m.sawyer photography

film: the Mamiya RZ67

I eventually pulled out the camera and started shooting with it. I was addicted after the first few snaps. Obviously the camera is huge and heavy as you’ll read anywhere. But I found handling it to be surprisingly easy. It took me almost no time to get used to handling it (maybe because it’s so simple?). The hard parts were using the waist-level viewfinder (where the picture is reversed from left-right) and using a dedicated light meter for the first time. I wasn’t really too happy about having to carry this extra device around, but that’s about the only way to get perfect exposures with this setup. (Speaking of perfect exposures or a lack thereof: I learned later that night that the first roll I shot was loaded in the wrong way, and so I’d wasted it completely. Oh well.)

As far as slow, pensive landscape shooting goes, this camera seemed to be well-suited. There was plenty of time to manually meter the scene, setup the camera on the tripod if necessary, adjust the exposure on the camera, compose, focus (which was almost always at infinity anyway) and click. Oh and there was often the added step of using a cable release to prevent mirror slap.

At some point I really want to shoot people with this camera. I’ll have to get a more portrait-friendly lens and I haven’t decided which one to get yet. Maybe by then I will be more proficient in metering/setting up on a tripod/exposing/composing/etc with this thing and portraits won’t have to be too tedious.

more details on the film experience coming soon…

initial anecdotes on film

Well it’s been a couple of months. A couple of months of the day job and other projects dominating my life. But: the never-ending project has launched, Damion and I have finished mixing our album, our band, Ithica, has played at DFest 09, we’re almost done with the film score to The Rock and Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher, and, wow that is a lot of stuff.

The good thing is that I’ve had a couple of months to soak up and collect my thoughts on returning to film. To kick off the experience, I bought a Mamiya RZ67 with a 50mm lens, and Lance Miller and I headed out to the Wichita Mountains (via Route 66) for a couple of days. I very briefly mentioned the trip and posted some of the digital photos in the last post. But I haven’t really discussed the experience of going film (not to mention medium format film).

On that first trip, I was very shy about getting the RZ67 out and using it for the first part of the trip. I stuck to my familiar Canon 30D/10-22mm lens combo, and got some nice shots. I found after a few hours that I was simply going to have to pick up the Mamiya and start shooting with it. Check out the next post for details.

a season of experimentation

After a reasonably long string of photographic successes (and happy clients) I tend to let my imagination wander a bit. I have been thinking about what I could do next, how I could expand my skills and repertoire, where I could go with photography. Should I do a series (I almost never do series) of something? Should I visit a new location (or type of location)? Should I try a drastically new focal length (e.g. shoot birds or something)?

I have a few ideas about what to try. The biggest one is to get back into medium format photography. I’ve been wanting a better wide-angle solution than my Canon 30D/10-22mm combo. I love the 30D and the super-wide angle lens, but I’m just not satisfied with the tonality, dynamic range, or resolution. And when I shoot landscapes I want to have the ability to make large prints if the photos warrant it (or I do a show). I can make 12x16 prints from my 30D, and the resolution and dynamic range all come out OK, but the tonality is just not as smooth as I’d like.

Also attractive about medium format is that it seems to be a clearer upgrade path in the long term because of how modular the systems are. In other words, instead of the usual body + lens, you now have a body, lens, back, viewfinder, winder, ground-glass, and probably other gadgets I don’t even know about. Medium format digital cameras and backs seem to be increasing in presence in the marketplace these days. “Full-frame” — meaning the sensor is the same size as a 35mm film frame — is the new rage in the DSLR world now, so there seems to be a clear trend towards larger sensors. Of course, I can’t afford a $10,000 digital back (not to mention the additional computing power to handle post-processing and storage), but in a few years maybe they’ll be reasonable for people like me.

My first film camera was actually a medium format camera: the Yashica LM (circa 1956). I found this little gem at the flea market for $45. It’s a twin-lens reflex with two fixed 80mm lenses built into it. Looking through the giant viewfinder was addictive. That is until I discovered I did not know how to use this 80mm focal length very well (i.e. equivalent to about 50mm lens in terms of a 35mm negative). This is not a good focal length for most landscape situations. But it works great for full-body or semi-wide portraits. So, I have decided I’m going to take this little guy out shooting again, this time for portraits. We’ll see what happens.

But back to the landscape idea: I’m seriously considering getting a Mamiya RZ67 which is a huge beast of a camera. My main hesitations with the idea are the following:

• It’s big and heavy
• It’s film. do I want to put up with the time/cost of film again?
• It’s manual. No meter, no autofocus, no auto film advancing, no auto anything. Am I ready for that extra time/effort for each shot?
• The widest lens available for the RZ67 is 50mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm). Is this wide enough (my 10-22mm goes to a 35mm equivalent of 16mm)?
• Current digital backs don’t even cover the full 6x45cm area right now for 645 format cameras. Will they ever get as big as the full 6x7cm area without costing a bazillion dollars? If not this system will not work for me long-term because the cropping makes the angle even less wide.
• Am I just being impulsive? Or is it gear lust? Or is it resolution/dynamic range/tonality lust (and is that a bad thing)?

Surprisingly, this has been pre-approved by the wife. Maybe because the body is only about $160 right now on ebay. We’ll see what happens as I let this soak over the next few days.