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Photo Forum / Film Photography / Medium format / August 2008Buying medium format cameras in New York ;)
I'm proceeding in the right order, first asking about buying film, and now about cameras for shooting that film :) I'd like to buy a Mamiya 6 or 7 body with some lenses (50/75mm for M6, 50/80mm or just 65mm for M7), and the availability in Europe isn't that great right now. As I'm coming to New York the 6th of August, maybe I'll have some luck buying my camera there. I've been checking the web and so far the best deal in New York for used Mamiya 6/7 equipment that I've found is from Adorama.com - for example, $649 for M6 body and $499 for the 75mm. Maybe I'll just go and pick it up as soon as I arrive, and test it shooting some rolls and get them developed quickly so I'll know it's actually working - I don't want to spend 2 weeks by shooting black frames you know. Are there other options I should consider? The stuff would have to be available for pick-up the 7th of August at the latest. -- > I'm proceeding in the right order, first asking about buying film, and > now about cameras for shooting that film :) [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Are there other options I should consider? The stuff would have to be > available for pick-up the 7th of August at the latest. Adorama is well situated in the photo district, so you are close to many labs that can quickly process medium format film. 17th Street has a high concentration of pro labs. Lens & Repro, on 17th Street, has a quirky collection of vintage and new -- no doubt they make more money on rentals than sales. B&H, the Photographer's Behemoth <g>, is on 34th St. and 9th Ave. Their used department often has quickly-moving merchandise that doesn't get posted to their website. OTOH, I've been at the used counter many times when the salesman looks at his computer screen and says "Oops, we just sold this on the internet". Good luck & enjoy your trip to our fair city. "Toni Nikkanen" <toni@morgoth.tuug.fi> wrote:> > I'd like to buy a Mamiya 6 or 7 body with some lenses (50/75mm for M6, > 50/80mm or just 65mm for M7), and the availability in Europe isn't [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > equipment that I've found is from Adorama.com - for example, $649 for > M6 body and $499 for the 75mm. FWIW, KEH at least will ship internationally. Adorama might, too. There are hassles and inconveniences and expenses associated with buying internationally, but get those taken care of leisurely and spend your travel time travelling instead of shopping. Also FWIW, I'd recommend the Mamiya 7 over the Mamiya 6. I found that for rectangular images, 6x7 feels a _lot_ larger than 6x6 cropped to a rectangle. I know it's only a 70/56 increase, but a 6x7 slide seems enormous next to a 645 one on the light box. (Partly this is because making a 13x19 print from 645 is beginning to be a stretch (for we unrepentant grain sniffers) but razor sharp 16x20s from 6x7 are like falling off a log. And if you can afford the 43/4.5, it's said to be an amazing lens.  SignatureDavid J. Littleboy Tokyo, Japan > FWIW, KEH at least will ship internationally. Adorama might, too. There are > hassles and inconveniences and expenses associated with buying > internationally, but get those taken care of leisurely and spend your travel > time travelling instead of shopping. I know this and have ordered from KEH a couple of times as well as Adorama. However, that means I would have to pay customs and taxes, which would inflate the price about 30%... compared to just getting onto the return plane with the camera on my neck :) > Also FWIW, I'd recommend the Mamiya 7 over the Mamiya 6. I found that for > rectangular images, 6x7 feels a _lot_ larger than 6x6 cropped to a > rectangle. I know it's only a 70/56 increase, but a 6x7 slide seems enormous > next to a 645 one on the light box. (Partly this is because making a 13x19 > print from 645 is beginning to be a stretch (for we unrepentant grain > sniffers) but razor sharp 16x20s from 6x7 are like falling off a log. I've been considering this and some other points and have found it to be a very tight match - because while all you said is true, then again, projecting 6x6 slides is far more likely to happen. Used Rollei 6x6 projectors are readily available at reasonable cost, but 6x7 is another matter... Currently I'm still too undecided about which one to choose and will probably buy the one I find first :) The Mamiya 7 with 65mm lens might be a workable choice if I only manage to buy ONE lens. If two, 80+50mm would be neat. If I wanted to shoot panoramas on 35mm, then the 43mm would be really nice.. excuse me, I'm going to return my lottery ticket now.. :) > I know this and have ordered from KEH a couple of times as well as > Adorama. However, that means I would have to pay customs and taxes, > which would inflate the price about 30%... compared to just getting > onto the return plane with the camera on my neck :) I thought you'd say that<g>. For 15% (which is what I thought VAT was), I'd rather spend that day seeing something NYC (with an already tested camera) other than the inside of a camera store. But 30% is seriously painful. >> Also FWIW, I'd recommend the Mamiya 7 over the Mamiya 6. