The 52 Project, Week 34: Make it a Mamiya!

This week, I'd like to discuss a VERY real issue that affects millions of photographers worldwide. Gear Acquisition Syndrome, GAS as it's more affectionately called, is a truly debilitating disease. It starts off much like any other addiction, with that first purchase. Be it toy camera or serious SLR rig, that first purchase never seems to be enough for GAS's insatiable appetite.

"I'll just go ahead and get one more lens for that Canon AE-1", you say.

It's already too late! Soon the "absolute" statements start becoming more and more ridiculous, all to fuel the never-ending GAS.

"But if I never try that Hasselblad 503CX, I'm sure there's something in photography that I'll be missing!"

And if there's still a shred of money left in your bank account, large format sets in. 0__0

"Wow! That 4x5 rig costs less than the Hasselblad. See? It's not that bad, I'll just go ahead and buy that too."

Little do you know, that film, paper, enlargers, chemistry, and a home darkroom are lurking right around the corner. At this point, it's best just to committ yourself now and save family and friends the pain.

Seriously, though, when one takes the next step by purchasing new photographic equipment, it's VERY easy to let the commercial interests grab hold of you and never let go. Got a photography magazine handy? Just open it up and look around; read an article or two. It becomes apparent through this magazine that the only conceivable way to become a better photographer is to buy whatever they're selling. And they're selling A LOT! Instead of dreading over what you don't have, how about going outside, having fun, and maybe take some fun pictures? You'll learn way more about photography doing/shooting what you love, and have more fun while doing it!

So after all this preaching about the GAS and its horrible consequences, why would I got out and purchase new gear? At the moment, I keep telling myself necessity, future weddings, commercial gigs, etc. Deep down inside, though, I know the answer is that it's just plain cool and "I can't live without one" >__<. I now present to you, the Mamiya 645AF. 

A few quick things about this newest acquisition:

• It takes 120 film, like the Hasselblad, but also takes 220!
• It produces a negative of 6x4.5cm, giving 16/32 shots per roll 120/220
• It has spectacular autofocus, metering, and shooting modes, sometimes better than my Canon 1D!
• It auto-winds the film from start to finish. A lifesaver in higher pressure environments such as weddings.
• It accepts manual focus lenses from the long legacy of Mamiya 645 lenses.
• It's future-proof. Should the future of film somehow turn grim, I can slap a digital back on this baby, assuming of course I can afford a new car. x__x

But enough about the camera, let's get onto some samples!

Pretty standard outdoor test shot.

This first roll of 16 through the Mamiya needed to be done with a pretty well-known, baseline standard of all films. Therefore, I had no choice but to use good 'ole Tri-X. Everything was shot at ISO 400, with a +1/3 stop compensation, just personal taste with this film. The film was later souped in D-76 stock for 7.5 minutes, making for results ANYBODY, even photo students, could expect from this camera.

The indoor test shots were surprisingly sharp!

Moving indoors, the camera performed quite well under low light conditions. The AF assist beam, also known as the moment-spoiler, does a pretty good job finding a subject quickly and accurately. Once the light falls below a 1/4 second exposure, however, it seems to hunt forever. The shot to the right was taken at 1/15th second, a pleasant surprise beckoning back to my days of silly slow hand-held digital exposures.

High contrast indoor scene? No problem.

Around the same time I started testing this camera out, I got the bright idea to make a few how-to videos in HD for both the Mamiya 645AF and the Hasselblad 500C. You can view the Mamiya 645AF video below, and you can find the Hasselblad 500C video here. Lauren, to the left of this paragraph, was kind enough to be my lovely production assistant for the day. We made it easy by agreeing to do one-takes only. x__x

Something Good: The Mamiya's meter is fantastic! Light readings were always spot on a variety of different light.

Something Bad: The shutter release noise and auto wind noises that the camera makes can be a little loud/annoying if in a sound sensitive environment. Just something to keep in mind.

Something Learned: I need to stop cutting my head off in future videos. For some reason, it sounded like a good idea at the time of recording. Now I know better.

Next Week: Back to the 'Blad + B&W.

The 52 Project, Week 33: Kittens!

In photography, like anything else, there's a time and place for everything. Some days I'm feeling intense about photography, therefore I bring out the 8x10. Other days its playing around with Polaroids. This week, though all shot on the Hasselblad, is far from being serious business.

Lauren getting a handful of cute. ^_^

A flickr friend of mine, Claygrl, said it best:

"I am not a cat fan, but I did hear a voice in my head say 'Oooh, kittens'."

