Hi, lately I have been dispointed from the results of my 35 gear, so I got an old bronica etr to try and see but I think its not such a big Diference, so I think I might want 67. My current photo style is street shotting, handheld. My concern Regards how handholdable is this camera, I read alot of info about this but I cant get to a conclution, I know a photographer who does fashion with it and a 200 mounted on it. and he told me thats ok.... I will use it with the standart lens (105) maybe a 200 and a 55. how is this kit usable on street? and w/o any tripod/monopod?

if the camera is not fixed on anything the mirror and shutter slap still afect? how much?

Thank you all in advance.

D.

-- D.K. (heuristica@mailcity.com), August 04, 2000

Answers

The P 67 is very hand holdable and I wouldn't worry about the mirror or shutter affecting your work. I have shot the 150mm Super Takumar at 1/30 sec and lost only a small percentage of shots. The 300 can easily be shot at 1/125 sec. One thing to remember about 6x7 is that your DOF will be limited and compared with 35mm format, you will need faster film, unless the lighting is very bright. For my street shooting, I use mostly my 300mm, but I shoot people and I don't know what you are trying to show.

-- Steve Rasmussen (srasmuss@flash.net), August 05, 2000.

First let me congratulate you since handholding a 150mm at 1/30, is hard at any format. Thanks for the info. I shoot anything that may go on a street, and my favorite lens is a 100 2.8 that is mounted on my camera almost 80% of the time. Regarding DOF, I have been using an old kowa for more than a year, and although I love the square I end up cutting to rectangular. so now I picked up a this bronica etr to see if 645 Is enopugh, if not P67 is my thing.

Diego

-- D.K. (heuristica@mailcity.com), August 05, 2000.

I took hand held shots last spring in Paris and only about 5 in 60 shots were not sharp. Understand that I shoot almost exclusively with a 55mm lens so camera shake effects are not as pronounced. I also make sure to shoot at speeds above 1/125 sec (if below, I use my tripod which goes with me everywhere). I do use the mirror lock-up even when handholding when I am shooting a scene that does not have a "fleeting moment" in it. Just remember that the MLU does drain the battery, so once you commit, there is no going back without tripping the shutter. (I also use TMAX 100 exclusively.)

I, too, am a 35mm shooter. For a street shooter of people, I think the format is fine. In fact, the grain and blockiness is sometimes more favorable for portraits of people in their environment (but this is purely a matter of opinion, of course.) The one HUGE benefit to using my LX over my 67 is weight and ease of use (which means exposure accuracy without having to miss the shot thinking about it.)

If you want the MOST handholdable 6x7, consider the Fuji rangefinders or the Mamiya rangefinders. I have only used the Fuji 6x7 with a 90mm lens (fixed). It is a good camera, but I prefer composing with an SLR.

Lastly, consider the 135 macro lens if yu decided to invest in the Pentax 67 system.

-- Deron (dchang@choate.edu), August 06, 2000.

Don't worry about mirror induced vibration. If you will shoot handheld then the main source of vibration will be your hands. Also if you try a P67 to see how the mirror behaves remember that most of the "slap" that many people object to occurs when the mirror drops not when it flips up (try it using mirror lock). When the mirror drops the exposure is over and this "slap" has no affect other than to scare your subject. The camera probably has some dampening when it flips up but not down. I shoot handheld all the time and am very pleased with exposures all the way down to 1/30th of a second (I have a very steady hand and have always thought that the limit to sharpness when shooting handheld is hand steadiness). Also I think the bigger limitation is the weight of the beast. Even if you have a death grip you will not be able to hold the camera single handed continuously for more than 15 minutes (forget the P67 and buy the P67II, its much more handholdable). You will hear many people claiming that the P67 is not suitable for handheld but most people just have too high expectations. Remember that 6x7 SLR cameras are big, the shutter and mirror are 4x the area of 35mm so there will definitely be more vibrations regardless of what camera you use. I find that a good compromise is to use faster film. You will still see picture improvements over 35mm. The other alternative is a rangefinder or an old TLR but I suspect that you crave the SLR flexibility otherwise you wouldn't even consider a P67 for handheld shooting (nobody does just street shooting). If you have reasonable expectations then the P67 is fine.

-- Milton Barrocas (mbarroca@americasm01.nt.com), August 07, 2000.

I second that kudo for getting sharp exposures at 1/30th handheld, Steve. Your technique must be flawless. I'll dip down to 1/90th with the 165mm, but I really try to keep it at 1/125th and faster.

Speaking of speeds and candid shooting, I'm surprised at how often I bump into the 1/1000th shutter speed limit. If I load film fast enough to work in outdoor shadows, I can easily find myself locked out of the faster stops when I shift into sunlight. If you want to isolate your subject with shallow DOF, it's a real limitation. OTOH, it's an interesting way to force yourself to compose for all elements in the viewfinder.

I'm learning B&W darkroom technique currently and, so far, the only time I've really felt limited in printing by film grain was with Delta 3200 pulled a stop. What I see under the enlarger is softness due to motion blur from using too slow a film. The 6X7 negative gives you a lot of headroom for enlargement before grain becomes an issue, so you should really use it. If you're working with shutter speeds in the 1/ 250th-1/500th range, you can shoot one-handed and not have to worry about motion blur.

-- Bill Baker (wab@well.com), August 09, 2000.