jolyon

Just had the same deal on my MP, from "The Classic Camera" in Bloomsbury, so not

just restricted to lenses.

Doug

Thanks for the pointer to Pinkhassov. I had been aware of him before but 'not really', if you know what I mean. His pictures are most unusual and compelling, for reasons that one struggles to express coherently. That picture of the girl turning round to look back in the driverless metro train is both beautiful and disturbing.

It's funny how one's tastes change. I used to think Elliott Erwitt was the top, but now many of his images look a little contrived and even a little cutesy or sentimental (though this does not apply to his earlier stuff - see his lovely pictures of his first wife pregnant and then with the baby - not sentimental at all). I think, too, that there is a danger of overkill in his endless "Dogs" products.

But Haas I never tire of.

Just my two pence worth (I'm a Brit!)

The on/off switch has fallen off my Digilux. The centre spigot has

snapped at the base and the cosmetic cover for the switch has gone

AWOL. Switch still works so no real harm, but still...

No particularly hard use, and it sits in a small Fogg pouch inside my

day-to-day rucksack.

Returned it to The Classic Camera (Central London) this morning.

they said it was the first failure they had seen and would send it to

Leica but did not know if it would have to go back to Germany or even

Japan for fixing.

Cheap old trash, as JR would have said.

Jolyon

I have a Mamiya 7 with 50mm lens, normally attached, and 80mm. I

prefer to walk around with shoulders free and would like to just pop

the camera in and out of a small bag attached to a belt. Can stuff

film into pockets. I have looked in all usual shops here in London

and also checked out <a

href="www.kinesisgear.com">www.kinesisgear.com</a>, especially (and

at their recommendation) their E512 lens pouch. All seem to be just

that bit too small, usually because a MF camera is so much taller

than an SLR; and if you go bigger, to fit the camera in, you are then

into a much bigger bag which goes over the shoulder and puts me back

to square one.<p>

Any ideas anyone?

I would like to thank everyone who helped me out on this topic. I have now bought a Mamiya 7II with 80mm lens, and am saving for the 50mm.

Regards to all

Collective wisdom is always helpful, so... I am strictly an amateur,

no darkroom (yet, but working on it), have wife who allows limited

time on photography (if you are married you will get this) and a baby

daughter. I already have a Leica M6 with 35mm, 50mm and 90mm, plus

old Canon A1 with 28mm and 50mm. I have a budget of about GBP1,200

(c. USD2,000) which could be pushed a bit to splurge on some MF kit.

Purpose is (apart from just being a nice present to myself after a

hard few months) basically to do the same sort of things as the Leica

but bigger, i.e. travel, candids, some informal portraiture, a bit of

landscape. No real interest in macro, fast cars, animals etc.

I like and am used to the rangefinder system, so usual problems

associated with switch from SLR to RF are not there. I rented a

Mamiya 7 with 43mm lens the other day, liked it a lot and found it

produced excellent results - believe it or not, I managed a handheld

shot of 2 seconds that still looks (to me, at least <g>) acceptably

sharp.

I also rented a Rollei 6008i woth 80mm lens and had a curious result.

A fantastic camera, and fun toy with all the extra buttons to push and

pull (there is nothing on a Leica), and I did find that it seemed

easier to compose looking down into the viewfinder. However, the

results were less interesting than with the Mamiya. This may be just

a matter of practice.

A further point about the Rollei (and this would be true of most MF

cameras) is that it is a camera that demands time and patience to make

decent exposures. Wife and baby tend to militate against that.

The real question is this: for the money I have available, do I buy a

Mamiya 6 + 75 + 50; or a Mamiya 7 + 80; or a Rollei (for a bit more)?

The Rollei is, frankly, a bit of an also-ran, for reasons given above.

I would be grateful for any thoughts, views or experiences.

Thanks

Jolyon