gordon.coale
 
Home
 


Weblog Archives

   
 
  Thursday  February 16  2006    10: 07 PM

medium format kit 6x9cm

Another post on my equipment, which is a bit of a moving target. My 35mm kit has changed with the addition of a Pentax Spotmatic, a Zorki 3M and some related gear. Some new pictures needed there when the Zorki arrives (it's on it's way back from Russia all back together.) My 6x6cm medium format kit is pretty unchanged but for some extension tubes for the Salut-S and I've started taking the Meopta Flexaret Va apart trying to get the ground glass out for cleaning and I haven't figured out how it comes out yet and I sure hope I do and then can get it back together again. I need a group shot there, too. (My Salut-S is also on it's way back from Ukraine.) These pictures were also tests. First, I was testing a new film: Kodak Portra 100T, which is Tungsten balanced. It looks fine. And a test of the Weston Master V meter as an incident meter with the invercone on it. It nailed the exposure. Incident meters are so much easier to use for studio situations. Instead of measuring the light coming off the subject, you place the meter in front of the subject and measure the light coming to it. My Luna Pro used a different scale when used as an incident meter but the Weston doesn't need to do that. It makes determining exposures much simpler! These were taken with my second Salut-S. I *really* like the Salut-S for studio shots.

All these cameras take 6x9cm (2 1/4" x 3 1/4") negatives on 120 roll film.

This is a Mamiya Universal. I bought this in the early 1990s. A full system rangefinder camera with interchangeable lenses and backs. This has the 100mm/f3.5 normal lens. I don't use it too much anymore. This was my main camera until a couple of years ago when I added...

A Mamiya Super 23. It used to have a rangefinder like that on the Universal but it was broken so I removed it. Make's it a bit lighter. It's an older model and won't take a Polaroid back (which I have for the Universal) but it has a bellows back which makes it a mini-view camera (with my ground glass back). Here it has the 65mm/f6.3 lens. I plan on using this setup as a street camera. It would need to use some fast black and white (a slow lens) but that will have to wait until my darkroom is done.

And here with the pinhole mounted in a large format Alphax shutter. All three lenses can be used on either the Universal or the Super 23. I only have one 6x9 film back.

This is a really really really big medium format camera. It's actually my Burke & James 5x7.

It takes 5x7 and 4x5 backs and my 4x5 back is a Graflok back that also takes special roll film backs like this one. I've used it as a backup to the Mamiya when the shutter jammed. That was before the Saluts. It's great for testing large format lenses without the cost of sheet film.

I haven't had a chance to use this plastic 6x9 wonder yet. It doesn't use 120. It uses 620, which is the same size as 120 but for different spools. I will need to do some rerolling but I'm looking forward to using it.