Hi guys, thanks. The 'Beautyflex' is indeed a TLR, from the late 40's/early 50's.
But nope never used one. I think like the shots they produce so want to give it a go..branching out and all that.
I understand the 2 lens thing, I think? Focus I hear is a little difficult perhaps? And I can view the image continually?
The film is 120mm, is this normal?
I like the idea of portraits and also photographing old buildings specifically with this little 'Beauty'..
Cheers peeps!
Yeah, the upper lens is the viewing lens, and the lower lens is the taking lens. You focus viewing downwards on the ground glass - and the view is reversed left-to-right which takes a while to get used to. Otherwise focus should be easy, depending on the condition of the ground glass.
The beauty (!) of a TLR is that it indeed doesn't break the viewing when the shutter is released. That way you'll see if the subject closes her eyes when you take the shot. Many people also really like the waist-level viewfinder.
The main point to keep in mind is the parallax error: since the viewing lens is 2-3 inches higher than the taking lens, the image on the film will be shifted accordingly. Some newer TLRs have markings on the ground glass, and some of the more sophisticated even have automatic parallax correction by shifting the viewing lens on a rail. You can buy a paramender for the Mamiya Cxxx series for tripod use, but I doubt it would work with the Beautyflex since it's sensitive to the distance between the lenses.
You probably mean 120 medium format film, not 120mm - it's most likely 6x6cm. It also might take 220, but I'd google that to check.
TLRs are robust, compact and still perfectly usable cameras, I think you'll enjoy it!
On a related note, I have
pictures taken with the Mamiya C220 on my site.
