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Anonymous
Lately, I've been thinking about getting into MF film photography. The mechanism (TLR/SLR/Rangefinder) isn't extremely important to me, and I need something cheap. A TLR, right?

The problem is this: I haven't seen any cheap TLRs that have a lens in the focal length range I want. I'll probably do mostly portraiture with it, along with some landscapes when I am traveling in an area more suitable for landscapes, but mostly portraits, and so I want a slight telephoto. The longest focal length I've seen a cheap TLR is 80mm, which I understand is a normal lens for MF. Any suggestions?

TL;DR does anyone know of any cheap MF camera that has attached or takes a telephoto lens?
>> Anonymous
A beautiful OM series olympus or MD/MC minolta at any camera shop's used section is cheap, rock-solid reliable and has hundreds of lenses out there, for cheap as well.

Fleabay is great for this stuff too. IMO (probably gonna start a flame war) TLRs are just too collector-ish and uncommon to be viable for general purpose photography and rangefinders are either too expensive or again, too limited by obscurity.
>> Anonymous
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How cheap is cheap? Since most pros adopted digital gear, the bottom has dropped out of the MF SLR market and stuff is cheaper then ever before. Especially stuff that doesn't have any collectors value.

From KEH, you could get a Pentax 645 body with insert and a 150mm f/3.5 lens for around $350.
>> Anonymous
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It depends on what you are willing to spend. I picked up a Mamiya M645 (with winder and 80mm lens) for about $350 two years ago. Granted, this particular M645 is about twenty years old, but the shutter timing is fine and it is in pretty good shape.

IMHO, I would go with a used Mamiya MF. Their AF cameras are very good, but you're going to pay a premium for them. Secondly, lenses can be somewhat expensive and it does bear to mention that medium format photography is an expensive thing with which to tangle.

Used demo equipment is it's at though, you get essentially brand new equipment on the cheap.

Both B&H and Adorama have reasonable prices, and you can usually find Mamiyas floating around in larger cities at better camera stores (read: not Ritz) with used departments. I've since purchased a 35mm wide-angle, and now pondering a 55-110 zoom.

There are el-cheapo Seagull and Holga medium format (including the disposable Lomos), but if you're after image quality and something you can stick with for a while they are to be avoided. They are a good place to start, but not a good place to stay.

Insofar as TLR bodies are concerned: I'd be hesitant to say that they're the sole domain of elitist collectors (people who purchase $7,500 Leicas in limited edition cases - I am looking at you) but they are somewhat rare.

Ultimately, it is going to come down to a function of how much you're willing to pay and what you're comfortable with.

Attached is a shot out of my Mamiya from about a year ago at Tokyo tower. Oddly enough, on the same type of film in your post.
>> Anonymous
No existing TLR has a particularly-not standard lens, except perhaps the Yashica ones that did take interchangeable lenses. I'm not sure if those were just screw on adapters or real lenses, so you might want to look those up.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>57363
Mamiya C220/C330 (and I think a few others) had an interchangeable lens system, including both wides and telephotos.

Expensive, though.
>> Anonymous
Thanks to everyone who responded.

>>57226
>OM series olympus
I thought the OM series was 35mm.

>MD/MC minolta
I'll look into this.

>TLRs are just too collector-ish and uncommon to be viable for general purpose photography
I was hoping there was a TLR, partially for the look of them.

As far as uncommon making it unviable for photography, I here there's this small company called Leica that turns out very few cameras a year...

>>57229
>How cheap is cheap
As cheap as possible while not being a Holga, to be honest.

>a Pentax 645 body with insert and a 150mm f/3.5 lens for around $350.
Sounds good, if a little more than what I'd like; I was hoping for a 6x6 format camera, though. I foud myself giving a lot of things a square or square-ish crop; that's what first got me thinking about MF.

>>57237
I'll look into the Mamiyas; manual focusing isn't a problem for me: I do it on probably about 90% of shots I take.

>Oddly enough, on the same type of film shown at the top of the Wikipedia article on medium format film.
Fix'd.

>>57363
I'll try to find those Yashica ones, unless I find out that the glass is bad, which is probably true if they're adapters.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>57373
Olympus OM and Minolta manual (MD/MC-mount) are 35mm. I don't know what that guy was talking about. Maybe he thinks 35mm is "medium format" because there's things like 110 in the world...
>> Anonymous
>>57376
>>57373

Sorry, I read MF and thought "manual focus", not "medium format"

Disregard my post
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>57381
Ahhh. That'd do it, yeah. Honest mistake.
>> Anonymous
lolz @ 620 spool in OP
>> bw !ef8V18P/FY
Seconding KEH. There's no reason to go anywhere else for used gear. They cheap, they're friendly, they don't sell junk and they know what they're talking about when you ask a technical question.

>>57368
Ditto. I can't think of any other TLR with interchangeable lenses. I'm sure some other companies tried in the TLR heydays, but I don't hold much hope for finding working bodies and lenses after so many years.

>>57223
A Pentax 645 or a Bronica ETR (both are SLRs) is about the least expensive interchangeable-lens MF system I can think of. Pentax seems close to abandoning their planned digital 645 body, so the prices of 645 lenses could be coming down in the coming months. Bronica is already a dead system, so prices are unlikely to change much.

If you're looking for CHEAP cheap MF, a 6x9 folder is another choice. You can get them off ebay for about $20 or so. They're hard to use, don't have very good lenses, and give mediocre results even when used properly, so you're really getting what you pay for. They do make great props in portraits, though.
>> A non e moose
picturs iz fun
>> Anonymous
>>57373I was hoping for a 6x6 format camera, though.

If you want 6x6, you probably don't want to look at Mamiya SLRs either. They only made TLRs and Rangefinders (which are still fairly expensive) in 6x6.

Your best bet for a cheap 6x6 SLR will probably be a Bronica SQ-A. I priced out a kit with 120 back and 150mm f/3.5 for around $300 from Keh.

There are a fair amount of options for other 6x6 SLRs, but most are going to be more expensive and/or much harder to find accessories for.

If you're really adventureous you might consider a Kiev. They take great pictures if you get one that works, but that's the hard part. I've owned a couple and really liked them.