, and 150mm with a

carbon fiber pod. So go out and take some chances you already

have what you need gearwise...it just depends on what you want

to return with, ask yourself which is more important...the

resulting image's or the hike?

Dream on I'd be a little worried Contax/Kyocera has all but

abandoned this and the N system, how long since the last new

lens for either? No wide primes for the N no 90-180mm

promised at the time the 45-90 was released..how long ago? Go

to any of the PMA shows the reps have nothing new to show or

say. They seem more interestedd in digi p/s and the other non

photo products where thet make the bulk of their profits.