New medium format user?

I am a film and digital 35mm camera owner/user and am thinking of trying out
medium format as a replacement for my 35mm film camera. Clearly the photo
quality is far superior than anything you can get on digital at the moment
(apart from medium format digital camera's). I mainly want to take
landscape photography.

My questions are what camera should I get considering I would like AE
aperature priority facility but not necessarily auto focus. The Mamiya 7
looks attractive because of its small size and similar shape to a 35mm
camera. Any disadvantage from being a range finder?

Also i guess the lens focal lengths for medium format camera's relate to
35mm differently. Is there a multiplication factor I can use till I get
used to the various focal length? I.e what is the the medium format
equivalent of a 28mm 35mm lens?

Thanks

"M" wrote:
I am a film and digital 35mm camera owner/user and am thinking of trying
out medium format as a replacement for my 35mm film camera. Clearly the
photo quality is far superior than anything you can get on digital at the
moment (apart from medium format digital camera's). I mainly want to take
landscape photography.

My questions are what camera should I get considering I would like AE
aperature priority facility but not necessarily auto focus. The Mamiya 7
looks attractive because of its small size and similar shape to a 35mm
camera. Any disadvantage from being a range finder?

The Mamiya 7 is wonderful. But it's slow. One spends a lot of time checking
that one really has removed the lens cap.

Also i guess the lens focal lengths for medium format camera's relate to
35mm differently. Is there a multiplication factor I can use till I get
used to the various focal length? I.e what is the the medium format
equivalent of a 28mm 35mm lens?

6x7 is basically four times 35mm plus a bunch. The frame is 70 x 56mm, which
is insignificantly shy of 72mm, and significantly larger than 48mm. There's
actually a noticeable amount of shift when one crops to A4 proportions. (If
you are printing 8x10, 11x14, and 16x20, 6x7 is a lot more than four times
35mm, which is a mere 30x24mm of actually used film, whereas 6x7 is the full
70 x 56.)

So the multiplier is exactly two. The 43/4.5 is 22mm, the 50/4.5 is 25mm,
and the 65/4.0 is 33mm. There's no 28mm equivalent lens.

If you are fond of 28mm, the 65/5.6 lens on the Fuji GSW690III is closer to
28mm on 6x9 (82x56mm) than the 65/4.0 on the Mamiya 7.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

M wrote:
I am a film and digital 35mm camera owner/user and am thinking of trying out
medium format as a replacement for my 35mm film camera. Clearly the photo
quality is far superior than anything you can get on digital at the moment
(apart from medium format digital camera's). I mainly want to take
landscape photography.

My questions are what camera should I get considering I would like AE
aperature priority facility but not necessarily auto focus. The Mamiya 7
looks attractive because of its small size and similar shape to a 35mm
camera. Any disadvantage from being a range finder?

Being a rangefinder would be no problem.

Also i guess the lens focal lengths for medium format camera's relate to
35mm differently. Is there a multiplication factor I can use till I get
used to the various focal length? I.e what is the the medium format
equivalent of a 28mm 35mm lens?

Thanks

There are different medium formats. Some of these are 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7,
and 6x9. The equivalent to a 28mm lens will vary with these different
formats. For 6x7 it would be approximately 55mm. For 6x9 it would be
approximately 65mm. But you would have to adjust this for the 6x7
format if you wanted to cover the same horizontal angle since the
aspect ratio is different.



You will probably not need AE, moving to a larger format. Most people
would use a light meter.

M wrote:

I am a film and digital 35mm camera owner/user and am thinking of trying out
medium format as a replacement for my 35mm film camera.

Better to think of it as an addition to your 35mm film camera. Just my
opinion of course.

In article ,
M wrote:

My questions are what camera should I get considering I would like AE
aperature priority facility but not necessarily auto focus. The Mamiya 7
looks attractive because of its small size and similar shape to a 35mm
camera. Any disadvantage from being a range finder?

It has all the same disadvantages that 35mm rangefinders have. If you're
happy using one of those, you should be fine with the '7.

