I currently own two SLR cameras a Canon AE-1 and a Minolta 7000i. I'm interested in exploring medium format, but most options seem very expensive. I've seen advertizements for an inexpensive TLR Camera that looks like an old Kodak or a Rollei. Does anyone know how these perform? Is it worth spending the money (around $300) to try out medium format, or will the results just be discouraging?

-- Patrick Meehan] (meehan@localaccess.com), August 19, 2001

Answers

Every jump up in format size is both exciting and depressing. When the situation is right, it's very hard to beat a larger chrome..but there is always drawabacks to each size up also... in your case, ease of use, fancy features, interchangeable lenses, etc...

-- Bill Glickman (bglick@pclv.com), October 07, 2001.

I have one of those cameras, used it twice in two years. It has absolutely no value in anything but far away landscapes, is hard to focus because the screen is fuzzy, and after it was transported with a few other cameras the shutter got stuck. I sent it to the guy who fixes and cleans all my stuff and he said the parts are not even available to fix so once it gets stuck so are you. I would look in the paper for an older set someone is selling that isn't too much older but is a brand you might use again. You would have a better chance of it actually working, and options for lenses etc. Or take a class at your local community college.They always have old donated stuff you can check out and play with. That's what I ended up doing. The segull only cost me a little over a hundred bucks but it turned out to be and expensive paperweight!

-- Martha Goldsmith (jmngd@msn.com), August 13, 2002.

I recently made the jump to medium format (a couple months back). At first I saw no real value in it, though I got some really nice black and white proofs out of it. The first was an old Kodak Brownie Hawkeye, an old box camera that uses an obsolete 620 film size (120 fits nicely). Then recently I had the need to have a camera I could hold at waist level and didn't have my camera on me. Since then I've purchased an old Argus Seventy-Five which had a brighter and sharper viewscreen which I love dearly. I've only spent a whopping $14.00 for the two of them. Look around garage stores, or if you have a consignments store close buy, it's worth a look there. (That's where I purchased my Argus.) The camera was in excellent condition, the shutter works like a charm, and it only took me 10 minutes to clean it up. It takes a little while to get used to holding a camera at waist level, but once you have, you'll find situations where you'd really like to hold your camera there. I would say it's definitely worth trying out, and 120 film is not that expensive.

-- Liam Conrad (kf4tqs@mail.com), October 30, 2002.

Thanks for all the great responses. I did by a TLR (an Ikoflex) which takes great pictures. I don't use it as much as my SLR's, but I like it for portraits.

-- Patrick Meehan (meehan@localaccess.com), October 30, 2002.