Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/09/17

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Subject: [Leica] Where the Rolleiflex shines
From: dnygr at cshore.com (Douglas Nygren)
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:50:11 -0400

I'd like to comment on the following that was written about the limits 
of 12 frames per roll of 120 film:

"Every time I use a Rolleiflex I mutter how "only 12 frames per roll" 
can
be limiting." (No 220 for me!). Then I look at the results and wonder if
it's just the opposite. There's a mysterious beauty in square BW negs
that are just big enough you can appreciate the contact prints without
the aid of a loupe. Not to mention enlargements, which shouldn't stand
up to digital prints, but somehow do and then some.
Maybe it's the level of effort it takes to get the end result that makes
me appreciate them so. Either that or Leica doesn't have a monopoly on
mystique :-)."

When I read this, I must admit I had to smile. I recalled what the 
large format camera maker, Ron Wisner, once said to me, namely, that 
whether  you go out with a camera with 36 frames or 12 frames a roll, 
you always seem to come back with the same number of printable photos. 
He was making the point that the same principle is true when you shoot 
with a large format camera, one or two frame per negative carrier.

I have found enough truth in Ron's statement to keep remembering it. I 
think it holds true, to some extent, even for the large number of shots 
we can get on a digital flash card.

Doug



Replies: Reply from Frank.Dernie at btinternet.com (Frank Dernie) ([Leica] Where the Rolleiflex shines)