One thing to bear in mind - with the wider lenses, the Mamiya 7 essentially
forces you to use spot metering.

In article ,
wrote:

My questions are what camera should I get considering I would like AE
aperature priority facility but not necessarily auto focus. The Mamiya 7
looks attractive because of its small size and similar shape to a 35mm
camera. Any disadvantage from being a range finder?

You're not looking through the taking lens?

no_name wrote:
M wrote:

I am a film and digital 35mm camera owner/user and am thinking of trying out
medium format as a replacement for my 35mm film camera.

Better to think of it as an addition to your 35mm film camera. Just my
opinion of course.

A very valid point. One of the things this person will notice is the
reduced depth of field that comes with moving up to larger formats.
That could be annoying if they want some foreground objects to be in
focus as well as distant objects.

wrote in message
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M wrote:
I am a film and digital 35mm camera owner/user and am thinking of trying
out
medium format as a replacement for my 35mm film camera. Clearly the
photo
quality is far superior than anything you can get on digital at the
moment
(apart from medium format digital camera's). I mainly want to take
landscape photography.

My questions are what camera should I get considering I would like AE
aperature priority facility but not necessarily auto focus. The Mamiya
7
looks attractive because of its small size and similar shape to a 35mm
camera. Any disadvantage from being a range finder?

Being a rangefinder would be no problem.

Also i guess the lens focal lengths for medium format camera's relate to
35mm differently. Is there a multiplication factor I can use till I get
used to the various focal length? I.e what is the the medium format
equivalent of a 28mm 35mm lens?

Thanks

There are different medium formats. Some of these are 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7,
and 6x9. The equivalent to a 28mm lens will vary with these different
formats. For 6x7 it would be approximately 55mm. For 6x9 it would be
approximately 65mm. But you would have to adjust this for the 6x7
format if you wanted to cover the same horizontal angle since the
aspect ratio is different.



You will probably not need AE, moving to a larger format. Most people
would use a light meter.


Depends on the situation. I recently used a Rollei 6008i shooting a
wedding. For the formals I used big lights and a corded meter reading,
after the formals I moved in close, hand-held, moving the subjects into
various lighting situations (wedding was in the evening at a park--gorgeous
weather that day), I relied on the Rollei's meter and got some of my best
shots, with only one problem which involved some lens flare--need to get
some hoods for the lenses (I've only had the camera a month or two). I've
also used it extensively in the time I've had it shooting my twenty month
old daughter on the move. The meter works great, and taking all of those
shots taught me how to use it as quickly as possible hand-held, plus the
caveats of this particular in-camera meter (which are the usual caveats, and
not those of the Mamiya rangefinders).

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

wrote in message
oups.com...

no_name wrote:
M wrote:

I am a film and digital 35mm camera owner/user and am thinking of
trying out
medium format as a replacement for my 35mm film camera.

Better to think of it as an addition to your 35mm film camera. Just my
opinion of course.

A very valid point. One of the things this person will notice is the
reduced depth of field that comes with moving up to larger formats.
That could be annoying if they want some foreground objects to be in
focus as well as distant objects.


That's true, and I've also yet to find a medium-format camera that is as
easy or quick to use as 35mm, thus they really aren't prefered for
photo-journalist event photography, or, more casually, for family holiday
and vacation snaps.

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com

M wrote:

I am a film and digital 35mm camera owner/user and am thinking of trying out
medium format as a replacement for my 35mm film camera. Clearly the photo
quality is far superior than anything you can get on digital at the moment
(apart from medium format digital camera's). I mainly want to take
landscape photography.

My questions are what camera should I get considering I would like AE
aperature priority facility but not necessarily auto focus. The Mamiya 7
looks attractive because of its small size and similar shape to a 35mm
camera. Any disadvantage from being a range finder?


Range finders are not very practical in close ups. My eyes tend to
wander around my "shooting perimeter" while waiting for the light to
change over the landscape, and sometimes they will spot something
interesting that needs a close shot. If this does not fit your shooting
style, then it's not a disadvantage for you.

Mamiya sells a close up kit but I have no experience with it.