[Leica] which medium format?

[editor at frontenachouse.com (Rose Scollard)]

The best camera I have ever used from the viewpoint of tripodlessness (aka 
camera-shake-free handholding) is the Fuji 690 GSWIII.  The secret is the 
front-mounted shutter release.  At 1/8 second you can count on on a short 
sharp shot; 1/2 second, while not dependable, is a safe-enough bet that 
there's no reason not to try if you left your Gitzo at home.  All this of 
course presupposes the absence of wind; in a stiff gale, forget it.  David 
Scollard

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marc James Small" <marcsmall@comcast.net>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2007 2:16 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] which medium format?


At 03:47 PM 2/25/2007, Lottermoser George wrote:
 >Right. However, someone moving into medium format for the first time,
 >from 35mm (and especially M RF photography) in my experience, will
 >have a bit of a shock at the shutter speeds and need for tripods,
 >faster films, etc.

George

I see what you are saying and you make some good
points.  I would recommend either a Rolleiflex
TLR or a Hasselblad 2000 series but for someone
deeply wedded to miniature format, a Super Ikonta
B might be a good transition.  This is a folder
rangefinder, takes 11 6cm square negatives on a
roll of 120 film, and comes with a fine
four-element lens, generally a Zeiss Tessar or a
JSK Xenar.  It is a most user-friendly camera and
a late Prewar model can be had relatively cheaply
as these are not deemed to be collectibles other
than by the likes of Simon Worsley, the Guru of the breed.

I spent my first six years in photography doing
medium format on a 1931 Voigtl?nder Bessa before
picking up a 35mm SLR, and then spent 20 years
doing miniature-format SLR work before buying my
first rangefinder.  A year later, I got my first
Rolleflex, and I was equally hooked by Leica and
Contax RF systems and by Franke & Heidecke
TLR's.  I got into Hasselblad later.

In today's market, a Super Ikonta or a Postwar
Rolleiflex Automat 3 with a coated lens can be
had for under $200, perhaps far under (I paid $30
for one of my Super Ikontas, and nothing for the
other).  A Hasselblad 500 body with a couple of C
lenses will set you back $350 or so.  And if you
move over to the 2000/200 series, you can get some f/2 lenses.

I admire Mark Rabiner as a fine photographer and
excellent scholar of photography in general and
of Leica and Rollei in particular but I must
disagree with him on the best way to use MF
gear.  I almost never use a tripod for anything
other than extreme telephotography or extreme
macro work.  My Super Ikonta B's and my 2.8F
12/24 and 2.8GX are VERY handy cameras.  Those
who shoot rifles know the trick for using the
strap to steady the aim.  Well, a Rolleiflex
strap does the same:  just hold the camera at
waist level and push up on the strap with your
neck to form a steady sight picture, and Bob's
your uncle.  Most of my MF work is done with
relatively slow films and without a tripod, and I
take pictures generally deficient in content due
to my own lack of an artistic sense <he grins> but technically quite nice.

I suspect that the major medium format systems
have bottomed out.  Only a few companies are
still making these today, but there are a gazillion MF cameras out there.

Marc


msmall@aya.yale.edu
Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!



_______________________________________________
Leica Users Group.
See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information