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  #11  
Old 21st February 2014, 05:04 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Give a thought to the Pentax 645N. Has a similar ratio to 35mm which is what I prefer. I have an Agfa 6x6 but prefer the rectangle to the square. It takes portrait and landscape in the "right positions" so is intuitive to use. A bit like a big 35mm and not much heavier than the likes of a Nikon F5

Good range of speeds( up to 1/1000th) and interchangeable lenses. Handholdable and capable of being carried in a waist holster or chest holder.

No interchangeable backs but you can carry loaded inserts which can be changed in a few seconds. It has a mid roll wind-on but it does mean that you sacrifice what remains on the insert you remove.(well maybe not but it would be a faff to reload and require a darkroom )

If you are interested then have a look at the Ken Rockwell site. He has a good and in my opinion as I have one, an honest review of the P645N

Lenses aren't quite a cheap as the Bronica's but you can get at least two zooms(45-85 and 80-160)

The biggest primes will take you well into telephoto territory as well so the kind of telephoto 35mm shots are not beyond reason

Mike
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  #12  
Old 21st February 2014, 05:43 PM
JOReynolds JOReynolds is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Aislabie View Post
Mostly, I would want it to shoot landscapes
I have elderly Hasselblad with 50, 80 and 150 lenses. The 80 is amazing. Interchangeable backs are very convenient. And electronic flash synch at 1/500 is entirely practical. But I have been considering buying a rangefinder 6x6, 6x7 or 6x9 for landscape work because:
- focusing of landscapes is not an issue
- the format is already either square or a landscape rectangle
- handholding of long exposures is not affected by SLR mirror shake
- reviews of lenses in 40...50mm range are invariably good because the designs are so simple
- unlike retrofocus wideangle lenses on SLRs, which have to allow space for the rear of the lens to clear the mirror, rangefinder wideangles are more compact, cost less and weigh less. I suspect they are also sharper
- did you ever see the complexity of a stripped-down Synchro-Compur shutter? Compare that with the elegant simplicity of a Copal #0 or equivalent used in Fuji, Mamiya 6 or 7.
120 rollfilm allows useful contact prints, viewable with a simple loupe. But forget rangefinder for portraiture or macro and look at Mamiya or Rollei SLR.
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  #13  
Old 21st February 2014, 06:30 PM
DaveP DaveP is offline
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I went into medium format for landscape work, from 35mm and digital, so I might be able to offer some perspective. The 645 systems like the Mamiya 645 and Pentax are great, the Mamiya probably being the best bargain in photography. If I were wanting 6x6 then I'd look at a blad or an SL66, although the latter are supposed to be surprisingly big and I imagine the tilt is harder to execute properly than on a 5x4 camera.

The Mamiya RB67 system is also a bargain but make no mistake these are big and heavy cameras. I suspect most lightweight 5x4 setups actually weigh less than a RB kit and give you full movements with every lens plus a negative four times the size. I have no regrets from moving up to large format from medium format, in fact I'd have done better to miss out MF entirely if I'm honest, it only delayed the inevitable.

So to sum up, I'd get either a mamiya or pentax 645/ blad, or use 5x4 instead, especially as you have the enlarger for it. Otherwise like others have said, its hard to beat a Mamiya 7 if you can spare the cheddar.
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  #14  
Old 21st February 2014, 06:43 PM
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Miha Miha is offline
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Hasselblad or Mamiya RZ.
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  #15  
Old 21st February 2014, 07:05 PM
EdBray EdBray is offline
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Since the early 80s I have had Hasselblads, Bronica SQA, Mamiya 645, TLR and RB, Fujifilm 690s both versions, but, if weight is no object, the best Medium Format Camera for Landscape use you can get would be a Fuji GX680 Mk3, its big, heavy but has a great set of lenses available at reasonable cost and the most important thing is that you have a full range of tilt and shift movements which give much more versatility than any other MF camera, especially for landscapes.

A 6x8 negative with the potential for movements is not too far off a Large Format setup, in fact after using a GX680 MkIII I finally went the Large Format route, I am now using 5x7 as my preferred format and wouldn't change things for the world.
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  #16  
Old 21st February 2014, 07:14 PM
Rob Hale Rob Hale is offline
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Hi Martin,

Like Miha but I think my order of preference would be :-

Mamiya 7 highly portable but is a range finder which does not suit everyone.

Fuji GX 680 brilliant lenses for both B&W and colour and more accurate shutters than 4x5s with full frontal movements.

Mamiya RZ Pro 11 with Z lenses, they really do out perform Hassys. The Pro 11 has ½ stops on shutter speed. 110 mm is quite light. There is 100 – 200 zoom if walking is not your thing but that is heavy.

Regards

Rob
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  #17  
Old 21st February 2014, 09:01 PM
KevinAllan KevinAllan is offline
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My work is mainly landscape with some still life, and I use a Mamiya RZ67 with 50mm, 65mm, 110mm, and 180mm lenses. I don't often carry all the lenses and could happily manage with just the 50mm and 110mm.

I haven't used any other medium format SLRs, except for a brief loan of a Bronica S2, so can't compare with other systems, but very happy with the RZ and see its' strong points as:
  • Rotatable and interchangeable viewing backs
  • Large bright viewing screen
  • Bellows allowing close focussing
  • Lens quality
When you say you're not too worried about weight, you might want to factor in a pretty sturdy tripod to support the RZ - I upgraded my tripod to a Manfrotto 075 to use with the RZ, and this was a problem to carry until I bought an Optech tripod strap which greatly improved things. I have made some use of a monopod combined with ISO400 film, eg in crowded places, and may try this more frequently.

The only concern I have with the RZ is the battery-dependency; if I was starting again I might go for the entirely manual RB67 instead.

On occasions when the RZ really would be too heavy or bulky, I use a Yashicamat TLR.
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  #18  
Old 21st February 2014, 09:01 PM
JohnX JohnX is offline
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The weatherproofing requirement for electronically controlled cameras hasn't been addressed yet, it seems like an odd thing to be specific about.
I can't think of anything that would meet this requirement besides something in a waterproof housing....I just use a brolly..
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  #19  
Old 21st February 2014, 09:39 PM
Lostlabours Lostlabours is offline
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I'd go for a 645 system, probably a Mamiya, while you say weight isn't an issue an RB67 (or similar) is large and about as practical as an LF kit.

Back in the early 80's I had my Mamiya C3/C33 kit stolen and went to a Mamiya 645 system (no regrets), later wanting to move up in format (for landscape work I contemplated an RB67 (I'd used them occasionally) but realised a 5x4 field camera was more practical, I had been using 5x4 commercially in a studio anyway.

I guess I'd look at a Mamiya 7 if I could justify the financial commitment but I'm happy using 5x4 hand held. The quality from 645 is excellent and there's very noticeable step change from 35mm to 645, and a discernible change from 645 to 5x4 but 6x7 and 6x9 are only a very slight improvement over 545.

It's a trade off of portability etc against slight quality differences.

Ian
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  #20  
Old 21st February 2014, 09:54 PM
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Paul Glover Paul Glover is offline
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Good points about the size and weight of RB vs 5x4. If I had the enlarger for it, I'd like as not skip straight to that format myself for the type of shooting I'd be using an RB for (slow, thoughtful, mounted on a tripod).
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