The Ultimate Medium Format Budget Camera

This video is a follow up on my previous one in which I showed you how to use this wonderful 6x6 medium format camera! Be sure to check that out after you see what you can capture with this wonderful little beast!

How practical is this camera as a handheld beauty? Let's analyze some photographs that I have taken with various film stocks to find out.

My first ever attempt shooting in the street as you can see gave some immediate feedback which for anyone new to this might be off putting.

Fear not, not all first attempts strike gold and with practice you will become a pro using this camera.

It is a leaf shutter but even the slightest movements by depressing the shutter will have an impact on the final image. You can see this shot taken in the street. You can get around this issue by not using the shutter release at the top of the camera and instead using the leaf shutter release from below the lens. The absolute best way to capture tack sharp images is to place it on a tripod. It will need 3/8" tripod threads, you can find these quite easily on ebay or a good photography store.

Nevertheless if you are going for a real vintage vibe with no strings attached you can absolutely shoot away like this and capture some classic and authentic looking images. If you’re shooting landscapes, no one will know when it was taken for sure.

5 reasons to shoot with the Zeiss Ikon Nettar

1. It is light and elegant camera which is highly portable. The silver frame is sturdy and will stand the test of time. If well looked after it should last you a lifetime.

2. The camera will force you to think carefully about what you are shooting so you become far more careful and meticulous about what you shoot. You will enjoy the process, through which you will learn how distance, shutter and apertures work in tandem with each other.

3. Compositionally, you will carefully frame all your shots which over time will result in highly personalized work and hone your creative style.

4. The large 6x6 Medium Format Negatives will give you high density detail. This is particularly important if you want to sell prints of your work. The negatives will last a lifetime depending on how well they are kept, and you can always scan and rescan to whatever size you wish.
5. It is probably the cheapest way to medium format. You can fetch one of these cameras online for about £30 and you’re set. At the cheaper end, you can grab a roll of film for about £3.50-£4.

The camera will help you capture some highly nostalgic shots in black and white. So if you’re looking for a classic look this will be a great camera to start with

If you enjoy analogue photography and want to try out Medium Format before leaping into it fully, this is a cost-effective way to do so. When searching for your own Zeiss Ikon Nettar, make sure you buy a camera with excellent bellows and a lens which has been well looked after.

These two things are the most important when investing in such a camera otherwise you may end up with disappointing results. Simply ask the person you are buying the camera from how it has been kept.

If possible, go and see the camera before purchasing it or alternatively go to a film photography store where you may be able to pick up a well serviced and looked-after one.

All in all, this is a fun and classic camera. If you can shoot with this camera, you can shoot with any camera.

Overall, this is a fantastic camera to work with. If you dream to work with a 6x6 Hasselblad or even a Rolleiflex which will cost you thousands of dollars, pounds or euros this is an incredible investment.

As the great Peter Lindberg once said ‘ Many photographers are fetishists. They're always talking about the camera and not the pictures. I have an old nikon. It's perfect. Don't worry. It's not about the camera.

You can pick up a roughed up Zeiss Ikon 6x6 for as little as £15 which personally I would avoid or as much as £50 for an overpriced one. You can find one which has been well kept somewhere in between those two figures.

If you have shot with Zeiss Ikon Nettar, thinking about it or have film photography gems to share then let me know in the comments below, punch the subscribe button.

Every Street Fashion Shoot I Am Improving With My Rangefinder

After a first set of good results with my Fuji GSWiii, from the shoot with Anna, I organised a group shoot with Luise back in Central London.

I hadn’t seen these togs for quite some time so it was a great opportunity to catch up and enjoy some photography together.

I chose to shoot some Ektachrome and Kodak Gold in today's outing and we started off outside Bank.

When I turned up, I found a commercial shoot going on which looked pretty intense and another tog with her makeup artist taking shots on the steps.

Luckily the commercial group were wrapping up and they were on their way out. Perfect time for us to swoop in and start taking shots!

With only 8 frames to each roll of film, the 6 by 9 film size is incredible to view, especially on colour positive film.

I was confident that Ektachrome would perform well today given the lighting conditions. There would not be a need for off camera flash today.

How to Shoot with Rangefinders in Bright Sunny Conditions

First shot, super overexposed, unfortunately something to carefully consider for next time. In the broad strong sunlight perhaps underexposing by a stop or two may help to resolve this issue.

