mercredi 24 août 2005

Cameras I've clicked with... Pentax 6x7 Why I bought and sold three outfits... Part 1 : Compatibility Although I've been a Nikon owner and user for around four decades, there have been a few times when I've sold off that equipment entirely to use another system, and several times when I've owned and used another system in tandem with my Nikons. I'm not alone in this often practised and fickle approach to photography and equipment. Whilst it may work for some photographers all of the time, and all photographers some of the time, it doesn't work for all photographers all of the time... because the smart ones pause for thought. I've gone through the "pros and cons" scenario on equipment usage more times than I've heeded the actual findings by going ahead with a change. There again it could be said that I have heeded my findings by not going ahead when the pros of the argument were outweighed by the cons. In a way the worst problems are when contemplating a change between systems of the same format... say, from Nikon F2 or F3 to Canon F1n (both manual focusing 35 mm film systems)... but, having once done just that with a surprisingly positive change in overall results, I'll describe the scenario another day ;-) A less difficult decision is when contemplating a switch to a different format... up from 35 mm to medium-format; down from medium-format to 35 mm; up from medium format to large-format... or sideways from film to digital, and so on. These decisions are weighed up for more definite reasons such as requiring larger transparencies (left) for new photo opportunities... or a change in acceptance by clients for a smaller format because, for example, better repro and printing techniques exist in the industry. Sometimes you have to go with the flow. More often though, a change is self-induced because you think - generally incorrectly from technical reasons but possibly right for emotive or creative reasons - that camera "A" is better than camera "B"... or worse, that camera "A" is better than camera "B" because so-and-so and his mates at the camera club and the manager of the appointed dealership said so. This is "following the herd" and "falling for the sales spiel" respectively. Don't do it... it rarely works out as you had hoped, and often costs more for less in terms spend vs. satisfaction. However, I've changed to the Pentax 6x7 system three times in the past thirty years, and an important factor which influenced these changes was compatibility. Many photographers I talk to use multiple systems sharing absolutely no rational link between them... except that they're image making boxes. Typical examples range from Nikon 35 mm manual focus and Canon 35 mm auto-focus in the same bag (a choice of combo I can never understand) or Olympus digital and Pentax 645 roll-film (different animals but the same crazy menagerie). It may be that the photographer/user writes about multiple systems for the photo press (as I do); is wealthy enough to have both incompatible systems; may be in transition and doesn't want to change completely until a new system is tried and tested; or s/he may genuinely like and want both systems... all of which are fair enough. One System or Two... or lens swopping The compatibility of the Pentax 67 system is with other Pentax formats... both their 35 mm LX (which I used) and 645 roll-film model (which I seriously thought about). Using dedicated lens-to-body adaptors it is possible to use lenses from the larger 6 x 7 cms format on both the smaller 6 x 4,5 cms and 35 mm formats... which has interesting specialist applications. With requisite adaptors you can use the 6 x 7 Pentax 120 mm f/4 "Soft" lens on Pentax 645 and any 35 mm Pentax body with very desirable results. No other popular camera allows this cross-coupling (apart from the 6 x 6 cms Hasselblad 500 series with both recently shelved 645 and 35 mm systems from Contax). Apart from the more obvious use of telephoto lenses from the Pentax 67 and 645 systems on Pentax 35 mm bodies, my photo (left) illustrates how the 75 mm "Shift" or perspective control lens for the Pentax 67 can be used on a 35 mm Pentax LX... an ideal set-up for product and still-life photography, being a more useful longer lens than the regular 28 mm Shift lens (seen in the photo for comparison) for the miniature format. Obviously there are apparent advantages when using longer lenses from the larger formats on smaller format cameras as well... you only need one long lens. It doesn't work with wide-angle lenses, however, because although a 45 mm lens is very wide for the Pentax 67 system (slightly wider than the equivalent of 24 mm on a 35 mm camera), that 45 mm focal length becomes only a standard lens on the 35 mm format. The downside is that 6 x 7 lenses are more than twice the weight and size in all dimensions than their smaller format equivalents... but that is the penalty you have to pay for compatibility across two or three formats. One Camera or Two... or film swopping Size matters with a camera body too. A Pentax 67 is twice the size and weight (plus) of an average 35 mm manual metal-bodied camera... although with a wide carrying strap is still comfortable over the shoulder. But if regularly using two cameras (for colour and monochrome) the second body becomes a burden. Some photographers get around this restriction by shooting five bracketed exposures (one 2/3-stop below, one 1/3-stop below, one normal, one 1/3-stop above and one 2/3-stop above) of a subject or scene in monochrome. Then they repeat the five-exposure sequence on a different subject or scene... so reaching the end of the 10-exposure roll of film. The camera is then reloaded with colour film and a five-exposure bracketed sequence made of the new subject... and a third subject or scene found when the five-exposure sequence is repeated to the end of the film. The camera is then reloaded with monochrome film and the sequence carries on. This provides the photographer with several good, near-duplicated shots in both colour and monochrome from the same camera. If this seems a tiresome way of shooting both colour and mono with one body then I suggest showing a roll-film transparency to a client... or going into the darkroom and making a large print from a 6 x 7 cms negative which has an area five times that of 35 mm. Although you do see some difference to 35 mm on a 10 x 8 inch print, on bigger prints the difference in tonality and resolution becomes quite remarkable. To be continued... For more of my writings on this system read... Part 2 of Pentax 67 System is a comparison with Hasselblad. Part 3a of Pentax 67 System is the 120mm Soft Focus lens. Part 3b of Pentax 67 System is the 35mm Fisheye lens. Part 4 of Pentax 67 System is being written. Part 5 of Pentax 67 System reviews the two Spotmeters and other bits. 12:52:37 PM    comment []