Testing Out The Mamiya RB67
When I was in art school I had a ton of access to really great gear. It was my first exposure to studio lights and modifiers, pro-level DSLRs like the Canon 5D Mark II (a real game changer at the time), large format 4x5 view cameras, and a bunch of medium format film cameras. I liked the Hasselblad 500 cameras but didn't use them very often because they would break really easily. What most people at school really went gaga for were the Mamiya RZ67s. The RZ67 is a big, heavy studio camera, almost impossible to shoot handheld (unless you're Annie Leibovitz) with modern electronic components like a light meter and a hot shoe for easy flash sync. People loved it and largely ignored it's older relative, the completely mechanical RB67. If you were going to shoot in the studio you would use the RZ and if you were going to shoot outside with natural light you would use the smaller, hipper Hasselblad.
My side yard
Some time between then and now the electronic parts of most RZ67s in the world have died and are impossible to fix. The RB, being "dumb," just a fully analog piece of equipment, means that as long as you can find someone to fix and maintain it, will theoretically last forever.
Accidental double-half-frame. This has happened a couple of times.
This off-season I wanted to get a medium or large format camera. Partly just for fun and partly for self development. In my usual, professional photos hoots I'm working quickly and I'm working from a reactive frame of mind. Get the shot that's in front of you when it happens and hope for the best. There isn't much room to be methodical. Every off-season I try to work on being more deliberate and intentional when I shoot, hoping that it will seep into my professional work. If I'm shooting a wedding I'm running around, getting candid shots or documenting big moments, but then when it's time to do formal portraits you have to slow down and MAKE pictures instead of just reacting and TAKING pictures. I've done it just fine the past few years but it's always a struggle to transition from fast to slow so I think I'll always have to put in work in the off season to improve in this regard.
I can only photograph my kids with this camera if they are distracted while playing video games.
Film photography is a great way to do this, especially with bigger formats. Shooting 35mm is still pretty quick and breezy. If you blow a shot you have 35 or 24 more frames to get it right. With medium format you only get 8-12 frames per roll. Large format is even tougher. You get just one sheet at a time.
Classic "last shot of the roll desperation shot" behind the gas station next to Photosmith in Dover, New Hampshire before bringing everything in to be developed.
I was tempted to go the large format route but I just don't have it in me to lug all that gear and spend A LOT more on film, processing, and scanning. Photosmith NH, my go-to film processing place was selling an RB67 about a month ago and it was a perfect solution for me. There are some easier medium format cameras out there with autofocus, metering, etc. The RB being all analog means I would have to do all the work myself, including using my light meter to get all of my exposures right. It's big so I have to use a tripod and frame everything deliberately. And lastly, it shoots in 6x7 format, meaning the negatives are huge, which satisfies the resolution-freak that I am. Shooting medium format is weird for me because I'm always feeling stuck between wanting clean, high resolution images and grainy, film images. I'm still trying to figure our where I'm comfortable. Medium format images have a unique compression to them that you won't get from high-megapixel digital cameras, but they will still usually maintain a "filmy" look. I did a lot of side by side comparisons between shots that I took with the RB and shots I took with one of my digital cameras and I was surprised by how close they were in sharpness and detail.
I was surprised by how close I could focus. Shot on Marginal Way between Ogunquit and Perkins Cove
Anyway, a few weeks ago I posted some shots from the first two rolls of film I took with the RB. This week I'm sharing four more rolls I took, once I got into the groove a little more. I'm excited to see what it can do with portraits. It's really hard to shoot my kids with it because they are so squirmy and focusing is so slow. Also I look forward to spring time because it's a drag lugging this thing around in the snow.
Grave bunny at Hope Cemetery in Kennebunk
Next week I'll give a deep-dive of my adventures with the Lomography Diana Instant camera. The first shot of this post of the RB was shot with it. I cut the head off of anything and anyone I shoot with it. Everything else in this post is from the RB.
Hope Woods, Kennebunk. My favorite spot.
Hope Woods
Marginal Way, Ogunquit
Accidental double exposure. If you zoom in you'll see some of the juniper berries from before.
Old Orchard Beach
Palace Playland, Old Orchard Beach
Perkins Cove
Perkins Cove
Sad guy at Wells Beach
My sad tree, RIP