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  #1  
Old 16th January 2015, 01:20 AM
Jimmy Jimmy is offline
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Default new medium format user

hello i thought i would join this forum as i have just recently decided to sell my FF digital camera and get a film setup.

I think i managed to get a real bargain, i bought a mamiya rb67 pro sd with pro sd back and kl 127mm lens for £150 and its in near perfect condition. i havnt developed any film yet but i dont forsee any problems.

its been a while since i used film but i did learn at college and printed my own photos there on 35mm.

ok so im new to medium format and have a few questions,

do the leaf shutter lenses behave differently to normal lenses, regarding the captured image? or should itake anything into account if used to normal lenses?


if i use an old slr for a light meter, should i make any major adjustments when dialling into the medium format camera? is spot meter/centre ok ? should i use the same focal lengths or is say 50mm ok if transfering to the 127,, (65 ish equivalent )

im thinking of getting kodak trix 400 film and rodinal to develop the negatives, for starters, is that a good base to work from?

ill be mainly doing outdoor stuff landscapes, cityscapes, using a tripod and possibly same portraits with natural light.

ill worry about printing later i think !

oh and if iwant a wide angle lens.. is the 50mm c the best one to get?

thanks in advance, looking forward to getting started!
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Old 16th January 2015, 08:11 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Welcome to FADU, Jimmy. Lots of questions there with no doubts lots of answer to come and not all answers will necessarily be the same

On metering, an old SLR will do the job if you know it to be accurate but unless you want to carry one around with you as well as the fairly heavy RB67 I'd consider getting a hand-held meter.

What you get may be dependent on your budget but if you have the money available then a spot meter will meet you needs very well. The alternative is a smaller reflectance meter which has a much wider angle of metering but also has a cone that turns it into an incidence meter - a useful device for getting the exposure correct when you can't meter a specific zone in a scene

Nothing wrong with Tri-X and Rodinal. I take it you have film processing equipment and facilities which means at least a changing bag for film loading unless you have a lightproof dark space for loading.

Frankly processed film by itself doesn't "hit the spot" unless you intend to scan negs and view on a screen only or print as inkjets, neither of which processes really are within the remit of FADU so you need to consider getting prints done but I am starting to make assumptions about what you may intend to do and as you have seen from my post I am also making assumptions, warranted or otherwise as to your level of knowledge.

You might want to explain what your thoughts are on film processing in terms of equipment and facilities available to you.

Mike
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Old 16th January 2015, 08:49 PM
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MartyNL MartyNL is offline
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Hi Jimmy and welcome to the forum.

Just thought I'd add that a 50mm lens in 6x7 format is roughly the equivalent of 26mm in 35mm format.
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Old 16th January 2015, 09:33 PM
Jimmy Jimmy is offline
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thanks guys,

i hope to get a lightmeter at some point, along with a darkroom setup and papers and wide lenses and chemicals flash......lol so i think my old pretty light canon 450d should do the trick for now to get me started. my budgets pretty tight!

As film developing is quite easy to do at home and fairly cheap ill be doing that myself and i will probably get the films scanned to digital at a london lab for starters which isnt too expensive either.

there is an arts facility with a good darkroom that looks nice and a very fair price to use so once i have a few rolls im happy with and feel ready ill take it there to work with

long term i hope to make large enlargments, grain is fine by me, i like the grungy look, pushing things till they almost break. but i will also be having fun with sharpness and image quality medium format offers on a smaller scale.


I suppose ill have to experiment, but i was just concerned spot metering with a different focal length may have repercussions when transferring those numbers to my mamiya lens. but i presume if its a spot and the area of metering is even it shouldnt be a problem.

my reasons for getting into printing again was becuase i sent off an old b+w 35mm negative to the ilford lab, just a cheap camera but it was a sentimental picture, but the image was cropped and skewed the photo a bit, and the second reprint, it was almost blurry, and i though i may as well do it myself! i also sent off some digital files for print from metro imaging which came out great, but it woudl get expensive to test and try things.
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Old 16th January 2015, 10:09 PM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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The spot meter in the Canon should be fine. My spot meter is fitted with a 100mm lens, but I don't know how that relates to the different formats. The thing to remember is to keep the meter, or camera in your case, as close as possible to the axis of the lens on the main camera. Basically, you want to make sure that it is looking at the surface, or area, you want to meter, from the same angle as your camera. Look through your RB at the scene, decide what part of it you want to meter, and sit the metering camera as close as you can to the RB and read the chosen area. I think a longer lens on your Canon will allow you to meter a smaller portion of the actual scene.
I hope you enjoy your new camera.
Alex
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Old 16th January 2015, 11:09 PM
paulc paulc is offline
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The danger of using a 35mm (D)SLR for metering is that you'll frame the shot, press the shutter and forget all about the RB67. A small light meter needn't cost a fortune - Something like a Sekonic L-308s (a couple on ebay at the moment with a starting bid of 99p).

Much of the time for outside shots, you can wing it and use the guide sheet provided with most films - For example, on a bright sunny day with 100ASA film, 1/125 seconds @ F/16 will get you close enough.
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Old 17th January 2015, 06:38 AM
RichardWarom RichardWarom is offline
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Welcome to FADU Jimmy sounds like your going to have some fun.
Richard
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Old 17th January 2015, 08:53 AM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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Hi Jimmy and welcome to Fadu,
You certainly seem to have found a bargain,
Tri x and Rodinal is a good combination, I suggest you develop using 1/50 but sorry I can't give you a starting time, You can use an old film slr for metering, but it is more to carry around, and you can get metering errors, but try to use the equivelent lens to the one on your MF camera, Personally, with good second hand hand held meterrs being easily available and cheap I would be inclened to get a hand held, it is a lot easier to use, and the metering is often more reliable, try and find a good Weston, either a Master V or a euromaster, you will learn a lot from using one, and also using a hand held slows you down, which is a very good thing, A wide angle lens can be useful, but you don't really need one, Every MF camera I use is fixed lens, mostly older folders, and a couple of Rollei's, all fixed 75mm lenses and I find it easier, you soon get used to working with the fixed lens, and I take a lot of coastal studies, so I would say leave the W/A lens for now and get a hand held meter' but the main thing is to enjoy using your new camera
Richard
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Old 17th January 2015, 08:58 AM
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Barry Barry is offline
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Welcome to fadu Jimmy.
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Old 17th January 2015, 10:17 AM
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Welcome to the forum, Jimmy!
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