Medium Format Equipment Review

    My humble introduction to medium format was soon after seeing Mr. Rabetz running around with a Pentax 6x7. After seeing the negatives, I was impressed with how large they were and the quality of the enlargements,so I decided to give it a try. I bought a roll of T-Max 100 and borrowed a Yashica 124G from Mr Rabetz, and after developing and printing I found that the lack of features was worth the image quality, though the Yashica had problems with sharpness in the corners.  I decided to get myself a TLR and looked primarily at Rollei and Yashica, finally ending up with a Rolleicord V. Thus started the adventure in medium format.
    Like with my 35mm section, I've split things up into sections. Rather than start with my current system (as I did in the 35mm section), I've done things in chronological order. My beloved Rolleicord V kicks things off, and my Bronica is down at the bottom. If you have any questions about the cameras or are thinking about getting into medium format, e-mail me. I'd be happy to answer your questions.

Rolleicord V: For anyone looking to get into medium format, the Rolleicord V is one of the best bargains out there.  This camera has the legendary Rollei quality and many of the later features, but is often overlooked by collectors (who favor the Va and Vb), so the price stays down a bit. You can find one for $125-200 in excellent working condition, depending on where you go. This camera has the 75mm Xenar f3.5 lens (not coated), MX flash sync, EVS, self timer, and all the other usual Rollei features.  The only downside to the camera (if you can call it a downside) is that you must manually cock the shutter. Performance is truly excellent considering the age and relatively low cost. The lens is quite sharp and contrasty, and provides excellent B&W negatives. I consider the lens in this camera is a true gem, and once I have the aperature blade repaired it will be back in regular service.
    The camera handles well, thanks to Rollei's excellent design. Everything is straightforward and easily located. The aperature is set via a lever on the left side of the taking lens, and the shutter is adjusted via a lever on the right side of the taking lens. The camera features EVS, and will actually move both shutter and aperature together to maintain an EVS value. No sitting down to fingure out that 1/125th at f16 is equivilent to f8 at 1/500th or f22 at 1/60th. The camera will adjust things to keep equivilent exposure times.  Aperature settings are in 1/3 click stops (no need for guesswork like on the fully adjustable Rolleiflexes), and shutter settings are in full stops. This camera is a true pleasure to use. Just one note - like with all TLR cameras, there is the standard parallax problem, so close-up work is a little difficult. Just as a final note, I would not have gotten either the C33 or the Rolleiflex 3.5E if this camera had not broken. It's an excellent 2 1/4 TLR which will become my back-up to the Bronica once I have it repaired. Click here for a feature list.

Rolleiflex 3.5E: After the aperature blade broke on my Rolleicord, I decided to replace it with this camera . The 3.5E is one of the later Rolleiflex cameras with the 75mm f3.5 coated Xenotar lens. I had the type 2, which lacks a meter. Overall, this is another fine example of Rollei engineering. Everything functioned flawlessly, and negatives were excellent. The viewfinder on this camera is quite interesting. My Rolleicord has the standard waist level finder with sportsfinder. The 3.5E had a waist level finder, but had a quasi-pentaprism as well so you could focus while using the sportsfinder! Quite clever and very useful. As for the general handling of the camera - it's everything you would expect from a Rollei. Mechanics and optics are superb, and the controls are well laid out. The only feature this camera lacked was multiple exposure, which is one reason I moved to the Mamiya C33 when the opportunity arose. I have a Feature List and Photo for this camera if you're interested.

Mamiya C33: The Mamiya C33 is an excellent camera. It offers interchangeable lenses in medium format at a relatively modest price. The C-series TLRs are also exceptionally reliable, and the C33 is no exception. The only downside of the C33's all-metal construction is weight - I highly recommend investing in a comfortable strap if you're going to carry the camera around for more than a few minutes. I started with a 80mm chrome lens and added a 65mm black lens over the summer. Both lenses performed well, and I particularly liked the 65mm. This is a truly capable camera for 6x6 negatives. It handles extremely well, as long as you can get past the sheer weight. The bellows focusing allows for extreme close-up shots without adding close focusing filters or other junk which degrades image quality. While the possibility was there, I never used the camera for such things as I did not have a Paramender to compensate for parallax. With the focusing knobs at the base of the camera, I found the camera a bit more stable when focusing than my Rollei's. However, setting the aperature and shutter is much faster on a Rollei. With the Mamiya, the settings are on the lens, which I found slowed me down a bit. However, since TLRs are slow to work with anyway, it didn't make much of a difference. I have a complete feature list and picture available for those interested.

Bronica ETRS/ETRSi: As much as I enjoy using TLR's, there's nothing like a true SLR, and the Bronica is all that and more. I've been quite impressed with the results from the camera. The ETR/S/Si are excellent cameras that are very easy to use, especially when you add an AE prism and speed grip. My Bronica literally handles like a large 35mm camera, and the weight is quite reasonable given the size of the camera. I'm finding the Bronica to be my camera of choice  - my 35mm system still sees a great deal of usage for my work with the school newspaper, but for my personal work I find the larger negatives from the ETRSi are well worth the loss of AF. The 75mm MC lens is quite good, and my only complaint is that the aperature setting are in full stops only. I recently aquired a 150mm f3.5 MC, which is hands down one of the sharpest lenses I own. My aim now is to find a 40 or 50mm lens to complete the set.
    My body is an ETRSi, the current offering in the ETR series from Bronica. I originally started with an ETRS, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a used ETRSi in October 1997. The ETRSi adds mirror lockup and TTL flash metering (though I can not yet afford the appropriate Metz flash to use this feature ;-).  While I'm not particularly worried about the TTL flash, the mirror lockup is a welcome addition over the ETRS.
    In the field, the ETRSi is a wonderful camera. The interchangeable film backs allow me to switch back and forth between 100 and 400 speed film without difficulty, and I particularly like the leaf shutter in the lens. With the leaf shutter, I can sync at all speeds, which is something I got used to with my TLR's. With negatives I have taken with the camera, 11x14 or larger prints are no problem. All in all, the Bronica is an excellent camera, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in purchasing a medium format SLR. Follow this link for a feature list.


Back to Equipment Page  Back to Buyer's Guide

Medium Format Cameras - User's Guide to Buying and Shooting
by Peter Williams is now available from Amherst Media!! [1/2001]