What I miss most

[Rainer SLP]

What I miss most?

TIME, it does not matter if it is Digital or Analog  

to go out and photograph all those moments which pass by and are not recorded.  

[Dan Sroka]

I never experimented with medium formats, but I could see the charm of working like that. You get a similar feeling working with pinholes. You have to plan the shot completely in your head - it almost feels like trying to navigate across a crowded room with your eyes shut.

[dbarthel]

I've just ordered the Canon angle finder/magnifier which means that the camera will be on a tripod at just above waist level, about where the 500cm was. I hope this will slow me down, and behave like I'm shooting slow again. I'll post results after going out and shooting this way. Michael, is the Hasselblad H1 the way to go?

Dan

[dbarthel]

Hi Michael, I'm thinking seriously about the H1 and a digital back to go back to my old style of landscape shooting. Does anyone have enough hands on experience with the H1 and Kodak back to comment?

Dan

[dbarthel]

Just received my Angle Finder C for my D60. It certainly helps fine focusing. Now we'll see if setting the camera on a low tripod and using the angle finder will make me think more like a medium format photographer again.  

Dan

[dbarthel]

I really miss composing images using my 500cm with the stovepipe finder. Huge, bright, screen, with a system that forced one to take one's time to compose and expose the best possible image.

Now, with the D60 and it's tiny viewfinder, the quailty out is excellent, but the experience of composing and exposing an image is less than satisfactory.

How about the rest of you?

Dan

[sergio]

I turn up with too many images when shooting digitally and thats a hassle to convert. I'm trying not to think that because its free (relatively) then lets have a couple more shots just in case. Its difficult not to do that. When I am shooting 4x5 on the other hand I usually think on making a one shot photograph ( maybe 2). This really changes the way I visualize and shoot. You work more on your single image instead of sketching a lot with the camera. Both approaches have there pros and cons but I'm having a hard time forcing myself to not sketch too much.

[Brian R]

I use both. In the studio I use Digital, and on location I use film (4x5 and 35mm). I love working with the ground glass and Polaroids. As was said earlier, you just take more time to get it right. But I have thought about using digital on location, along with my 4x5, just to see what happens. Will I take as much time with the digital? or will I end up with two totally different outcomes.
  Eather way I'm not likely to stop using film.

Brian R.

Dan,

I'm not sure what you mean by "the way to go". So much depends on ones needs and budget. For me, I'd rather spend the money on a high-end digital SLR.

Michael

[dbarthel]

I think I've answered my own question re: the H1 or any other medium format system with a digital back. The viewfinder image will masked to the sensor size, so the days of big viewfinder images are gone for now, regardless of the camera body. To get what I had with the 500cm, I'd need a 6x6 sensor, and god knows when that will be available at any price.

Dan

Have a look through the viewfinder of a Canon 1Ds. It's as large and bright as 1V, which is about as good as it gets in 35mm. Very close to the Pentax 645Nii, which is one of the brightest medium format prism finders I've ever looked though.

Looking through the VF of the 1Ds makes looking through the VF of a D60 seem like peering through a keyhole. Hyperbole alert.

Michael