Mamiya 645 Pro

This year I shifted gears after buying the Hasselblad 500CM and really focused on film. I sold my Fuji XT1 and went full analog. It was more of a personal choice rather than client driven. I love the 500CM but in all honesty I did miss shooting in other aspect ratios, and besides, who can resist buying another fun camera. I searched for a few weeks and landed on a pristine Mamiya 645 Pro from Japan. It got here and it was flawless. Popped in some batteries and film and I was off to shooting. I was initially interested in the 645 AF but for the price difference I don't mind manual focus, especially since this is mainly a stills and portrait camera. Plus I still like the challenge and connection I have with the camera when manually focusing. 

Mamiya 645 Pro with grip and wrist strap. 

The one accessory that does make this camera great and a touch modern is the auto winder. It winds the film and advances the film to the next frame after a shot. As it does add weight, it does provide a nice grip for the hand when shooting and the camera feels nice and balanced. It also allows for easier vertical shots, where as before it was a bit awkward. The second feature why I got this camera is it's auto metering viewfinder. This makes a world of difference and gives me a great balance between digital and analog. It has three metering modes and I must say they all work very well. They speed up my set up time which is a huge benefit over the Hasselblad. Saves me a lot of time especially when I'm just walking around and want a portrait of a random person or object. With the Hasselblad I need to tell them to hold on, take a meter reading then adjust camera then confirm and take the shot. So far with this auto metering I haven't yet had an under or over exposed image.  

Mamiya 645 with 80mm macro

The current lens on the camera is the 80mm F4 Macro and when I thought at first it wouldn't be ideal for most situations it was surprisingly versatile. I can get super close to subjects and it produces wonderful depth. It's razor sharp, although it does take a little getting used to with it's split screen focusing screen. However, I tend to just find a hard edge and line that up and I'm good to go. For wider subjects like street and landscape it is actually not terrible, although I will probably look for a wider lens in the future. Remember even though it's an 80mm it's almost cut into half to a 45-50mm considering the medium format film size. All in all this a great camera and can be had for a reasonable price if you hunt on Ebay. Most come from Japan and are flawless in their condition. I would definitely recommend anyone who wants a budget friendly medium format film camera to take a look at the 645 Pro.   

Here are some recent shots I've taken and developed with the camera. Enjoy! 

Hasselblad X1D... Thoughts and Testing

Well I having been shooting photography for going on 13 years now and I remember when I was lucky enough to buy my first digital camera, the Nikon D100. At a whopping 6.1 megapixels, it was the semi professional camera of the early 2000's. At the time I was heavily involved with my collage newspaper, both in shooting, design and writing. I shot every sport on campus from football, hockey, basketball, gymnastics, baseball, you name it. I still remember being blown away by 8x10 prints the camera produced even using a cheap Epson photo printer. I used to sell prints for beer money to the athletes I took photos of. It did the job, and did the job well. 

Hasselblad X1D with 90mm and 45mm lenses. 

Fast forward to today and we are spoiled with the options out there. Sony with their 42mp A7Rii, Nikon has the new D850, Canon has a 50 megapixel camera, Fuji, Leica, and well of course Hasselblad with their 50 and 100 megapixel sensors. They even can render a 200 megapixel image by compiling multiple images on top of each other. Where will we head next.

Shot on top of the William Vale Hotel Brooklyn, NY - Bride and Groom Editorial style shot.

I was lucky enough to be able to use the somewhat new Hasselblad X1D for a weekend in NYC not only to bum around the city, but to shoot my wife and I as we celebrated our wedding. Now if you actually read my blog or this article you most likely just spit out your morning coffee in disbelief. Sure, would a Sony or even Fuji for that matter be easier to use, absolutely, however when you get to borrow a 50 megapixel Hasselblad, you just don't say no. 

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Bride and Groom heading to dinner.