The second shot performed better although there appears to be a blue tinny cast to the image. I’m not exactly sure why this is. If you know or have a hypothesis I would love to hear it in the comments below.

The sunlight was exceptionally strong today and at times difficult to keep your eyes open without some sunnies on.

In this shot, I asked Luise to close her eyes and imagine something longingly while resting on the stairs.

The whites have come out brilliantly white and probably has been compounded by the whitish reflection off the stairs too.

Key takeaway here is to avoid bright white clothing in bright sunny daylight conditions!

A momentary shade and this image was captured spot on. I like the way Luise is looking down the barrel of the camera but also how arms and legs are creating triangular shapes which adds to the compositional balance of this image!

It’s also good to see the highlights not being blown out and the colours in this frame have come out remarkably accurately!

How to Posing Tall Subjects and why your positioning and lens choice matters

A quick side note here, be careful when posing tall subjects. Shooting from a low angle will accentuate the profile of your subject whereas shooting from a higher angle will exaggerate the torso and shorten the legs.

If your focus is on the head and chest of the subject then shooting from above would be recommended but for full length shots this should be avoided. This is mainly because your shot will compress the subject’s profile creating unflattering results.

To get the best results, use an appropriate lens which flatters the subject. In my case, I was working with a fixed 65mm lens, which is equivalent to a 28mm lens on a 35mm camera.

That is a relatively wide angle lens. Perfect for street photography but one to carefully use if shooting portraits.

Ultimately, a great pose is captured in camera with the combination of the right camera angle, body position, and focal length!

Got Luise to lay back for the next shot and you can see immediately the sun was back out in full force. Slide film scanning is proving to be quite a challenge, but with practice this will improve further.

We finished off at the steps with this shot. A reflector or an translucent umbrella would have helped reduce the amount of light falling on Luise but I like the pose again as is, the use of triangles but also the columns in the background accentuating the height or sense of scale in the image.

We decided to move away from the stairs and took some on this bench. This image has come out almost tack sharp and the image looks fantastic on this slide.

Working with large rangefinders can be tricky, however, you may have noticed the image has been a bit cropped off at the bottom.

To avoid such errors with these cameras give yourself a little bit more space within the frame in your visor. The more you shoot with this camera or similar ones, the more skilled you will become. It’s all about continually mastering your craft!

A follow up shot with Luise sat down looking into the distance. Again the colour reproduction here is absolutely spot on with the general tones of the outfit and setting creating a fitting vibe.

We changed it up a little again trying to get some more shade going down into the underground however, it was a little tricky here and whilst the colour reproduction was good I was working on f5.6 with shutter speed of 1/30sec which has added a little motion blur to the image.

The final shot was taken with Luise resting her arm on the railing, a slight miscalculation of the distance has given this image a bit of a defocused look.

I found Kodak Gold 120 to be very reliable

I switched up to shoot some Kodak Gold, colour negative film, which tends to be a little more forgiving. Be sure to check out my previous videos on Kodak Gold.

I have found it to be very reliable and brought some along as a substitute just in case I had completely blown the first set on Ektachrome

Luise was a superstar and switched up her outfits in no time. We got to shoot with her in this bold yellow outfit which was spot on!

I really like this image of Luise standing in the middle of the road. Don’t be deceived by the white lines, that is the bike lane in this extremely narrow road.

It was a case of darting in and out to shoot here but we got the shot! Don’t do this unless you have someone watching your back! Thank you Marcus!

Next time, I would move in much closer because the focus of the image is Luise and not the surroundings.

Moved back to the tiny sidewalk and took this full body portrait. Kodak Gold does have a tendency to leave this warmer tone, which in this case added to a late afternoon feel.

With time pressing, I took these two quick shots again focusing on full body composition and then moving in for a closer shot before finishing off with a relaxed pose on the wall.

How to setup your rangefinder to get the best images every time

Overall, this was the second time out shooting fashion with my Fuji GSWiii. Biggest learning from this shoot was that I needed to carefully consider the settings in strong sunlight.

Even with light metering you will need to carefully consider the type of film you are shooting with. Moving into a little more shaded location would perhaps have resulted in more reliable outcomes on this slide film.

