Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/06/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]> > Anyway, back to photography, I find there are so many factors that > make/break a photo more than the capture device. Film processing, > scanning technique, "digital darkroom" dodge/burn and sharpening > work, tripod use or handheld steadiness, printing, mood - and light! > > The real "competitor" to my Nikon DSLR is likely to be a 6x7 MF > system I've been researching and shopping around for. I want a big > scan of a big B&W negative. That's what I really want for Xmas. > > And until then, my 2 Leica M6TTL's and a few lenses get a good > 90% of my shooting time anyway. Just fits in a small bag so nicely. > > Scott > > Well Scott when you say "6x7 MF system " you should tell us if it's SLR or not. I do have this one theory on 6x7. On presentation on the light table being its only real advantage; not image quality in larger prints which would be the only reason I can think of of getting into it. A 6x7 blows away all 6x6's on the light table is what sums it up. My little theory that is. Not so on the gallery walls I'm sure. Large prints. But for some non logical reason a 6x7 seems twice as big as a 6x6 on a light table. And at the movement of reckoning............... When you're showing them you're "take". No ones looking at the 6x6's. It's like they are not even there. So it gets people like Anne Liebowitz and Herb Ritz putting their Hassies on the shelf for the interim.. Just keep in mind what a backless, lensless, prismlesss, Hasselblad 500 CM or W looks like if you've ever seen one which most have probably not. Its a 500 gram 3 inch hollow cube with a mirror in it. Made in Sweden. Yours for a couple hundred bucks. Glass from Zeiss made in Germany as good as it gets of all shapes and sizes each one with it's own shutter for a couple hundred bucks a pop. Ok I slightly exaggerate.* A new Leica MP weights 100 grams more than this. (600 grams for a new Leica MP) Cost ten times more.. And gives you a neg 3.5 times smaller. This only occasionally freaks me out. What does get my attention is that to get that extra centimeter for 6x7 instead of 6x6 means to get a camera which is three times bigger and heaver. Especially if you're wanting that rotatable back of the RB or RZ. I'd go check that out; look up the Mamiya site for the 6x7 RZ like I just did with the Leica site and I weighted and measured my Blad on my own but I'll leave the RZ specs to the home viewer. Suffice to say 12 on a roll instead of 10 or 9. Squares (with their natural centers making for much easier composition and later flexibility) RULE!! http://rabinergroup.com/ImagePages/Biteme.html So hopefully you're thinking a Mamiya or Fuji Rangefinder. Texas Leicas. Wonder bread Leicas. Leicas with a whole lot of air pumped into them. Me I'd opt for one of the 645 jobs. Once you've gotten into Brownie Film you're over that "trying to pump light though a keyhole" effect you've got with 35mm which you don't with medium format. Medium format opens it up. Lets the light pour through. But to me it only needs 645 to do that. And that's 16 on a roll. A slice of pie for everybody. On the "A 16-member Pakistan cricket team "! Or a murder of 16 crows if that's how many are up there! * a couple of hundred bucks now for Hassy stuff used. But once the medium format digital backs hit that magic price point that gear will be in a Bear market again. Of course the idea is to sell high; buy low. Those who sold their Hassies for a song. Some extra memory cards I say "phooey" to. And your dog!!! Mark Rabiner Photography Portland Oregon http://rabinergroup.com/