lubos_soltes

<p>I've seen it on dpreview ... looks like a horrible contraption to me. And since it is pictured with a H system lens, I doubt and adapter for V system lenses will ever exist.<br> <br />The LCD "focusing screen" nailed the coffin for me.</p>

<p>oh the good old film days ... you bought a roll of film and used it in the size you wanted/needed ... 645, 6x6, 6x7 etc. now you have to buy a whole new camera to change the format with different rendering characteristics and all ...<br> <br />but generally I like what Fuji is doing ... at least they are widening the choice of camera ...</p>

<p>looks like the roll was not rolled correctly and the edges of the film were either lose or the backing paper was a hair narrower and did not cover the whole film ...</p>

<p>Have you by chance rotated the back between the frames ? Might be that the rotation is not complete and the gears do not mesh properly ?</p> <p>When you are rotating the back, the first thing that happens when you switch to the R position is that the winding gear is disconnected.</p>

<p>Hello Csaba,</p> <p>For used medium format, have a look at Prolaika in Bratislava or Foto-Skoda in Prague. Also there are some usable shops in Austria I think (no personal experience).</p> <p>As to the camera, I'd say RZ67 (I have one). 6x7, rotating back, you can use RB lenses if needed. A bit lighter than RB and the battery is not that much of a problem.</p> <p>However a basic RZ setup (body, back, wlf, 110mm lens) is around 2kg so it IS heavier than a 7D.</p>

<p>scan directly from glass, see how it works. works for me very well on a V500 ...</p>

<p>hmmm well I have a V500, so don't know how that compares, but I cut my film 3/3/2/2 ... basically I scan 2 in the holder, then rotate the film to get the last one upside down ... that's then using holders.</p> <p>however normally I scan directly from glass and there's no problem with 3 frames.</p>

<p>Do you plan to go the full way to MF Digital ? If not, start with the Bronicas (ETRSi or SQAi) or Mamiya 645 Pro variant.</p>

<p>If you need long exposures, stay with 35mm DSLRs. While the new CMOS backs are good at long exposures, they are out of your budget.</p> <p>The Pentax 645Z is a compromise of both worlds. You should test if it works for you. It has some limitations for a general MFD camera (lack of leaf-shutter lenses, no upgrade path other than whole body swap, no separate back to use on view/technical cams).</p>

<p>tripod, split prism focusing screen ...<br> <br />I only have the 110/f2.8 but focusing is not a problem. My main enemy is my lack of standards. Shooting hand-held is the main problem :-)</p>

<p>While both cameras are good pieces of kit, I don't think they are suitable for the intended purpose.</p> <p>I had a Bronica ETRSi and now have an RZ 67. The main problem is the lack of AF (AE can be worked around).</p> <p>I'd recommend a Contax or AFD for kids ...</p>

<p>Does the shutter close when you fire the lens unmounted ?</p>

<p>Hello Ray</p> <p>I am quite confused what you are trying to accomplish. The spot multimetering has one purpose, to check the scene and see how it fits your available medium (film or digital) dynamic range. Basically you meter highlights, shadows and mids and see how far apart they are. Then you decide how you expose.<br> F.e. If I am shooting a high contrast scene on negative film, I meter the scene and see where my shadows fall (the weak point of negative film) and set the exposure so that I am within my film range in the shadows. I can adjust/recover highlights later in processing.<br> <br />Similar with digital, If I can recover 2 stops of highlight data from RAW then I meter the scene and expose accordingly, then do the rest in post. With 758, you can calibrate it to your camera so it actually warns you that the scene is outside your DR range which is very usefull.</p>

<p>no clue about the RZ (have not tested it), but my ETRSi did this as well ... and there was nothing wrong with it... basically you get one flash at the closing of the shutter ....</p>

<p>3 and 4 are newton rings. however they do not generally come from the scanner itself. I do scan negatives directly on the scanner glass and if they are not covered on the top, I don't get newton rings. however they can be produced by stains on the scanner glass.<br> so clean the scanner glass properly and clean the film.</p>

<p>does the shutter FIRE actually (i.e. close, open, close)? this is similar to what an ETRSi does in MLU mode. the mirror fires, baffle goes almost all the way up (stops about 3/4 of the way). when you then fire the shutter, the baffle completes the travel and fires the shutter.<br> <br />Do the RB lenses have the same fiddly MLU threads as RZ lenses ? Maybe it's dirty or does not go all the way into the body to actually disengage the MLU mode.</p> <p>I hope the above made some sense :)</p>

<p>for testing, drop the MLU part. that only complicates things :-)<br> for 120 film, you could have loaded the film inverted (backing paper out). generally expired film when stored properly will get most or all of the frames fine. if not stored properly, there might be exposure issues but there'd be something on the film at least (similar to your push experiment).</p> <p>how did you meter your exposures ? you were shooting ambient light ?</p>

<p>Ah so you already tried that. Hmm then another lens is the only testing option.</p>

<p>tak off the WLF and inspect the finder contacts near the screen. clean them.<br> <br />also MANUALLY switch the camera to the 1/400 emergency speed and back. wait for the switch to slick back.<br> try another fresh battery (you might get a few duds even if you buy them new, have seen that happen several times to photo.net members).</p> <p>however the camera seems to be ok since the camera clicks as it should (you comment on it yourself). it seems the lens is faulty. try another lens if possible.</p>

<p>DoF preview lever works as expected ?</p>

<p>Oh you lucky bastard. Astia was my favorite slide film.</p>

<p>Get a good neck strap. It makes a lot of difference in handling the camera. I have an RZ which is a bit lighter I think, but since I got a neck strap, the handling improved very much.</p>

<p>the body shutter speed dial should be set to the red dot between 400 and B if using a metered finder ... did you do that ?</p>

<p>this depends on local laws or laws governing the sale transaction. in my country the standard 2 year warranty is covered by the vendor, if the warranty is longer (say 5 years) then after the first 2 years it is covered by the manufacturer....</p>

<p>Both. I have an RZ and I want an AFD :-) Sometimes that smaller and more automatic body is the better choice.</p>