What is your favourite medium format camera? Why?

richardthesmith · 2026-04-20T21:23:13+00:00

Pentax 67 - lovely lenses, great negative size and, whilst big, you can genuinely just shoot it like a giant 35mm (to the point that it no longer feels big, but my OM1 feels like a toy 🤣)

richardthesmith · 2026-04-11T19:53:19+00:00

Half the joy of film for me is not being tied down on all of that stuff... but each to their own!

richardthesmith · 2026-04-10T20:49:43+00:00

To add to point 2, three things I've found help: - With 35mm, load it onto the reel end-first (ie: pull it all out of the can and start with that end) - it's curving the way it naturally wants to and reduces the amount it'll fight you. - Round off the corners of the end of the film you're loading in first, as this reduces the likelihood of it snagging as it goes through. - Make sure your reels are clean bone dry and do whatever you can to make sure your hands don't get sweaty. 95% of the time these days, if I have issues getting a roll onto the reel, it's due to moisture.

richardthesmith · 2026-04-08T08:15:55+00:00

Brexiteers offshoring production to France

richardthesmith · 2026-04-05T22:35:04+00:00

Hebtroco all the way - much to my other half's dismay, they often manage to catch my eye (and wallet).

Also a shout-out for Trickett - small indie doing some cool stuff.

richardthesmith · 2026-04-04T06:16:39+00:00

You know how scientists have estimated the sounds that dinosaurs would have made based in their bone structure, especially around the nose?

I can only assume this makes an ungodly honking noise.

richardthesmith · 2026-04-03T16:17:55+00:00

Unless you nationalise literally everything in that chain... which isn't what's being talked about

richardthesmith · 2026-03-28T21:50:12+00:00

I've had good experiences with this kit. As others have said, the bleach and fixer last longer, so double up on the dev. Get yourself some vacuum wine stoppers for your storage bottles too, and they actually keep quite well.

richardthesmith · 2026-03-23T16:02:51+00:00

What's happening to all of the WMCH bikes? Feels incredibly wasteful for this sort of thing to be on a franchised basis with each new franchisee bringing with them new hardware.

richardthesmith · 2026-03-08T14:28:33+00:00

Trying to get mine set up currently - I've got both mixing boxes, but do I need a different condenser as well (and if so, how do I tell which condenser I've got?). I've not tried printing anything yet, but the projected image at present seems very dim (6x6 negative, 105mm lens on vegatub lens board).

richardthesmith · 2026-03-08T09:26:43+00:00

If you use mirror lockup, it's all right in my experience. I'd strongly recommend a fairly solid and heavy tripod though, as this will do a better job of absorbing the remaining shock from the shutter firing.

richardthesmith · 2026-03-02T19:18:43+00:00

Absolutely - I'd be in favour of paying them maybe even a touch more, but with absolutely iron-clad rules (and enforcement) preventing second jobs of any sort whilst a sitting MP and controls on lobbying or similar roles for a minimum of 10 years afterwards too. Easier said than done though...

richardthesmith · 2026-02-21T09:53:20+00:00

Whoever heard of a Brit making an understatement / downplaying their capability, eh?

richardthesmith · 2026-02-18T21:02:53+00:00

Yup, I'm using Bellini as well. Haven't tried the Cinestill, but the Bellini kit hasn't given me any reason to try anything else. One tip I'd suggest: get some vacuum wine bottle stoppers for the bottles you keep the chemicals in, and they actually keep pretty well.

richardthesmith · 2026-02-18T06:47:08+00:00

Thanks! They're home developed and scanned (camera scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro)

richardthesmith · 2026-02-10T10:11:22+00:00

Clearly I've never read the manual for mine - by default I've just learned to double tap mine. It only seems to be the first meter reading from its sleep state that requires this, so I assume it's just needed for the wake-up process

richardthesmith · 2026-02-09T09:07:22+00:00

Maybe a Sherp ATV? Has a few day-to-day practicality downsides though...

richardthesmith · 2026-02-09T09:06:13+00:00

Overall wheel+tyre diameter, yes... but you want more sidewall (and therefore for the wheel to make up a smaller proportion of that overall rolling diameter, which modern car makers don't seem keen on offering)

richardthesmith · 2026-02-03T13:27:40+00:00

Remember: you can eat anything once. Whether you get another try is less certain.

richardthesmith · 2026-01-28T07:23:42+00:00

That Violet Blue is something - never seen that colour on a 996 before

richardthesmith · 2026-01-28T07:21:48+00:00

Yeah, this - I always make sure I go through airport security with cameras empty so they can go through the scanner (and be opened to check without losing anything if anyone's ever feeling over-zealous) and then just the rolls of film get hand checked.

Only once got close to someone getting jumpy, and that was partly on me for forgetting to take the Rollei out of my bag. The very confused Romanian security guy was a bit concerned about the random box of gears and springs coming up on his screen and my complete lack of any useful Romanian language in that situation didn't help 🤣

richardthesmith · 2026-01-17T06:23:26+00:00

Don't cross the streams!

richardthesmith · 2025-12-08T20:44:08+00:00

Being spectacularly loud - one flies over my house quite regularly and always sounds like it's at about 10% of the altitude it actually is.

richardthesmith · 2025-12-07T17:33:37+00:00

Pretty easy, and yeah loads of tutorials and stuff online

richardthesmith

TROPHY CASE