What’s film?
Oxfam in Oxford regularly have special camera sale weekends where they display all their photography gear. Rarely is there anything modern, but I’m always tempted by the older cameras. I don’t know why. Last time I almost bought a Kodak Junior, but having researched it, I found that I would have ended up having to re-roll 120 film on to the now obsolete 620 spools. That seemed a little bit too much like hard work, for what would have been just for fun.
But it got me thinking. I fancied playing with a medium format camera. Digital medium format cameras are somewhat out of my reach price wise, so I started investigating film ones. Rather than opting for something very old, along the lines of what I might find at Oxfam – I’ve got hold of the camera above. It’s a early 1990’s professional medium format camera. I’m hoping that the additional expense of film, and the slowness of a fully manual camera, will teach me to think about each shot that little bit more. While it is largely for me to practice with at the moment, I may start offering a retro portrait service for those wanting the look-and-feel of good old film.
I’ve not had any films developed yet, but I’ll post some photos when I have.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Cute camera. Wish you could get J to buy stuff from Oxfam – he’s on at me about a new digital and I shudder to think how much it’s going to cost!
February 18th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
It didn’t come form Oxfam in the end – things escalated… but it was still cheaper than hiring digital medium format for a week, so I felt I could justify it.
… and I full support J in his desire
February 20th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Ahh the beast! looking forward to seeing the photos!
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Well researched site – love the cameras! – Will look to incorporate some of your ideas into my site. Thanks!
July 29th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I love my Mamiya RB-67, whether it’s 6×7cm slide film or black and white and tinkering in the darkroom. Nothing beats it…unless I ever get my hands on a large format camera(!)