peter_smith11

The first phase of any project should be research. Allocate time for your research, say 6 months or maybe longer, in which you accept the research expense of hiring a camera and a single lens at weekends with the aim of mastering one movement per outing, or taking three pictures or something else. Stick to the same camera and film. Then hire a different lens and learn how to use that. Then make your purchasing decisions. It's quite likely that the place you hire from will recognise a future customer and scout a good deal for you when the time comes.

I fitted an Op-Tech to my C330 simply by attaching the strap to the elongated slot on the camera using a small keyring circle each side. Worked perfectly.

Police and insurance companies are correct in saying that monitored security reduces your risk of burglary by 91% - 95%. In my years as an insurance loss adjuster I never did a burglary claim where monitored security was used. As a naval officer we used, for certain levels of security, steel cupboards secured to the floor with a steel bar slotted across the doors and fitted with a secure hardened padlock - get one from a locksmith.

 

There are only two times you can install monitored security - before or after the broken window. Figure it out.

 

I can't tell you the number of times I've stood doing a claim in the spread of broken glass with the family dog nearby. Lovely as pets but not for security. Professionals cope with dogs by just opening the gate and waiting to the dog to go walkies.

 

There is no such thing as total security. All security buys you is time. Decent security requires more time to circumvent than most burglars are prepared to spend onsite.

 

For when the insurance fails there is insurance, after all they are only machines, although we do get emotional about them.

 

Cheers

 

Peter Smith

Marc for ease of use hand holding an RB/RZ try the Manfrotto 334B / Bogen 3245 monopod. It has one handed squeeze grip adjustment of height. So you extend it to take the shot, shorten to carry around. That way you aren't taking the weight as you take the shot.

 

Peter Smith

Christian it sounds as though you're in Australia and my comments assume this. That being so most of the camera brand replies you'll get aren't helpful because the market here is so much smaller, and of course the prices higher. Buy Photograpica Trader Magazine at the newsagent, the yellow one, comes out every two months, for good used ads. European Camera Systems I think they're called, in Drummoyne Sydney are good people, have plenty of used cameras. Look at a few, don't be in a hurry, and get used to the way they feel. I'm one those who believes a truly useful machine is easy to use first and easy to repair second - technical perfection comes a distant last. All MF lenses you are likely to find produce excellent negatives. My initiation was into Mamiya 330 cameras, bought 2 cameras and 4 lenses for less than $1000 as an outfit. Buying used means you'll lose little money if any on resale/trade in.

 

People moan about the weight of RBs and RZs but in fact they are similar in weight to a Nikon with long lens and motor drive. A Manfrotto 055 tripod is fine, you'll never find one used of course.

 

Costs of film and processing are noticeably higher but if you use transparency you could in time aim to get a Jobo film processor.

 

Look for a cigarette lighter powered Esky to keep film cool but not iced in outback heat. Car temperatures in inland Australia can rise to 65C/ 150F in an hour while you're away. Years ago I spoke to a woman in Lightning Ridge who said they used to go away for 6 weeks at Xmas and the max/min thermometer upon their return showed a minimum temperature, presumably at night, of 108F.

 

Although it's difficult to directly compare digital/film for quality as sharpness is not the only consideration, MF is roughly equivalent to 40+ megapixels. You will be blown away by good 6 x 7 transparencies. Excellent inspiration for MF photography, especially RB/RZ are the books by Jim Zuckerman.

 

Have fun

 

Peter Smith

Thanks again for your advice and suggestions.

 

Peter

Many thanks for your suggestions. Does anybody know the difference in setup times between the Ebony folding and non folding cameras?

 

Thanks

Peter

I'm moving from 35mm and MF to LF and will buy an Ebony. The subjects

are cityscape such as cathedrals, church stained glass windows,

historic buildings but not too many 50 floor skyscrapers. Also

landscape but not backpacking. My favourite lenses at present are the

20mm Nikon and 55mm Mamiya on my C330.

 

I gather that I need to start with a 150 mm and a wide of maybe 72XL.

Logical?

 

I have a choice between the folding Ebony SV45 which is limited to

42mm rise and can take longer lenses, or a non folder 45SU with 70mm

rise but limited to maybe a 250mm tele lens. Do you have any comments

whixh would help me with this choice?

