I have bought a kit so here it is and the reasons why:
Bronica RF645
Probably the cheapest MF camera that has built-in AE metering out of the box. Good ergonomics, quick and easy to use, and light and portable for an MF camera. 16 frames on a roll.
65mm Lens
Comes with the camera. Great lens with a widish field of view, which is very suitable for general photography, travel, street and so on. Equivalent to about a 39-40mm in 35mm format.
RF-20 Flash
Nicely integrated with the camera, offering excellent auto and fill-in flash capability. Small and easy to carry.
45mm Lens
Equivalent to 28-30mm in 35mm format. Good for close-in street and architecture, landscapes. The drawback is you need an accessory viewfinder for accurate framing, but I don't bother, and just accept a bit of untidyness around the edges.
100mm Lens
Equivalent to about 60-65mm in 35mm format. Excellent lens for general street shooting when you want to get a bit further from the action, and for full- or half-length portraits. Adds a fair bit of weight and bulk to the camera, though.
Everything fits neatly into a Crumpler Next Venue bag along with some accessories and 10-20 rolls of film.
Before the Bronica I had a secondhand YashicaMat 124G twin-lens reflex, which was very cheap, just to try if I liked rollfilm.
Wedding/Portrait Recommendations
There are various competing systems as follows:
Hassleblad H System
The most modern 645, featuring auto-focus, auto-exposure and pop-up flash. Not a wide variety of lenses yet, as it was only launched last year. Very expensive.
Contax 645
Auto-focus, auto-exposure, modular design. Great lenses. Expensive.
Mamiya 645AF-D
Auto-focus, auto-exposure. Cheaper than the previous two choices. Non-modular but has separate filmbacks. Accepts digital backs well, allegedly.
Mamiya 645 Pro System
Modular manual system with a full variety of lenses (including some zooms) and accessories such as power winder, prisms and so on. Apart from the lack of auto-focus, it can be given the same capabilities as the three AF systems by adding modules. Good value for money and a lot of secondhand kit is available.
Bronica ETRSi
Another modular manual system, similar to the Mamiya but possibly with a smaller selection of add-ons. Very competitively priced.
Pentax 645
Auto-focus, non-modular camera. Good lenses (but all MF lenses are good). Well priced. The main drawback is the lack of separate filmbacks, though you can buy separate inserts for pre-loading.
|
