My fave format/gear was Mamiya 645. It handled like a 35mm but loads more image area and is A4 without cropping
I prefered it to the 6 x 6 of Hasselblad, which was the default medium format in almost every studio in London and, having bought one with standard 80mm lens, I could never afford to buy any others! Rented them.
I had a dinky 5" x 4" field camera - a Wista. Cherry wood and brass, a Japanese copy of a Gandolfi field camera.
Folds up flat the size of the average hard back novel.
I got it in an attempt to take pictures very, very slowly. Now, of course, one can rattle away taking dozens at a time, tho’ I don’t. I still shoot as if I am aying for every frame.
I have to see a photo, and that usually happens as I walk past a situation. If I stop, set up a tripod, carefully compose, expose etc the photo is usually technically tolerable but generally very dull. While there are exceptions where spontaneity is quite un-necessary they are relatively rare. A 5X4 or even better 10X8 camera would be lovely, but I’d probably just waste a lot of money in materials and end up with some beautifully detailed and very boring pictures.
I’ve only once seen a DH Hawkmoth close enough to definitely see the “skull”…
we’d seen one or two of these big-boys fluttering and were thrilled to absolutely confirm just what they were…
not seen any this year… but it’s been a strange year…
We’ve had torrential rain the last few days, on and off, and it’s stripped quite a lot of the best leaves from the trees, however there’s still some colour. We managed to get to Blenheim this afternoon between showers.
