AESPA 240908 The Fact Music Awards Red Carpet

My journey into 120 medium format photography.

I started with the Lubitel 166B, which has been a real conversation starter. But...I soon realized that wlf are not my thing.

So I moved up to the Asahi Pentax 6x7 with a 75mm f4.5 and a 200mm f4. A much easier and fun camera to use. The experience has been awesome.

Then I upgraded to the Mamiya RB67 Pro S with a 90mm f3.8 and a 100-200mm f5.2 W. The camera is wonderful to work with with the bellows focusing. However the camera is quite heavy. With the 90mm lens the camera is 7lbs! With the 100-200mm lens...the camera is more than 10lbs! But I really love the rotating back of the camera and the superior quality of photographs the camera creates. Plus the filmbacks can be removed midroll to switch film stocks. Which is a wonderful bonus! It is my favorite camera out of all the cameras i have ever used.

Finally I added the Mamiya 645 Super with a 55-110mm f4.5 and a 75-150mm f4.5. With both lenses being f4.5 it is a nice touch. The photographs produced by the 645 Super are a little smaller than the photographs produced by the RB67 Pro S but are still of superior quality. Plus like with the RB67 Pro S the filmbacks can be removed midroll to switch film stocks. Absolutely wonderful. Next I want to get an RZ67 Pro with an AE prism finder.

The Last of The Breed

Vandoren has discontinued production of their classic Austrian and German clarinet reeds. It's a real shame because I have used these reeds exclusively since 1996.

I have these sealed boxes of #5 reeds. I will keep them as collectors item, seeing as how they are no longer being produced. I will try the Peter Leuthner Professional #5 suggested by Wenzel Fuchs or the Pilgerstorfer Concerto #4 suggested by Andreas Ottensamer.

MAMIYA RB67 PRO S - REVIEW

For the last few months I have been shooting with the RB67 or as I fondly refer to it ‘The Beast’.

As the name suggets the camera shoots 6x7 negatives on 120mm film has a rotating back to make it easier to swap between portrait and landscape shots and is focussed by bellows meaning you can shoot extremely close to your subject.

The camera is toally modular, the shutter is in the lens and the body has to be cocked seperate to the film wind on. The ground glass waist level finder is super bright and makes focus easy.

You can find all of the specs elsewhere online “but whats it really like to shoot?” I hear you ask…..

Like most things sexy… and this is one sexy camera…. performs best when you take your time!

I find that with a good strap its not too bad carrying it around across your shoulder, swinging it under your arm when you want to shoot (rifle style)

Remember to take the dark slide out at the same time as you take the lens cap off otherwise you will look like a d*”k when you have spent ages composing and focusing only for the bloody thing not to fire.

I found that I generally focused, framed, then fine focused with the magnifyer then shot.

Some people say this camera is to hand hold and that a tripod is a must. I call those people pussys. I have shot this camera at 1/30 and got nice sharp results. A strap and a beer belly to rest it on is all you need :)

PRICE - £400 to £800

IMAGE QUALITY - 5* scans are great, beutiful soft focus areas, scans are as good as most digital sensors and you get that lovely film quality.

RELIABILITY - 4*

Follow me on Instagram for more sampel images: @Dodge_N_Burn

Thank You for Voting!

We have had a challenging year so far, and this election season was far from a reprieve. We thank you for sticking with us and want to take this time to celebrate yet another hurdle that we have conquered together. This year, voting looked very different for many. We may not have visited the polls on Election day as we’ve done in the past, but we still voted — TOGETHER!

Ready for the Philippines 🇵🇭

Practicing contemporary music for the Viennese clarinet. Very excited to do upcoming work and take the Viennese clarinet to greater levels!

My clarinet d'amore came in the mail yesterday 😊. It came very early before my birthday, my daughter's birthday and my wife's birthday 🎉🎊🎂🥳🎂🎊🎉