To put it bluntly, this camera is a beast. The resolution is out of this world insane, and I can see why pro's who shoot portrait, and advertising work use Hasselblad. The camera is great, however it does come with some drawbacks, but more on that in a few. The pros to me outweigh the cons. The camera is lighter than most of the pro SLRs out there and way lighter than any other Hasselblad, Phase One system or Leica medium format system on the market. Yes I've also shot with the Leica and well... didn't like it at all. However, the X1D still has some heft to it, in a good way. You know you are handling something special as it feels really solid, and built like a tank. The lenses are also matching in quality. It's just beautiful to look at as well.  The image quality again is top notch and the amount of detail even zoomed past 100% is incredible. The menu system and touch screen is fantastic. Never did I have any glitches or issues using the functions as it's very straight forward. All around it's a fantastic piece of kit.

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Posing in Downtown Brooklyn, NY.

The Cons although not much, could be an annoyance to some, however, one must realize what they are comparing this too.People say it's not as fast as a DSLR or it's not as pro as a high end medium format camera. It sort of lies in the middle. That is where I think a lot of people get hung up on this camera. I could rant all day about people on YouTube getting paid to say this or that about one thing or another and it's frankly bullshit and annoying. The only real cons I'll bring up are three. The camera is a slow shooter. This doesn't bother me because I know what I'm getting myself into. I know this isn't going to be a Canon 5D iii or Nikon D5 or whatever. I have to slow down my shooting, plan the shot, set it up and take it. Second, the focusing. It is not meant for this type of shooting for one and I knew that going in. It's center weighted or you can select your focus point "it will not AF for you like a Canon, Sony, Nikon" it's a different focusing system so you can't bash it for that. You use the center focus square, focus and recompose, or if your'e on a tripod you manually select the correct AF point. Again didn't bother me because I knew what I was up against. Third and last, and I accredit this to just my style of shooting is the ISO and shutter speed performance. Now, in my scenario, I was shooting natural light between 2pm and 6pm. I like to shoot as the lowest ISO possible and tried to stay between 100-400. However I like to also use a fast shutter which means I'm used to shooting fast prime lenses as in f1.8-2.8. The lenses for the camera are a minimum I believe f3.5 which I think made it a bit difficult. That paired with some overcast conditions I was typically shooting around 1/60 - 1/250 of a second. For me I just missed a few shots with the lack of stabilization or all the other fancy things out there like VR lenses. Again, I'm okay with this because if I had lighting options I would have used them, or would have pumped up my ISO, whatever it was literally my wife and I, my dad and a tripod, I made it work and am still blown away with the results.

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Natural light editorial style shot of Bride and Groom.

At this point famous YouTube people are probably cursing under their breath and saying this isn't an honest or "real world" review as they call it, but in my eyes it was. I know what I wanted to shoot, I took the camera out with nothing but a tripod and got some amazing shots. I didn't have a huge production crew, a million lights or makeup artist. All in all, again, this camera is great for what it's intended to be used for. It's not a run and gun wedding shooter, or a sports action 15 frames a second this or that, so I wish people would stop comparing different technology. If I had the money I would buy one in a heartbeat and shameless plug, would one day love to be a Hasselblad Ambassador, but at the moment it's just not in my budget. At the end of the day, just like all the other gear out there it is a tool with a specific job, it's just that this is a touch more special to me than any other camera I've used in the past.   

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Hailing a cab in Brooklyn.

Thanks you for reading I hope you enjoyed - Never stop shooting!

**Disclaimer - all images are resized for the web and therefor do not represent the full resolution images that are produced by this camera** 

Medium Format... An intimate affair.

How shooting film has made me a better photographer. Tips, Film Type and why film will never die!

