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Medium Format 35mm AF 35mm Manual Focus Point and Shoot Equipment Reviews Links |
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.
Kowa Six:
When wandering through a pawn shop, I saw a Kowa Six sitting on the shelf.
After a little haggling, I got a bargain price on the camera and gladly
liberated it from their store. Kowa cameras were made in the 1970s and
early 80s, and have sometimes been referred to as "the poor man's Hasselblad".
The lenses are quite good, and still are sought after by photographers.
For those looking for low cost medium format SLR's, Kowa offers a solid
option.
Older Folding/Box cameras:
One recent addiction of mine has been old folding and box cameras. I currently use a Ansco Titan (6x6, coated 90mm lens, 1/2-1/400 plus B and T), Zeiss Ikonta C (6x9, uncoated 105mm Novar-Anastigmat, 1/25-1/100 plus B and T), and a few old box cameras (Zeiss Box Tengor with coated Goertz lens, and an unnamed box camera - probably Kodak). With no built in meters and less than accurate shutters/optics, these cameras aren't exactly what you would consider for truly serious photography. However, with their compact size and use of 120 film, you can often make good quality 8x10 prints. Another great feature of these cameras is that they are cheap, and very portable. Rather than carry around a junky 35mm P&S, I have one of these folders with me as a carry-everywhere camera, and have caught quite a few interesting images while skiiing without concern for the camera's safety (most of these cameras cost less than $40, and are easily replaced). |