jeff_philbrook

I have used a C330S & 55, 80, 105, 180, &250 lense for many years. The 80 & 105 are the best of the lot. There is some flair, tobe sure , but sharp 20 by 30 enlargements are easy at f5.6-f16.Take careful note of the shop that quoted the $911 figure, as well as the rational, & HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM! These lense shutters are repairable forever! The focus problem is likely the alignment between the taking & viewing lens,(a common problem, but possibly better fixed by Mamiya?) Better still ,obtain a C330S & get a life! Also, did you know that Leica`s new polarizer works perfectly with ALL C330 lenses except the 65? Good luck!!!

Please don`t forget the wonderfull Zeiss Icon Super Icomat in 6x6. Made in `36-37 w/ a 4 element Tessar.It folds into the smalest 6x6 rangefinder ever made.No sync but has a selftimer & 120 film. it can use color.

Few seem to realize that the Mamiya 6 panorama mode for 35mm is a perfect fit into Widelux slide mounts. Widelux is a 35mm swing lense camera whose maker sells mounts on the cheep.(like 100 for 8-9 bucks. )Weiss makes great glass mounts but they take time & Widelux mounts are easy.

I `ve owned a 500cm & a SWC for years . And i have had LOTS of trouble. The conclusion I have come to is that when you take your `Blad in to have factory service, overhaul doesn`t mean overhaul. They want you to tell them what is wrong and just how much of the camera to fix. The bodies are so scratch&dent resistent that the internals(after 15 years)are largely shot. NOTHING TO SPECS. The factory trained repairmen seem to have to sort between shot and not so shot. How do they tell me my out of focus pictures are due to a totally worn out mechanism? They dont.

I have an old 500cm that has a flash pc connector on the body that works upon the rear curtains. It will work with old fp bulbs adequatly. The later bodies dispense with it.Also, at some point the lock on the shutter release was done away. The lock enabled the self timers in the "C"lenses to work with the mirror pre-released .You have to use a cable on the later bodies, a real shame.

Doesn`t tilting the lens board on a 680 cause you to use an outer section of the image circle and thus lose image quality? Would`nt you want to tilt the film plane like a Hassy Flexbody instead? (I know the formats are not comparable but to try for quality and then move intentionaly away from the center of the lense circle seems crazy!)

I use an enhancing filter that works with all colors very well.I believe it was made by Omega Opticle in Vermont(?) It works by transmiting only wavelengths of light that the human eye is sensitive to, and blocking ALL others. Makes GA100 look similar to Agfa Ultra, and makes Ultra look surealistic.