Two images from the very first roll of Neopan 400 I put through my Mamiya 645e. Shot with 55mm f/2.8N lens, no filter (wish I have bought at least a yellow filter). Developed with the very last bit of Agfa Rodinal B&W developer I bought from Kaufmans Camera in San Mateo 8 months ago. I am sad that I have now used up my Rodinal :( Tried to bid on an old unopened 500ml bottle of Rodinal yesterday but my slow fingers let me down and I was outbid.
The Mamiya 645e performed admirably. It was light enough with the lens that as long as I have plenty of light I could shoot handheld (otherwise tripod and MLU do the trick). Mamiya 645 MF lenses are tack sharp (and inexpensive). Currently I have the 55mm f/2.8N and 150mm f/4 N lenses, figure I like to shoot landscape and street/documentary photography, the 55mm and 150mm should serve me well. Still debating whether I really want to get the 120mm f/4 macro...
I am very glad to have "traded" in the monstrous RB67ProSD for the Mamiya 645e set up. It may sound at first glance that I have traded down. It is just the opposite. The goal here is to increase the "utility value" to me. I am thrilled to be able to take the Mamiya 645e with me on my photography outing now..
Came across photography books on André Kertész (1894-1985) while browsing on eBay for more photography stuffs on my wish list (I am now officially an ebay junkie - only for things related to classic cameras and art stuffs though). I could not resist and finally bought myself a wonderful book - André Kertész: The Polaroids
- a treasure of beautiful Polaroid images taken by the photographer with the Polaroid SX-70 camera, a gift from his friend Nash and wife Susan (of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young). These Polaroid images were taken in his Manhattan apartment "literally" in the late 70s/early 80s. Kertész was already in his 80s and had just lost his beloved wife and companion of four decades......It is a very moving photo book, a story of a highly talented photographer who finally found solace in his art and continued to create these beautiful imagery until his death in 1985
I quote now something from the book,
When mystified viewers, many of whom owned the same model of camera, asked how he got such remarkable results, Kertész explained,"You have to learn the limits of the medium, then learn to work on the edges of those boundaries"How true!! His work speaks volume of his mastery of composition and the magical light.