This year I discovered the joy of shooting medium format film, and it has completely rejuvenated my interest in photography as a whole. Lets start by going over what makes medium format so attractive. I have been shooting photography since 2004 when I first picked up my brand new Nikon D100. At the time this 6 something megapixel camera was at the top tier for semi pro and pro shooters alike. In collage I never took any film classes, and really just wrote film off as, oh it takes forever to get developed, I can never see what I'm shooting, and it's just slow. Fast forward to today with over 13 years of photography experience, several digital bodies and lenses later and my favorite camera to shoot... My newly acquired 1979 Hasselblad 500cm. 

Until I bought my Hasselblad I really didn't know much about film as I mentioned above, yet alone the word that is medium format. I didn't know what 120 film was, or the 6x6/645 lingo until a photo friend started to show off his Mamiya 645 camera.  Lets just say it it peeked my interest. I started the long and grueling internet search for medium format cameras. I looked at photographers, bloggers, reviews, brands and so on. I was immersed in this new found love, it became an intimate affair. 

After I settled that I wanted a Hasselblad, mainly for it's iconic look and heritage I found a perfect example on Ebay and took the plunge. It arrived a few days later as anxiously awaited the USP driver like a little kid on Christmas morning. I opened the box and I was infatuated with the cameras purity. I snagged some film and started shooting.  

1979 Hasselblad 500cm with a few of my favorite rolls of 120 Film.

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Slides of film are tangible... You can touch them, they aren't something lost on a hard drive.

Wait so your'e saying it shoots a square photo? Like Instagram? Sure you can say that, although this is OG and timeless. At first I didn't know how I would like the square look. It takes a lot more thought and time to really compose an image because well for one, the rule of thirds it a bit thrown off, it's hard to lead your subject, and square proportions usually leaves a little less of a desired look. 

I was hesitant at first and sort of unsure how to approach photography, something I've been great at for the past decade. However, the rudimentary shape of a square quickly became somewhat of an obsession and a challenge. It makes one look at a photo, a portrait or a landscape in a whole new manor. 

Loading a roll of film takes time, patience, and a certain meticulous care. With a medium format camera one doesn't just turn on the camera and blast away at 14 frames a second. Remember with 6x6 you only get 12 shots so make them count, and the old saying can be applied, measure twice and cut once...except expose twice or three times and shoot once. 

When I shoot a roll of film I might not finish a roll in a day, week or even two weeks. Sometimes I forget even what is on the roll once I get it developed. I plan my shots, I wait for the moment and capture something sensational on a tangible format. Once you start shooting film it almost becomes an extension of yourself. When I shoot film, I'm in no rush, I think about my shot before I even compose the exposure and then I think about it some more. I can't Photoshop the image after or crop someone out it's there forever engraved into a piece of transparent plastic. 

I encourage everyone especially these days to explore film if they can. Maybe not jump into medium format right away, but 35mm cameras can be had for some great prices. Explore different film types, some are high contrast some are grainy or smooth. Slow down your shooting, explore new mediums and don't limit yourself the the digital world. 

Hasselblad 500cm... A timeless beauty.

When you are shopping for a used medium format film camera that is close to 40 years old one doesn't just walk into any old camera store and swipe the credit card and walk out. That being said, when your are shopping for a used Hasselblad, the processes can get even more tedious. I began my journey with research on top of research. I browsed forums, online groups, YouTube reviews, what to look for what to avoid and after a few months of searching I finally landed a winner! A beautiful one owner 500cm with original manual, and matching serial numbers. I frantically checked my phone for shipping updates hourly anticipating its arrival. 

I was lucky enough to find a great seller in the US to avoid having to buy from Japan or another country and having to deal with longer shipping times and possible customs headaches. The package arrived and I ripped it open to reveal an amazing example of a timeless beauty. 

Holding a Hasselblad in your hands is something that just has to be experienced. Better yet, looking through that amazingly clear waist level viewfinder is something of pure magic. It's a view that can under no means be recreated by today's technology. Needless to say I tossed a roll of film in it and got to work! I can't wait to enjoy this for many years to come! Stay tuned for a new page dedicated to some film work!

Never stop shooting!