This year I received a birthday present that had opened a whole new world of photography to me:
It is a super nice camera produced at least 20 years ago. It comes with a 80mm f/2.8 CF lens and an A12 film back (yes, it use 120 films, those very big ones in 6cm x 6cm square size).
It is all mechanical. It runs forever without a battery. Of course, that means that it doesn’t have a light meter (ie, you can not tell how bright your photo is and you cannot rely on the camera to set the appropriate shutter and aperture) so I need a separate light meter. Alternatively, you can use an Apps on iphone to do the job, which I find it surprisingly accurate!
There is no prism in the camera and there is a 45 degree reflecting the image from the lens to the top viewer, which gives you a view like this:
I have been an autofocus guy since 20 years ago when I start photography so this camera really opens up a whole new world of photography to me. But frankly, I really enjoy taking pictures with it and I find the image it produces are far better than those taken with my digital camera!
The spacious feeling of a camera like this is simply unbeatable by any much more expensive DSLR, NOT EVEN A LEICA S2!! After all, it’s the film / sensor size that matters!
Thanks Joanne and Cooper for giving me the chance to try out my first roll for my new toy! The rest of the photos are here.
I am sure I can take much better photos after some time when I have mastered this camera! See the other photos of this little beauty here.
