jack_congson5

My C330S prism's coating peeled off 3 winters ago rendering it basically useless.

 

I was able to buy a Kiev (NC2 for Hassy) plain prism at Ebay. I just disassembled my useless Mamiya Prism and grafted the base to the Kiev prism with epoxy. Its actually easy to do. No need for special instructions.

 

I find the Kiev prism much lighter than the Mamiya and noticeably brighter. The 45 degree prism is a delight to use compared to Mamiya's

straight through line of sight. I am very happy! I should have done this long ago!

 

For the less mechanically inclined there is a much better finished product at: http://www.baierfoto.de/mameng.html

KEH is the way to go!

 

www.keh.com

The way I read your question is as follows:

You currently have a Vivitar 285 mounted on a C330S and you want a 2nd flash at 45 degrees to the subject.

 

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Normally the flash that is at an angle to the subject is designated as the Main Light. The Flash closer to the camera or mounted on top of it is designated as a Fill as in to fill the shadows created by the angled Main. The Fill is typically 1 stop below the main and the camera exposure is at main.

I see that you are using a wonderful 330S ( I have one myself) I think you should invest at least in a used flashmeter.

If you are going to use more than one flash. It is best to operate them in fully manual mode and determine their correct exposure with the flash meter. The auto sensors sometimes get fooled when more than one flash is going off at the same time.

The best place to get your answer is at the Mamiya site:www.mamiya.com. There is a monitored forum and mamiya techs normally answer in 2 days or less.

I agree with Ravi, the Sekonic line is a good buy. I picked up a used mint sekonic 328 in Toronto for $200 canadian or about $130 U.S. It is simple, reliable and really does the job. I will be on the lookout for a used 508 in the near future. I need its reflected spot readings when I use my 180 mm on my Mamiya 330S for certain wedding shots.

I went through the NYI correspondence course. I found the material a bit too simple for my needs. This was before I discovered the Internet and its multitude of photography forums. The Medium Format Digest and the Photoshopper Forum has taught me a lot more. Check out the new virtual photography course at www.faber.com. They just advertised at Shutterbug.

I use the RB pro-S as well with a 127 mm lens for portraits. It is so sharp that I have had to buy the Tiffen warm soft fx3 filter to prevent skin imperfections from showing up. I have the 120/220 motor drive back which allows me to use only the shutter mirror advance just like the RZ. The motor drive back has a sensor that detects the shutter mirror advance and drives the film accordingly.

 

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I have always believed that photographers choose the 6x7 format for unhurried use and therefore don't need the bells and whistles that automation brings.

 

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Moreover, electronic equipment failure is often in a go-no-go mode, that is, failure is often w/o warning. Mechanical equipment as in the RB Pro-s fail in the analog mode, that is slowly over a noticeably long period of time.

 

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I also didn't want to be bothered in replacing the rz battery which controls all its functions, on a regular basis.

 

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regards

 

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Jack Congson

I now use a Mamiya RB67 but I started with a Mamiya C330s TLR. I was lucky to accumulate the TLR equipment from almost mint pieces over a whole year by going to pawn shops, camera shops.

The Mamiya 330s is fully manual and has the following lenses available: 55, 65, 80, 105, 135, 180, 250.

 

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It is part of a family starting from the C33 to the 330s. The C330s was last in production in the early 90's and is no longer manufactured.

 

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In my opinion, the best lenses are the 55mm, 105DS and the 180 Super

They are not in the category of the Hassleblad but their quality is such that they were favorite workhorses not too long ago among wedding photographers.

 

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As much as possible try to get a lens hood for each lens as this reduces flare and provides best contrast.

 

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It uses mamiya's unique rack focus and thus my transition to the beautiful RB67 was very easy.

I asked the Bronica Distributor here in Toronto the same question 3 years ago. The present GS-1 does not support TTL Flash from any other manufacturer except for its own (low power flash)unlike the ETR-Si and the SQAi that support the industry standard for ttl flash. There were rumors 2 years ago that there was going to be a new GS-1 coming out that would support the TTL standard but I have yet to see this unit.

 

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Regards

 

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Jack

I, too, got into medium format recently with a very small budget constraint. I tried each camera I could, including the Pentax 67. I just found its mirror slap very loud and startling. Pentax makes very fine affordable lenses, but I think the Pentax 67 is more suited to landscapes or nature shots.

 

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I could not afford a Hassleblad and my camera use is going to be in weedings and portraiture. I ended up buying a Mamiya C330s 6 x 6 with 3 of its best lenses 55mm, latest 80mm S type, and a 180 mm Black Super, which gives me nice headshots. It took me a while to put everything together as I scrounged every pawnshop and second hand camera store in Toronto. It was fun hunting for the equipment as it became available.

 

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After I get enough practice with this camera, I will ultimately settle on a Mamiya RZ Pro II 6 x 7 with a 100-200 mm zoom which will allow me to be flexible with group and tight head shots without moving the camera position. The RZ's back can be rotated for horizontal or vertical composition without moving the camera itself. I particularly admire Anne Lebowitz portraiture style and she is totally sold on the RZ.