Cat lover or dog lover, everyone seems to have a soft spot for adorable little kittens. Luckily for me, my parents always have a fresh batch of barn kittens lying around waiting to be photographed. They're not "crazy cat people" yet, but I often fear they are getting there. >__<

This little guy had a cold back then, he's fine now.

This weeks photos were all taken with one of my new low-light favorites, Ilford Delta 3200. This roll was hand processed in Kodak XTOL in a dilution of 1:1, to give the shadows a little extra time to come up, while keeping highlights in check.

*Insert LOLCats-worthy captioning here*

So, aside from testing the film, why 3200 speed film?

Simply put, kittens, puppies, children, and all things youthful tend to move quickly, and with little regard to the fact that you want to take a picture. Once your shutter speed falls below 1/125th of a second, your chances for any sharpness in these little fuzz balls are gone. Cranking up the speed of your film, on top of whipping out some fast glass, is really the only way to stop them right in their tracks. And considering the time of day these shots were taken, about 30 minutes to sunset, being able to snag f/4 @ 1/250th of a second was pretty good!

Closeup filters + tiny kitten = always adorable

Something Good: Got to work with a cute girl, cute kittens, and got a some usable material to boot.

Something Bad: Looking at the tone curve of these images after scanning, the push development may have been a little long. The tone curve was very clumped up in the mid tones with a lot of expansion needed towards the ends. In darkroom terms, I would need to add about 1/2 grade of filtering plus extra print processing time to get the blacks and whites I wanted in the image.

Something Learned: For a 3200 speed film, Ilford Delta has some really nice grain! Upon further review, Delta films are Ilford's signature brand of "T grained" (tabular grained) emulsions. These are comaprable to Kodak TMax 100, 400, and 3200. And coupled with a developer made for push processing such as XTOL, you've got yourself a winning combination.

Next Week: New Year, new gear. Stay tuned!

The 52 Project, Week 32: Hasselroids & Polablads

Pro tip: get a GOOD used Polaroid back.

 As little as 8-10 years ago, when you were going to take a picture that needed to be absolutely, positively, sharp and well exposed, you couldn't look at the back of your camera (also known as "chimping"), you needed to take a Polaroid. Not the boxy, point and shoot style, integral film eating Polaroid 600 that we all know and love, but one made to take pack film (click the link for more info). On my Hasselblad, taking a test exposure is as simple as attaching the film back, taking the picture, and pulling out the instant film tabs. If you've never taken an instant picture with pack films before, I highly reccomend getting an old Polaroid Land Camera or Polaroid back and trying it. It's a thrill to peel apart the positive from the negative, held together by a thin layer of gooey, unused reagent (dont' eat this please). This is infinitely more fun than looking at the back of some glare-ridden LCD screen.

Save the model of camera used, this video perfectly illustrates the process of using pack film in a Polaroid back to proof your exposure:

Now, some of you that follow the news may be wondering, "where the heck can I get Polaroid film? Didn't they stop making film?"

The truth of the matter is yes, Polaroid no longer makes their signature product, Polaroid 100 series pack films. Thankfully, the guys over at Fujifilm in Japan have come up with their own phenomenal pack films, Fuji FP-100C and FP-3000B. The 100 speed is lower speed, vivid color film, and the 3000 is an incredibly fast B&W film. Each are great under a variety of condtions, and include self-terminating development. You can literally shoot all day, and peel your film when you get home.

 Considering the quick nature of instant photography, lessons can be learned quickly and to little cost to the user, leaving little for me to discuss in the typical good, bad, and ugly format. Instead, we'll talk about some things that can go wrong with your instant film, with examples from yours truly.

Lesson 1: Light Leaks - never, ever open up your pack of film after it has been loaded

 

Lesson 2: Overexposing is the Devil! - instant film responds to overexposure much like slide film and digital, by crying, blowing out highlights, and fogging your positive. >__<

 

Lesson 3: Don't Expect Expired Film to Perform - if it's more than 4 years old and hasn't been cold-stored, consider any kind of image a miracle. The images below are Polaroid 669 film from 1992!

Reagent is a liquid, it can dry up and do this.The background is more yellow than black.

Sometimes you get really lucky. ^__^

And that pretty much does it for this week. Instant photography is fun stuff, and the only way it'll keep being made is if somebody is out there to shoot it. So pick up that Polaroid Land Camera or Polaroid back today and get shooting!

Next Week: More fun times with the Hasselblad.