andrew booth

What exactly do you want to know?

There's over 6 years of questions and comments on this forum, archived on photo.net.

Individual comparisons have been made. Have you tried a search?

Paul - please select more descriptive thread titles when posing to the forum.

Please also post more specific details. Your question 'Is this a bad deal?' isn't possible to

answer as you haven't told us what you spent.

Gerald - Please choose more descriptive thread titles than 'Lens Choice!!'.

Thanks.

1/ The AF lenses should be great quality. The larger film on the RZ will give you better

quality that 645 though

2/ The RZ does have a 2.8 lens - the 110mm. It's slightly more difficult to build faster leaf

shutter lenses (which the RZ ones all are). Do you need to have flash sync up to 1/400? If

you do, you need the RZ

3/ There's more glass to move, so it will be slower.

Heres a couple more things you might want to consider:

- The finder on a MF camera is so much larger than 35mm, and the depth of field much

smaller, so manual focus on MF is a lot easier than on 35mm.

- Contax are dying/dead. I would not buy into the Contax 645 system at this time.

- The RZ and 645AFD are very very different cameras. You can't choose between them

based on specifications, or someone's recommendation on the internet. You need to get

down to a camera store and try both of them out.

> If all I wanted were a few focal lengths I would just get the Pentax 67II

You're thinking with a 35mm mindset.

Remember that with Medium Format you can crop easily and still retain print quality,

especially on 6x7. You don't need the wide range of lenses that you use with 35mm,

because this possibility is usable.

I would go for the Pentax 67 if I were you. 6x7 gives you a big quality advantage over

35mm and 645. I'd also consider a used Mamiya RZ67. The bellows focussing is fantastic

for close up work, and they're really not that heavy.

It's only 6 rolls, but 3 types. You should really process one of each type to see if they're

OK.

By the time you've done that you only have 3 rolls of Tri-X remaining (which may or may

not be worth using).

It's just not worth the hassle and processing costs of the test shots. Throw the film, and

buy some fresh.

(I think the film will be bad anyway. You're supposed to refrigerate film to maintain the usual lifetime, so you can't expect an extended life for these. If they had been frozen, that would have been another matter)

No.

Buy a Canon 350D if you want cheap quality digital.

Your question is impossible to answer as stated.

Better for what? What do you intend to use the camera for? What are your preferences?

Have you looked at either in a camera store? Do you have any specific questions, based on

the research and web-searching you've already done?

Kelly, please try and choose a sensible and descriptive thread title when posting to the

forum.

Hi Lacy - I knew about the Mamiyas - but IMHO Mamiya's solution is a poor one. With the

latest AF cameras, Mamiya doesn't even support auto aparture stop-down on the leaf

shutter lenses. I wouldn't recommend the M645 series to someone who needed leaf

shutters.

Tim,

If you can afford it, go for a new ETRSi. You do know that Bronica is now out of

production, don't you? It's a real shame, as they were the only affordable 645 MF range

with both leaf shutter lenses and polaroid back capability.

It's not Metz's fault. If your camera doesn't have the TTL sensors, then TTL is impossible.

You'll still be able to do auto-flash functions, and the 45cl4 is very good at this (and is a

great flash all 'round). Do some experimentation and see what you think - with practice

you can get great results using auto.

I'm merging two postings on this - and therefore re-posting the following from Bob

Atkins:

"If you read the Pentax press release on the info on their website you'll see that they refer

to this as a "Concepual Mockup" and in another place they comment that it will be

displayed "under glass".

See http://www.pentax.co.jp/english/news/2005/i0507.html#f-conceptual

This means that they do not yet have a working prototype for display, but they will be

showing a non-working model of it at PIE 2005 where you can look at it, but not touch!"

Why are you contemplating a UV filter anyway?

If you want to protect your lens, always use a lens hood, and make sure your camera is

insured.

If the worst happened, front elements can be replaced. Consider the cost of a set of

expensive coated UV protection filters against the (unlikely) cost of getting a front element

replaced. I just don't think filters are worth it.

Peter, for sale ads aren't permitted on this forum. To sell on photo.net, please use the

photo.net classified section.

You're expecting way too much of your lens. How would you expect a superzoom to

compete with your friend's Hasselblad prime?

Do you use the whole 28-300mm in a fashion shoot?

If you're shooting digital, then capturing the image is just half of the job - you also need

to establish a post-processing workflow to get the most out of the image.

<p>

Order a good book like Martin Evening's "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/

obidos/tg/detail/-/0240519426/">Photoshop CS for Photographers</a>" and read it.

<p>

Why did you buy that lens? You've bought an ultra-zoom which is probably the best of its

type, but which trades off image quality for convenience. It will never be the sharpest lens.

If you don't want to spend a whole lot more, see if you can pick up a 70-200 f4L for

comparison - a good lens with a smaller zoom or a prime lens will really enhance your

contrast and sharpness.

This is an equipment Q&A forum, not an image forum.

You can post a picture, but you have to use HTML tags to do it.

Angelo - how can anyone decide for you? You give no details of your budget or what you

intend to use the camera for. Have you tried searching the forum? This sort of question

has been asked many times before.

<p>

Two months ago you asked <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?

msg_id=009Vz9">Need help deciding 20d or S3</a> with no details of usage again. Can I

ask which one you ended up buying?

<p>

Did you pick up a <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=008WRk">Hasselblad or Mamiya help me decide?</a> in June:<p>

<pre>

Im interested in purchasing a medium format camera but im having a hard time deciding

between the 503cw of Hasselblad or the Mamiya rz67 pro II. Thanks for the advice.</pre>

This sort of question always depresses me, since the maths to work it out is so simple, but most folks would rather ask than think for themselves.

Take the width of a 35mm frame, and the width of a panorama frame. Work out how much larger the panorama is (lets say 1.5x).

Divide the lens size by the number you get (say 1.5). That's it - it's just a ratio.

I think you're misunderstanding what the focus lock is for.

The RZ isn't autofocus, so you don't have to lock the focus at all - once you're focussed

you can recompose all you want and the focus will not change.

The only reason for the mechanical focus lock is to stop the bellows moving if you have a

heavy lens and point the camera up or down.