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > projectors > are readily available at reasonable cost, but 6x7 is another matter... That's an issue I keep forgetting: I only make prints. > The Mamiya 7 with 65mm lens might be a workable choice if I only manage to > buy > ONE lens. That's what I ended up doing. I like the 65mm AOV. I got back into MF with a Fuji GS645, and since then have found normal "normal" lenses to be too narrow. > If two, 80+50mm would be neat. If I wanted to shoot panoramas on 35mm, > then the 43mm would be really nice.. excuse me, I'm going to return my > lottery > ticket now.. :) Yep. This gets into lottery ticket territory quickly. When I got the M7, it was a toss-up between the GSW690 and the M7. The lack of interchangeable lenses on the GSW690 put me off, and I got the M7. But I've never had enough spare change since then to get the 43/4.5, the availability of which was the reason for choosing the M7. The embarrassing thing is that I've done this before. Many years ago, I bought a new Hassy 500C (which means you can compute the value of "many" here), but never had enough money to buy another lens for it. I had the stick shift focusing handle and the meter-in-the-knob meter, and dragged that thing all over the place; from the Green Mountains of Vermont to Daibosatsutoge, Yatsugatake, and Mt. Fuji. SignatureDavid J. Littleboy Tokyo, Japan > I thought you'd say that<g>. For 15% (which is what I thought VAT was), I'd > rather spend that day seeing something NYC (with an already tested camera) > other than the inside of a camera store. But 30% is seriously painful. Our VAT is 22%, customs tax is something in the order of 3-5%, and shipping charges are also included.. the formula is something like: (price + shipping)*1.05*1.22, making 1.3 a very good approximation.. I ended up buying a Mamiya 7 + 65mm from Japan, the price was slightly cheaper than in Adorama, but I'll be paying a lot more because of customs and taxes. The good thing is it'll maybe arrive at the beginning of next week and I'll have some time to test it before I leave. In the worst case, it'll arrive while I'm already in USA, in which case I'll take my eminently usable but heavy Pentax 645 system with me and get aching shoulders (again) :) > That's an issue I keep forgetting: I only make prints. Me too, but sometimes I fantasize about wonderful, magnificent projected slides on my living room wall. Well, no 6x6 slides this time, either... > Yep. This gets into lottery ticket territory quickly. I returned the ticket, so tomorrow evening we'll see about buying some additional lenses - and whether I have to go back to work after vacation ;) > When I got the M7, it was a toss-up between the GSW690 and the M7. The lack > of interchangeable lenses on the GSW690 put me off, and I got the M7. But > I've never had enough spare change since then to get the 43/4.5, the > availability of which was the reason for choosing the M7. I've been considering the Fuji GS/GSW 670/690's as well.. but I guess I've made up my mind now. > The embarrassing thing is that I've done this before. Many years ago, I > bought a new Hassy 500C (which means you can compute the value of "many" > here), but never had enough money to buy another lens for it. I had the > stick shift focusing handle and the meter-in-the-knob meter, and dragged > that thing all over the place; from the Green Mountains of Vermont to > Daibosatsutoge, Yatsugatake, and Mt. Fuji. Even that isn't going to break one's neck like a loaded Pentax 645 kit :) It's funny that nowadays if you want a quality camera with a waist-level finder and Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm optics, a Hasselblad 500 C/M kit will cost less than a Rolleiflex, perhaps even significantly so. I wonder what those cost when they were sold new? >> That's an issue I keep forgetting: I only make prints. > >Me too, but sometimes I fantasize about wonderful, magnificent projected >slides on my living room wall. Well, no 6x6 slides this time, either... If only 6x7 projectors were not so hideously expensive ... >>> That's an issue I keep forgetting: I only make prints. >> Me too, but sometimes I fantasize about wonderful, magnificent projected >> slides on my living room wall. Well, no 6x6 slides this time, either... > > If only 6x7 projectors were not so hideously expensive ... sigh. Yes. Signature-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm -- [SI] gallery & rulz: http://www.pbase.com/shootin -- e-meil: Remove FreeLunch. -- usenet posts from gmail.com and googlemail.com are filtered out. >> FWIW, KEH at least will ship internationally. Adorama might, too. There are >> hassles and inconveniences and expenses associated with buying [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > then the 43mm would be really nice.. excuse me, I'm going to return my lottery > ticket now.. :) I have the 80mm and 50mm, but I'm thinking about selling them and picking up a 65mm instead, and maybe buying the 150mm at a later date. Greg SignatureSupport the Lo Desert Proto Sites: http://lodesertprotosites.org > I have the 80mm and 50mm, but I'm thinking about selling them and > picking up a 65mm instead, and maybe buying the 150mm at a later date. The 150mm would be a nice portrait lens if not for the minimum focusing distance, so I don't exactly know what I would do with it... It seems the 65mm is a real winner as everyone is keen on getting it. I guess I made a good choice then :) Got the camera already, shot one roll of Velvia 50 and had it developed. It is awesome and I am happy with my choice. |
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