Twin Lens Toys – Cameras on Loan
- At June 23, 2008
- By Neil Creek
- In Equipment
9
I’ve got a new, well old but new to me, toy to play with!
With the dominance of digital photography today, there’s a growing number of photographers going back to film, for various reasons. Whether it’s for the cool retro aspect, the artistic possibilities afforded by film, the features of film that digital has yet to replicate or the desire to return to basics without the help of auto-everything, film is making a comeback.
I’ve been inspired by some of my buddies such as Brian, the_wolf_brigade, and others, I asked my dad if I could borrow his old twin lens reflex camera. With great excitement, I picked up dad’s two cameras (a Yashica-Mat and a Rolleicord) the other day, and with a hint of pride, dad walked me through the features and controls.
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One of the things that excites me about trying this camera is that it takes medium format film. I’m used to shooting on a cropped sensor, approximately 24mm diagonal. These medium format cameras shoot on frames 64mm diagonal. That’s a huge image area, and on a fine grain film, the detail captured will be incredible.
All I need to do now is get some film, and start shooting! I can’t wait :) Look for the results of my experiments in the future, once I’ve shot, developed, printed and scanned the photos.
The setup
Today I thought I’d try a slightly different way of doing the photos. I saw a fantastic video on product lighting at ProPhotoLife, and remembered I had a small sheet of perspex lying around, so I decided to give it a go. I like this technique! It has some real potential. Here’s the setup shot:
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jerry
Looks like something to really have some fun with! Nice shots of it as well.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Sierra Koch
I hope you have lots of fun :)
the_wolf_brigade
Not only am I excited about the possibilities this will open up for you, but I *love* that lighting setup. Once I’ve mastered learning the aspects of film development, lighting setups are definitely high on my list of things to learn.
Chrissy Downunder
Gotta luv boys with new toys. I’m sure you will have hours of fun with this one.
This lighting effect is awesome too. I have no idea about such things yet as I’m still in the very initial stages of understanding the aspects and technicalities of photography so information such as this great.
Neil Creek
Thanks all, it’s definately gonna be fun :) Just gotta go track down some film at a decent price :)
@the_wolf_brigade Thanks! I’m pretty happy with the setup too :) The only concern I have with it is with the reflection. It’s not very clear, and due to the perspex there’s a double reflection. I want to get hold of a white and a black tile, for that very reason, but I think perspex is going to be useful for certain kinds of shots too.
@Chrissy I’m trying to include setup shots where I can so that others can see how I do the shots, so if they turn out well, and you like them, you can do the same. If you have the right gear of course, but it’s not that expensive for a couple of flashes and wireless remotes :)
Chrissy Downunder
I’m getting my new Canon soon (BIG SMILES) .. It has been a combined gift promised to me by all the most significant men in my life .. my man, my dad and my two boys (grown up and earning lots of money :) .. I have been waiting patiently for better equipment now for about 6 months .. I think they are planning to give it to me on my birthday in October .. Oh Man .. all I do is dream about it and getting ready. I’m learnign as much as I can before I get it in my hot little hands. A Canon EOS 400DCanon Digital kit :0
Thanks for the response Neil .. flashes and wireless remotes .. it’s all on my wish list.
Cheers
laanba
I am in the same position as you. I mainly shoot digital, but have experimented with film with my Holga and I love it. I just bought a Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim and am working on my first roll. I plan to run slide film through it too. There are so many possibilities.
I have to say that I think those are very photogenic cameras. Last time we had a photobloggers meetup here in Houston I kept taking pictures of one guys Rolleiflex. I think it is beautiful. :-)
Jim Talkington
Thanks for the link, Neil! Those twin lens cameras are a thing of beauty. And the quiet but powerful click of the shutter is way cool. Keep us updated on your 120 experience…
Neil Creek
@Chrissy You’ll love your first DSLR :) When you need help, make sure you come here!
@Iaanba I agree, TLRs are so beautiful. In a retro, technical way.
@Jim Thanks so much to you for your fantastic vodeos, I’m a big fan! They were a large part of the motivation for me to build my mini-studio. I promise to keep you updated about the studio and shooting film as long as you keep adding cool videos :))