 

 

 

Many thanks

 

Peter Smith

SWOT. Your biggest weakness is your lack of experience in interior lighting. Maybe a polaroid back and reflectors should be in your kit.

If you hired a pro to do a couple of locations you will learn a lot by observation. Have fun.

 

Peter Smith

Try the Manfrotto/Bogen extendable monopod, very easy to control one handed, very sturdy, very easy to carry around.

The beauty of buying used equipment is that you can sell it for probably no loss once your education is over and you decide to either keep or change it.

An alternative is to take say three separate pictures, just fractionally overlapping, and mount them close but separated in a single wide frame. The brain does the joining as it looks at the pictures.

Instead of a tripod you might consider the collapsible Manfrotto monopod, operated by a squeeze grip. Won't allow slow night exposures but will do everything you need in daylight.

What about using the Manfrotto grip adjustable monopod. Adjust height simply be squeezing the grip, so you can have it short when you walk, and long when you shoot.

Yes you will need an adapter plug and I'm sure you could get one from a decent duty free store or airport shop on departure. Otherwise there will be shops in the major cities (Sydney Melbourne Brisbane) where you could buy one. They usually come in a packet of several adapters of different types.

Power here in Australia is actually 240v 50Hz.

There are two essentials to wedding photography. The ability to get the expression, and complete complete complete familiarity with your equipment. You'll get better results with 35mm gear you're familiar with, and disguise lack of sharpness on larger prints by printing them on matt or textured paper.

Every now and then some people enagage in what might be termed an intellectual wank and Chesterton's comment for me falls into that category. Those that can, do, those that can't, criticise. A small distortion of the original phrase but with more than a grain of truth when the activities of professional critics are examined. Perhaps the reason that criticsms of images posted on this forum seem to lack some uniform direction is due to nothing more than the lack of uniformity in the emotions experienced by the observers when observing a lack of uniformity of subject matter.

As a former insurance loss adjuster I can tell you that like homes, cars fitted with alarms and signage have a lower rate of breakin.

Many thanks for your very prompt and helpful feedback. Bearing in mind that used equipment in Australia does not always come in precisely the lenses I may want, I'll look for a monorail, and lenses around 75mm and 150mm for the 4 x 5 format. The longer lens I'll leave and "discover" what I need as I use the system, similar for bellows draw. After all it's just the learning system and I won't lose much when I sell it to purchase the final choices. Again many thanks.

 

Peter Smith

I am planning to move to large format 4 x 5 during the next several

months and need some guidance as to what lenses and bellows draw I

need to consider. The subjects will be city architecture mainly

external, church interiors and stained glass windows, and rural

landscapes. I want to produce extremely large prints containing great

detail, 24 x 20 and larger. Mostly this will be B/W, but not

exclusively. For my current 35mm wide-angle work I use a Nikon 20mm

and for landscapes frequently use 180mm and 300mm lenses.

 

Am I right in assuming that a large format lens of 65 mm is what I

need at the short end and about 600 mm at the long end? What bellows

draw will I need? What are the arguments between long focus and

telephoto? I have always been very happy with the quality of any

Nikon lens I have used and their large format system of changing the

rear element on telephoto lenses appears attractive -- can anybody

comment on their use of these lenses?

 

Based on the results of prints I have looked at I may go to digital

printing. Apart from limited film supply and lack of Quickloads are

there any disadvantages to 5 x 7?

 

After deciding on the basic parameters I will buy used equipment,

either flatbed or monorail, and after a year or so make further

decisions as to what lenses and camera I want to then acquire.

I couldn't agree more. There are so many examples of obsolescent features. Metering should be in the body, the ergonomics of the shutter speed/aperture/focus adjustments are lousy, the film path through the magazine promotes problems, and to make a double exposure requires the magazine to be removed, wind on, refit the magazine - yeesh. The requirement for film insert and magazine to be matched is simply an example of poor production tolerances being corrected manually.

 

Even if the lenses delivered a unique image quality, and that's doubtful, why would you put up with a tool that's difficult to use? And unreasonably expensive. Which jams sufficiently often that the manufacturer has produced a special tool.

 

I am used to driving my 1970 Jaguar 420G, but no way is it comparable to the latest models with modern reliable technology. Perhaps a beter analogy may be a 1970 Rolls Royce with a modern Mercedes - one is a Rolls Royce but the other just works better, and is better made.

