bobbudding

The Fuji camera designs are excellent for old farts like me that are used to dials. Nice cameras to use - not much diving into menus.

Fuji X-Trans sensors processed with C1P look fantastic. And my understanding is that Lightroom has improved.

Hoya filters are excellent. The coatings work well, and they are easy to keep clean. i even went with Hoya when i needed new glasses.

I shot Nikon SLRs/DSLRs for decades. But I sold all of my Nikon gear when my kids left for college - no longer have a need to shoot indoor basketball at ISO 6400. I replaced it with a Fuji X-mount system. It's light and compact, and the image quality is excellent.

Metz makes flashes at multiple price points, so some may well feel flimsy. And many of the older units are inexpensive and they still work well. I personally don't care about all of the automation, but that's because I shoot multiple formats, so I like to work with the same methods across formats. YMMV. FYI - Metz does make modules for Sony flash. It looks as if they cover to the A7 II. Likely an updated module will soon cover the A7 III. Flash Unit Recommendations: Metz The Auto function built into the Metz flash units works well if you need to shoot on the fly. Or you can buy proprietary technology and drop $$$ to buy several flash heads.

Yes, of course. But other people posted to it, so it is now active. And the original complaint is still absurd.

I should add that I shot a great deal of digital when my sons were playing indoor basketball. Gym lighting is often very dim, so film would have been impossible. I typically bumped the ISO to 6400 to keep my shutter speeds up. But the kids are off to college now, so I sold my Nikon DSLR and lenses, and now I'm back to MF film.

Back to the original question . . . Yes, 645 is an excellent format, so it would make sense to buy that format, or smaller MF, if you want to shoot digital. There are a few MF mirrorless systems available that are much more compact than most MF systems that are smaller than 645. Those make sense if you only want to shoot digital.

Metz makes excellent flashes, and control modules can be swapped if you want automation with different camera brands.

I don't shoot flowers, but I've done quite a bit of work with flash. I'd suggest that you block out natural light, for now, so that you can experiment with a light source over which you can exercise greater control. Experiment with lighting from different angles and modifiers. Bounce the light off of walls and play with various modifiers.

Yawn. Rubber coverings wear, and so do the windshield wipers on my car. And you're bitching because you need a shutter service after 1/4 million actuations? Sheesh! It's a mechanical device!! Your expectations are absurd.

I shoot film because I love the workflow. An evening spent in the darkroom with music playing is very relaxing. So why medium format? The tonality is superior to miniature formats.

The Bronica ETR system is excellent. I prefer it to the Mamiya 645 Line because Bronica lenses have leaf shutters, so flash syncs at all shutter speeds.

There are many excellent large format lenses. Perhaps you might find resolution tests useful: Photographic Madness, and others

I use CrashPlan. The initial backup took several weeks, but that was 2 TB. Now it just runs in the background.

I normally use a Pentax Digital Spot Meter when I shoot large format. And I adjust for bellows extension. Or I do an incident reading and adjust for the bellows extension. Don't see that I need any other methods.

I use a handheld spot meter when I need spot metering. Depends on what I'm shooting. Sometimes incident or built-in meters are just fine.

I'm partial to Billingham bags. They are expensive, but they are amazingly durable and they will keep your gear dry in a downpour. They sell laptop sleeves that match the bags, or you can just use any sleeve. Note the prices on the site are retail. You can buy at a discount from bhphoto.com. Billingham Bags | Camera Bags