Oh Ma-Mamiya, Ma-Mamiya

Earlier this year, specifically March, Brian and I were in San Luis Obispo (SLO) and stopped by Jim's Campus Camera shop where I spotted this Near Mint condition Mamiya 645 1000S.  Instead of picking it up, I opted for a $35 HOLGA, however; everytime I would go to SLO, I would pass by the shop and see if it was still there.


Finally in May, I bit the bullet and picked it up for the price of an Einstein 640WS strobe.  I shot a roll of 120 Film and was pleased with the results.

Let's see, the last two weekends I've had three photo sessions with newbies.  Part of the fun is that I get to test out new equipment, lighting styles, and poses.  The drawback is that the "models" aren't sure how to pose, which makes the session last longer.


The first session was with Brenda, who works with my eldest, which I didn't find out until after the shoot.  I invited both Brian and Robert to join me so they could play with some of my new light modifiers, specifically the Paul C. Buff strip boxes and also provide Brenda with an array of images.  During the shoot, I brought out my Mamiya and squeezed off a few frames.  I was using Kodak T-Max 100 ISO Black and White Film and wanted to see the image quality in studio.

I had Henley's develop the film and burn it to CD-ROM.  One of the biggest things I noticed was the dust on the burned images and with the image of Gaby, a haloing around her face, etc...  The lighting on Gaby was definitely different than on Brenda.  The lighting style used on Gaby was all gridded lights with barndoors, while Brenda was diffused lighting. However, I'm still not sure that would create that halo around Gaby.

This last shot is of Kirsti (below) was captured using the same camera and film, but with a f/2.8 110mm lens.  I exposed for the shadows, but again I'm not sure why it is so blocked up.  All readings were taken with my Sekonic L-358 Light meter.  However, I did have to replace the batteries after my shoot with Kristi.

I have another shoot coming up that I plan to shoot with my Mamiya again and see if I get better results.  Otherwise, I'll end up using my Rollei for all my Medium Format stuff and place the Mamiya on the shelf.
 
That's a Wrap!!!