FWIW I love the square format for shooting, but hate it for composing and
printing. I have overlays on my Rollei and Arax focussing screens sowing
vericle and horizontal 6 X 4.5 formats and usually intend a photograph to
be one or the other. HOWEVER, I apprteciate the chance to change my mind in
the darkroom.
On Thu, Jul 19, 2018 at 3:30 AM, Snoopy <snoopy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Dear Bob and List,
as for 6x6 - I myself always had problems "thinking square" as in 6x6 -
had no budget for a Hassy but inherited an old Rollei TLR (64 years old
now, still working fine after a CLA, the leather case itself is a work of
finest crafts(wo)manship and art) which is also 6x6 and I found I cannot
really get used to square format as opposed to rectangular.
It is a very different way of seeing and capturing images... My friend
Lance has the proper sense of vision in squares and his pictures are
awesome. (I guess it's a genetic thang :-))
So "my" medium format is now rectangular 4.5x6 as in Mamiya 645 (the
"small medium format") but I agree with other list members: medium format
is a huge quality improvement to 35mm.
I also like the fact that the films are shorter, so it kind of slows you
down in the studio situation. It gives you more time to think and compose a
shot, because you need to change roll resp. film back a lot more often than
with 35mm. I think medium/large format led to the introduction of studio
assistants who had to keep the magazines loaded.
That said, I have also gotten some large prints (50x70cm, 20"x28") with
really spectacular quality (the viewers words, not mine) from 35mm where
people never believed that it was "only" 35mm.
I think this is where firstly the good Minolta (yes still, not SONY)
lenses on the 35mm cameras (all true Minoltas) come into play and also I
use an ancient APO Rodagon in my enlarger which has excellent sharpness and
contrast all the way to the edges. So my "signal path" is really smooth.
Now all I have to do is take better pictures... :-)
Love,
Snoopy
PS sorry for the long silence - moved house (after nearly 20 years in the
old one, trauma time...) and now have a HUGE darkroom waiting to be
refitted with new pipes etc. :-) Very very exciting. Except the removal
company now hates me because they had to lug that tank of my ILFORD RC
machine PLUS the spare one...
On 16/07/18 22:22, bobkiss caribsurf.com wrote:
DEAR JANET,
Yes, initially it can be confusing but the terms "6X6' and "120" are
often used interchangeably. By the way, I love your cell phone's spell
check which rendered Hasselblad as "hassle glad". Those cameras could,
indeed, be a hassle sometimes (when they jammed, you had a very expensive,
useless box!!!) but I was always glad I kept a second body and back up
magazines and lenses. So hassle glad, indeed! LOL!!!
CHEERS!
BOB
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