 

Cheers Peter Smith

Libby try working from the final result backwards. What are you doing the work for, will they be paying? How will your work be presented, in print from, if so how large. If not larger than 10 x 8, or maybe 14 x 11, you really don't need MF. Modern 35mm films are excellent and still improving in resolution, and 35mm lenses are brilliant. A used 35mm Nikon 105mm f2.5 lens is razor sharp with excellent colour, and so is the 50mm f1.8. Neither are expensive used, and can be mated to any Nikon body. All manual focus AI.

 

Correct colours are more likely to be a source of frustration than MF/35mm debates. You will have to accept that it will be difficult to get the print to show the identical colours of each colour in a painting, the warm colours may be OK but the cool colours a bit off and so on.

 

If you are going to take pictures of paintings in galleries be aware that some galleries are not sympathetic to this. And certainly not to tripods, flash, etc. Paintings in galleries which are illuminated can make disappointing photos because the lighting is frequently not even over the painting. The eye and brain compensate but film doesn't. Paintings which are not well illuminated can appear muddy in photos, none of the colours being pleasing.

 

If you stick to MF plans then with your budget, condition is far more important than make. Get something which can still be serviced and repaired. This suggests Yashica or Mamiya, especially as they are more numerous on the used market. Mamiya can be used with a porrofinder but it's really not necessary. Your subjects aren't going anywhere and you'll get used to the laterally reversed image. It's not inverted.

 

The only real advantage of MF is for providing print quality at sizes larger than 14 x 11.

 

Have fun, Peter

Stu you might want to consider your move into MF as a three phase project. 1. The choice 2. Short term ownership 3. Long term ownership.

 

1. The choice. Most MF cameras produce pictures that are very similar in quality, only the shape being different. Yes the German lens devotees will say theirs are better and they may actually produce a more desired result for some people under some circumstances, but for most purposes there's little if any difference. Check Moses Sparks posts on RZ v H'blad. So since you are going to be handling and using the camera it will probably come down to how you feel about a particular camera - just like buying a car. It's no use buying an RB because it was highly recommended if you actually feel better about handling and using a Bronica or Rollei. I find it more enjoyable to handle and use an RZ than an H'blad for example. The reasons are irrelevant and it's a perfectly valid preference. Handle as many cameras you can, by hiring, calling at camera stores, calling on private sellers, don't be in a hurry.

 

If your current/proposed style requires several lenses work out your budget. For landscape the common outfit of 50mm, 80mm, 150mm may be amended to say 40mm, 80mm, 180mm for example and that extra width at the short end will cost extra. If you haven't been able to scare up a spare X thousands of dollars in say the last three years you're unlikely to do it in the near future and so your budget may be limited.

 

2. Short term ownership. I can't yet afford my chosen long term outfit so I bought a used TLR outfit of a couple of cameras and several lenses, and am learning how to use the focal lengths and what MF actually costs to run so to speak. (Decent tripod, spot meter, D & P). I may also find that I really don't take super wide angle shots, or am happy with square format rather than 6 x 7, so long term don't need gear which will do those things. I may decide for example that stopping down and using a good tripod is sufficient and don't need tilt. Or I may decide that the cost of a tilt lens can be avoided if I learn to frame the shots differently. I may decide that the inconveniences of carting around physically large cameras outweighs any pictorial benefit. Ansel Adams said that if it was more than 500 feet from his car it just wasn't a subject!

 

3. Long term ownership. Do it right, do it once, even if it takes a year or two. This is having the gear you can afford, that feels good to use, and provides pictures on the wall that you're proud of. And that might be a long way from where you started. For example my personal circumstances dictate no wet darkroom, so I use B/W chromogenic and transparency film, processed by a pro lab nearby, and will get a suitable scanner and printer for digital printing.

 

There are no/few absolute truths in this matter, pros swear by Mamiya v H'blad, or MF v LF, and the variance of their opinions supports my belief that the equipment brand is irrelevant, the lens outfits are individual choices to take your style of picture, and the only worthwhile absolute is the pictures on your wall.

Try sending this post to Kornelius Fleischer who is with Zeiss lenses and would probably be able to offer advice. Try k.fleischer@zeiss.de