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| Mike, Mamiya 645 on Tripod - Death Valley 2004 |
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| Mamiya 645, Epson Scanner - Marin County 2019 |
While scanning some "last film" 35mm negatives I noticed a self-portrait on one of the film strips: a timed photo of myself with what looked to be a medium-format camera mounted on a light-weight tripod. First a moment of confusion, then I remembered.
I had purchased a Mamiya 645 in 2003 as a kind of alternative to an expensive digital camera. Back then, even expensive digital cameras were no match for the quality that could be gotten using film. So, my theory was that I would use positive 120 roll film that could be viewed and selected on a light box and then scanned. Not a bad idea! But as it turned out, I only used the camera for about a year and a half, taking just a few rolls of film. In February, 2005 I purchased an Olympus C-8080 digital camera, and started using it full-time.
So, I still have the Mamiya! Found it by poking around the darkroom, finally spotting it way up on one of the shelves. (We still call it the darkroom.) I think I tried to sell it once, but at the time there weren't any takers. The photo above shows it sitting on the Epson scanner that I use.
By the way, the photo of the pink kimono in back of the Mamiya has never been posted on the blog for some reason (taken with a Canon G9). Now remedied:
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| Pink Kimono, Rain (Kyoto) - Japan 2008 |
2 comments:
Great shot of the kimono. Brings back memories.
My first serious camera was a Mamiya too, as I mention briefly in the account in my book.
A Twin-Lens with fives sets of lenses. Setting up shots using the paramender got me ready to use the view cameras which I quickly graduated to.
I wasn't very interested in the square format as an aesthetic frame, either.
I retired in 2001, expecting to get back to photography in a serious way, but instead ended up becoming a full-time antiquarian book dealer. I think you must have retired not long after I did.
Curtis, thanks!
So, besides the 645 I also still have the Mamiya C-220 (lower-end TLR, higher one was the C-330). I remember trying to figure out in advance whether the final image was going to be horizontal or vertical, not always successfully.
My last day at work was April Fools Day, 2007. Later that month I took a quick trip down to Pinnacles National Monument.
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