Film Look up! Santurce, Puerto Rico.

ajramirez

Hall of Famer
Location
Caguas, Puerto Rico
Name
Antonio
Things you see when you point your camera lens upwards:

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Iglesia Sagrado Corazón by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

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Calle Robert by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

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Calle Canals by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

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El Telégrafo by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

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Condominio de lujo by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

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Calle Duffaut by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

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Departamento de Salud by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

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Calle Duffaut by ramirezaponte, on Flickr

Santurce, Puerto Rico.

Hasselblad 500C/M, 50mm 4.0 Distagon, Ilford Delta 100, D76 1:1.

Cheers,

Antonio
 
I just shot a roll of TMax 400 with an orange affixed to my 28mm and a red on my 55mm. First time I've done either. Cannot wait to get that roll back and scan it.

Antonio these are incredible as always. If you get a few minutes, could you describe what it's like to use that Blad 500? Do you carry around a light meter, and do you always use a tripod? I am always tempted by the resolution and optics of medium format, and yet turned off by the cost and lack of spontaneity. I tend to shoot the minolta xd-5 on AP, because I'm usually shooting a 3 yr old or people who aren't posing for me. Which leads me to almost entirely change my question... if you had to shoot Med Format in a photojournalistic setting, and you didn't have gobs of money, how would you do it?
 
If you get a few minutes, could you describe what it's like to use that Blad 500? Do you carry around a light meter, and do you always use a tripod? I am always tempted by the resolution and optics of medium format, and yet turned off by the cost and lack of spontaneity. I tend to shoot the minolta xd-5 on AP, because I'm usually shooting a 3 yr old or people who aren't posing for me. Which leads me to almost entirely change my question... if you had to shoot Med Format in a photojournalistic setting, and you didn't have gobs of money, how would you do it?

I do not always use a tripod. In fact, I did not use a tripod for any of the photos in this set. A good strap is essential, though, because the camera gets heavy after a little while.

I do use a Sekonic L-308S light meter. It's quite light and I keep it hanging from my neck. I use it mostly in incident mode. On a clear day such as when this set was taken, you only need two readings: for direct sunlight or shade, and if the light does not change you can use the same settings all morning long.

The 500C/M is not a camera that likes to be hurried along. I find it works best for more contemplative shooting, or for subjects that do not move very quickly. I have not tried zone focusing (which is inherently more difficult in medium format because of the reduced depth of field), and focusing tends to be very slow because of the need (at least in my case) to use the viewfinder magnifier and the very long focus throw of the lenses. I find that the twin lens Rollei that I also use is actually a quicker camera, but it is still a fairly slow camera to use.

I really do not have any experience with any other medium format cameras, but I would assume that one of the rangefinder Fuji's (either the new GF670 or one of the older ones) would be quicker to use. I would absolutely love to own a GF670, but it is not an inexpensive camera by any standard. It does sport aperture priority autoexposure and has a lens that is reputed to be excellent. No interchangeable lenses, though.

A less expensive alternative might be one of the various Pentax 645 models. These are motor driven, have pentaprism finders, and I believe the last model was even autofocus. I know the original model can be found quite cheap (less than $500 with the 75mm lens) and should be much quicker to use than a V-series Hasselblad.

Thank you so much for your kind comments on my photos. I really appreciate it.

Cheers,

Antonio
 
Thanks for that, Antonio. It helps a lot. The Post-It on my monitor that has little crib notes about equipment has "Pentax 645N" and "Pentax Asahi 67" on it, so that is good confirmation that those might be the best overall way to go.
 
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