What's the glass like in one of these?

[anonymous-user]

I fancy a cheap medium format camera to play around with but don't want to go the plastic lens route of the Lomo et al variety. Anyone know if this .... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Voigtlander-Bessa-1-Medium-F... ..would be worth a punt before I commit to a Linhof or similar?

[Simpo Two]

Don't know, but have you looked at TLRs like Rollei or Yashica?

[_dobbo_]

It's a 6x9 and there is no suggestion that it comes with a mask - this means you'll only get 8 shots on a roll of 120 film, making flipping huge but very very expensive negatives/slides.

That and the spots on the lens would make this a no for me - cut your teeth on a Holga/Diana/etc or buy something a bit more conventional that shoots 6x4 or 6x6.

Ultimately when you're buying something cheap, what you spend on the camera will end up very quickly being eclipsed by film and processing costs.

Also you should factor in what shooting without a light meter is like - you're basically guessing exposure which can be hard You can cheat and use a digital camera as a light meter by setting the iso and shutter speed/aperture and let the camera fill in the blank, then transfer those settings to the film camera.

I don't know what an MF camera with a light meter runs to but probably a lot.

Not sure my post is helpful now I read it back! Buy a Mamiya or Hassleblad, easy peasy

[Simpo Two]

_dobbo_ said:

You can cheat and use a digital camera as a light meter by setting the iso and shutter speed/aperture and let the camera fill in the blank

Or buy a light meter; my father had a neat litle one that clipped onto a standard shoe. Very much like this one in fact: www.jollinger.com/photo/meters/meters/kodalux_l.ht...

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm not too worried about the expense of a few rolls of film, just want to get a feel of the format. I have a light meter and a couple of old 35mm rangefinders that I've used for years, I was more interested in the quality of the lens.