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Mamiya 645 Super

1. It was the Holga.

2. I hadn’t thought about shooting film since finishing Uni, after I no longer had access to the uni darkrooms. Film was expensive and sometimes difficult, and after I bought me a D70 there was just no going back. But in the back of my mind I’d always wanted to play with a medium format camera, but I never found one in the right price range that I really wanted.

3. And then I found this…:

4. …a Mamiya 645 Super, for 38000 yen. Medium format is usually a fairly expensive proposition; most of it is pro gear, with the pricetag to match, or older cameras become sought-after by collectors, driving prices up. Luckily, these cameras can still be found for reasonable prices, and $400 is a pretty cheap way to play around with medium format.

5. Unlike the Holga, this is a proper, serious camera. The lenses are great, and this was a pro model so it has a bunch of cool features, like a removable back that can accept anything from Polaroid film to digital systems. Not that I’m ever going near a digital back for this thing, not when the asking price for a Phase One P25 25MP back is somewhere around $25,000. Dude. And now for the obligatory Transformers shot:

6. As you can see the film cartridge at the back comes off, as does the viewfinder prism (which you can replace with a prism with an auto-exposure function built in), and even the film winding crank (makes way for a handgrip / film advance motor). But, most of all, it’s just fun to play with; I love all the mechanical noises it makes, the way the film crank turns, the snapping of the shutter when it goes off…

7. I can’t wait to get back into the darkroom.

• Posted in Japan, Photography, RightBrain on the 22.05.2007 @ 1:05:41 AM, Permanent Link
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