So, I'm sure I'll continue to use my ancient Hasselblad since it brings
me satisfaction when I get the slides and negatives developed. I don't
need instant gratification and I know that I like the fact that I
already own my equipment. I don't need to shell out $8000 and up for a
new 16MP camera that will give results "superior" to medium format when
in reality their cameras will be "obsolete" and "inferior" to other
cameras just 2 or 3 years from now. They may be "better" than medium
format but I don't care. I get the tonal range and sharpness that I
need with what I have. As long as there's film available I'll continue
to use my medium format camera.

After reading a great post I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. I've used
35mm all my life and all of my cameras have been the fully automatic
type - from my first Canon AE-1 to a Rebel Eos I recently sold on
e-bay. In fact, I sold all of my 35mm gear so I could buy a new Canon
S2IS digital camera - another fully automatic camera. I love the idea
of digital - being able to take hundreds of pictures and not having to
worry about processing and then discarding most of them.

Then something special happened. My wife's grandfather died way back in
1980, but it wasn't till last month that we inherited his camera gear
from her grandmother. There was a ton of old polaroids, Bell & Howell
8mm movie gear, an Agfa 35mm from about 1958 and a Yashica-Mat LM.

The Yashica caught my attention last but held on to it the longest.
I've spent the last two weeks reading online articles about how to use
such a beast and I just finished my first roll of film. Tomorrow I'll
take it to the processor and see what medium format prints look like.

I love this thing! There's nothing automatic about it. The light meter
still seems to work. I get to figure out (finally) how to set an
aperature and shutter speed combination. I get to look down into a huge
finder and wonder how to get my brain to work backwards - since
everything seems to be reversed in the focusing screen.

I live near the mountains of North Carolina and look forward to hauling
this old camera and a tri-pod up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to see what
kind of photos I can capture. I'm brand spanking new to medium format
and can't wait to learn more about it!