Just Me And The Crows

 

Morning folks - my initial title for this blog post was "R.Z. Smells", paraphrasing that old schoolboy book/author joke ("Young Person's Guide to Flatulence" by R.C. Smells) - it just seemed the right thing to do. But I eventually settled on the above which seemed more in keeping.

Actually, the RZ in question is a loaner, a Mamiya RZ - the earliest one. 

It is a genuinely lovely MF camera. 

Sure, it weighs more than 2 galaxies and is bulikier than the Bizmark, but it is surprisingly easy to use and if treated with a bit of time and respect, produces some excellent negatives.

This one nests in in a massive Peli case, with the 65mm, 100mm and 180mm lenses; three backs; auto prism finder; lens hood; two extension tubes and a spare WLF. 

The case full of gear weighs a ton, but you could probably park a baby elephant on it with no problems.

I redid all the seals in the backs as a favour for a friend, so I have been using it with confidence.

I've taken it out for a few trips recently and have found it best to work with it carried in a backpack and then firmly mounted on a tripod. 

The integrity of the lenses is such that you could easily use it handheld at wide apertures, but I'm a landscape sort of bloke and a camera like this works best for me on a tripod.

Initially I found the two cable release system (one for MLU [and on the lens barrel] and one for the shutter [in the standard place]) to be a pain in the articles, but once I was used to it, it was fine and in fact the lovely electronic shutter is a pleasure to both hear and use. 

The mirror is very good too - nicely damped and quite quiet - certainly nothing like my old Pentax 67, which was like trying to photograph using a violently struggling puppy.

This is the third 6x7 camera I have had a go with - the others (Pentax 67 and Koni Omega) gave excellent results, but were nothing like as satisfying (or easy) to use. 

I've also found the 65mm lens to be a very good match to the proportions of the 6x7 frame.

The film backs are wonderful - thoughtfully designed and simple to use.

Someone has obviously thought long and hard about this camera and its users and as such it is a thoroughly professional piece of design - I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

If you are in the market for a MF camera, I would say give it a go - it is a fine machine.

It was a semi-miserable morning when I parked up at a local Historic Scotland site (which I had been to before) and acted like a right yob, in scaling the lowish fence surrounding the whole building. Obviously the fence is there to discourage people like myself bopping about inside and causing trouble, but I am usually careful in such circumstances and am painfully aware of loose stonework. 

There's been a lot of tarting up done inside to what is a ruined abbey, including a fairly impressive oak bracing system for the 13th Century stonework. 

Massive growths of deep and unruly vegetation have been hacked back and sprayed, but despite this, there's still an atmosphere to it. 

One can put oneself back to the time when it was whole and intact. 

The light must have been awe-inspiring and reverential all at the same time. 

As Frederick Evans discovered with cathedrals, tall windows and holy airs make for wonder, peace and a contemplation of the great beyond.

It was lovely to be in such a place with zero visitors or even passers-by. Just me and the crows.

The photos aren't great and I put that down to me struggling to see quite what was going on - the 65mm is a f4 and it is a hell of a lot darker to view things through the VF than you would think. 

Allied to this, with just a general rangefinder spot on this particular screen, focusing and composition were challenging, not to say bloody dark in interiors (even with using a big torch to illuminate focus points.) 

Next time I take it out I am going to clearly demarcate the edges of the frame with masking tape on the VF.

There's also the dread converging verticals, but again, operating on a tripod at waist-height with a 65mm lens, what did I really expect. 

The thing is, I know that if I'd used the Superwide, things would have been very different. 

It probably really is the ideal camera for all things architectural - no focus to worry about, just judge it and then stop down a bit. The torpedo finder can get you into a very close approximation of the actual scene and is easier to use than a traditional VF. The bubble keeps you right, and the lens has little or no distortion - quite remarkable when you think about it.

I tihnk I might go back with it.

Anyway, the film was FP4+ rated at EI80. I developed it for my now standard time of 9 mins and 30 secs in 1+75 Fomadon R09 - as a combination they work very well together. The 1+75 dilution gives a very nice balance between sharpness and compensation - some of these exposures were between 4 and 60 seconds - as you can see there's little blow-out.

Anyway, without further ado, here's a few.

These are all scans from the prints made on  Ilford MG Fibre. 
After a long time of farting around, I have decided to standardise on it - why waste more time trying other options when it is pretty much the only reliable (and constantly AVAILABLE) option in fibre over here anyway.

They've all been archivally processed and selenium-toned . . none of your Ai stuff around here - the bot can't get down the step into the darkroom anyway.

They're printed quite somberly, such has been my mood recently with friends and relations dropping off their perches with a sad regularity.

Having seen so much stuff just skipped - both goods and chattles and artistic endeavours, one almost begins to wonder what the point in any creative pursuit is. 

It's even made me question keeping on with this 'ere blog, simply because (I wonder to myself) who the feck can be bothered reading - I've actually lost two subscribers in recent months which wounds like a dagger in the heart.

We shall see what the New Year brings - I almost feel like I have run out of things to say (gasp!). 

You never know though.

Anyway, the Mamiya RZ - in the words of Jam Kalawinski (you need to adopt a heavy Bolton accent to say this) "Very Nice!"

Christmas is a comin' up fast, so this is it for another year.

Take care, have a wonderfully festive time.

TTFN

H xx