5 Frames With the Mamiya M645 1000s and Mamiya-Sekor C 55mm f/2.8

My dive into medium format film was hard and fast. Less than two months after I started shooting film again, and after buying a Leica M3, I found this beauty of a Mamiya M645 set up on eBay. It originally came with the 80mm f/2.8 but I wanted to go a little wider. The 55 f/2.8 offers a full frame equivalent of about 36mm. This lens has barely left the camera, and allows me to hand hold most shots at 1/60th of a second with ease.

The lens itself is small and decently light for being mostly metal and glass, where as the body weighs at least two and a half pounds with the metered prism attached. It's a honker, that's for sure. The body is solidly built, the mirror is massive and claps loudly when either of the shutters is pressed. The 1000s has a mirror up lever (highly suggested for slower speeds) and a multi-exposure opposite of the mirror up. I haven't experimented with how many exposures are possible, but I imagine it could go on endlessly if necessary. Shutter speeds range from 1/1000th of a second to 8 seconds. The multi-exposure lever could be utilized for astrophotography if need be. It's not my favorite camera to lug around, but it certainly gets used the most.

It produces 15 images when 120 film is used, 30 with 220. Each negative is 56mm by 42mm, so not quite 6x4.5. Since the shutter button located on the front of the body is rather touchy, I would highly recommend locking it after each carefully curated shot. Film in general slows you down, but medium format does so even more.

Here's to making those 15 shots count.

Velvia 50 - Lanesboro

Ektar 100 - Badlands National Park

Velvia 50 - Lanesboro

Ektar 100 - Badlands National Park

Velvia 50 - Lanesboro

6 Frames with the Canon Rebel G and 50mm f/1.8

The Canon Rebel G is not a sought-after film camera, but it’s what I was gifted for a film photography class I accidentally took in college. It was my moms’, and either well taken care of, or rarely used. It’s rather simple, with one dial to control shutter speed and aperture, a shutter button, a self-timer, different exposure modes ranging from A to M, an ISO mode to change the automatic reading of the film, exposure lock, and TTL center weighted metering. The “Nifty Fifty” paired with the G is one of the lightest set-ups I’ve come to hold in my hands. All together it weighs less than a pound (.45 kg), fits easily in a sweat shirt pocket, and is very inconspicuous when it comes to street photography with its small form.

Metering is accurate, and looking through the viewfinder, it is incredibly easy to see your aperture, shutter speed, and exposure reading. Shutter speeds go up to 1/2000th of a second, and down to 30 seconds.

When popping open the back, the film goes on the left, rolls to the right, and automatically spools up on the right. As you are shooting, the film automatically rolls back into the film canister, preventing any shots taken from being ruined. I have come to love this feature, as winding up film is a pain in the ass with my Leica M3 and Mamiya 645 1000s. All and all, I’d recommend this set up to anyone looking to get into film, as the whole set up won’t cost more than $150 (less if you buy a used nifty fifty). This camera is entirely responsible for my expensive dive into film, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.