I am sure you have lots of your own photos, how often do you spend reviewing them? You have seen that I make lots of mistakes too but the key here is to go back and reflect on your work.

By doing this, you will be able to make those incremental improvements.

With time, your images will become even better, so when you come back to look at your first photographic work, you’ll look back to see how far you have come!

If you are new to shooting with the Fuji GSWiii or similar cameras then it takes some practice to get your distances spot on too. It can be a little tricky using the rangefinder to focus accurately.

Try not to put too much pressure on yourself with time limitations. This is so you can be more considerate with your actual distances between you and your subject. Therefore making sure you get the sharpest image possible every time.

This particular Fuji comes with a fixed 65mm lens and if you enjoy shooting street photography it could be a fun companion with its 28mm, 35mm camera equivalent lens. I’m curious how an actual Leica would feel like shooting with, perhaps one day!

Although primarily known for landscape photography, the Fuji GSWiii has the potential to give photographers new creative opportunities in portrait photography.

I think in future shoots I’m going to try and get in more closer shots to see how the image reproduces.

Overall, once again I feel the closer I was shooting to Luise, the richer the details in each of the frames. Next time, avoid bare sunlight too!

With more shoots I will slowly find my preference, Let’s see where this takes me next!

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How Do Portra And Fuji 160 Compare On Medium Format

I shot both Portra 160 against Fuji 160 with my wonderful Bronica Zenza ETRS 6by45 camera. I shot with the 75mm f2.8 lens on location in Central London.

Making comparisons with this camera is relatively straightforward because it has an interchangeable back. All you have to do is pop the dark slide back in, unhook it from the camera and voila you can transfer your other back and shoot away to your heart's content. This gave me the ability to make as close to a fair comparison as possible between the film stocks.

Portra 160 is one of the most, if not, the most popular portrait and fashion film stock. With its very fine grain, high saturation and low contrast it captures life like images of subjects, models, family whoever they may be - especially in medium format.

Fujicolor Pro was a line of professional color negative films from the Japanese company Fujifilm introduced in 2004 for weddings, portraits, fashion and commercial photography. It originally comprised four emulsions: Pro 160S, Pro 160C, Pro 400H and Pro 800Z. Pro 160C, Pro 400H and Pro800 Z have all been discontinued. Its main competitor was Kodak Portra.

I am comparing these film stocks to see the differences in colour, saturation. In terms of pricing in the UK both film stocks retail from about £14-15 a roll upwards so not much happening on that front but this may help you when considering your next colour negative film shoot!

From my experience with both 400 film stocks, I know that the Fuji Colour films tend to be more saturated in colour whereas Portra tends to have a cooler palette. The differences between the film stock arose due to the geography of their respective countries. The original film stocks were developed with the local population in mind and as such this has affected how skintones from different countries are rendered.

Every shot was taken on the same shutter speed, aperture and I even tried to keep framing and posing as identical and humanly possible throughout the shoot. Perhaps you could argue changing light between shots but the time taken to swap film backs was negligible. I was really trying to get the most consistent results possible.

As you can see from the shots generally the colors are different and as mentioned the Fuji generally has greater saturation and what appears to be a warmer tone. However this is not always the case. Take this shot of Charlotte standing, the warmer tones were from the Portra and the Fuji gave much cooler saturation. Both film stocks have fine film grain and unless you are really zooming in far you’re not going to see the grain.

Make sure that when you are shooting with it you use a dedicated light meter. Two main reasons, one you have paid £15 a roll for it and you better get your money's worth and secondly you need to be careful particularly in lower light conditions and carefully meter for the shadows. This will have an impact on the rendition of your image and particularly when shooting with film you need to make sure that the shadows are carefully highlighted so if you need to you can bring that back in post!

My favourite shot from the film stocks was the one with Charlotte looking just slightly over her shoulder in the direction of the camera while slightly perched on the wall. Also the image of her learning into the camera was pretty cool. The other shots were great too, like the one with her messy across her face as well the power stance near the end.

This was a fun afternoon out shooting with Portra 160 and Fuji 160 on medium format. Have you shot with the Bronica Zenza ETRS or similar 6by45 camera?

Thank you for watching all my videos, do go ahead and comment below. I would love to hear your thoughts on this shoot, the images, how you have shot with either of these film stocks? which are your likes and dislikes about them? What do you recommend I shoot next with it?

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