Medium Format

Medium format cameras are often completely mechanical, have no metering, shutterspeeds much slower than my 35mm cameras, are heavier, and are less diversified. Somehow, through these shortcomings, I've come to love them. There is something great about looking through a waist level finder, looking at huge negatives, or even looking through any medium format finder. Everything just looks 3D. Medium format has almost all but taken over my photography as I find myself rarely using my Canon digital or 35mm camera. Because its taken me some time to figure out what it is I wanted from my photography, and what medium would take me there, I've been juggling cameras quite often for the last year. Here is a short list of the cameras I've owned in the last year. They are in chronological order, but not dated.

Canon XTi

Canon 20D

Canon 50D

Canon 1VHS (Still have)

Mamiya RB67 Pro-S

Bronica GS-1

Canon 20D (Second one)

Canon Canonet QL17 G-III

Leica CL

Mamiya 645E (Still have, will be selling shortly)

Nikon F100

Canon Canonet QL17 G-III (Second one)

Hasselblad 500C/M (Still have)

Mamiya 645AF (Still have)

You'll note that I started with digital and then mostly went back to film. I tried selling my medium format cameras because Bronica is gone, or in the case of the RB67, it wasn't a currently manufactored item and had been replaced some time ago, meaning repairs would become difficult. I'm not selling the 645E because it has been upgraded, and the lenses work on the new camera. Here is a picture of my medium format cameras. My newest one, the 645AF is heavy, about 5 pounds, and is pretty feature packed. It has autofocus, motorized film advance and shutter/mirror recocking, spot and zone metering, and feels like a huge digital SLR. After taking it to Chicago, and taking only two pictures, I realized that sometimes it would be nice not to skimp on extra clothing for the sake of a giant camera, but otherwise I'm very happy with it. I'm finally realizing what it is I want from my photography and hopefully I can make that obvious with my work.