Why I love Mamiya C220?
I absolutely love my Mamiya C220 medium format film camera. This camera was made between 1968 and 1982 and still takes professional quality images almost a half century later. Now that is amazing! The fact that the camera is still relevant is a testament to the survivability and pervasiveness of medium format film and film cameras in general. The Mamiya C220 is a twin lens reflex (TLR) type of camera that takes interchangeable lenses. The C220f is the next generation of this camera and was manufactured from 1982 to 1995. I bought my C220 with a 55mm lens because of quality of the optics and it is suited for my type of wide angle photography. I also love this lens because I can focus as close as 9″ which affords me some incredible angles and perspectives not normally possible. If you want to try medium format film then this is an inexpensive way to explore this medium. On a side note the black lenses are newer than the chrome ones in case you are interested.
Top 3 Reasons Why I Love the Mamiya C220 TLR
- The C220 may be from the 1960′s, but it still produces professional quality prints nearly 50 years later making it timeless and a great investment.
- The C220 is fully mechanical and does not require a battery.
- The C220 is a medium format camera that produces those big 6×6 negatives.
There is something magical and beautiful about the 6×6 format to me. I just love that square look. A standard roll of medium format 120 allows 12 exposures. My RZ67 Pro II and Mamiya 7 Rangefinder are both 6×7 formats so I get 10 exposures per roll.
The C220 is known as the simplified version of the C330. One is not “better” than the other, just a few minor differences. The C220 requires you to cock the shutter separately. In regards to the shutter cocking, I actually prefer this method. It is probably because of my large format experience. The C220 is solid built and I use it with the traditional waist level viewfinder. As you might of guessed there is no meter in the camera and it is fully manual and no batteries are required! I also love being able to flash sync at all shutter speeds (through 1/500th). I prefer the lighter weight of the C220 over the C330 in most cases because I do a lot of hiking and climbing. I think the difference is a little less than a pound. The C330 (f/s) cocks the shutter when the film is advanced and it has a larger crank for advancing the film. Besides the auto shutter cocking and the parallax/exposure compensation arm in the finder, that is about it for feature differences. They both take the same lenses so you could have one of each if you prefer and share your lenses between them. For more detailed information on all of the various models go here.
If you are not familiar with TLR cameras, they are actually very simple to operate. You look through the waist level viewfinder (in my case) at the ground glass. There is a pop-up magnifier for critical focus. There are other viewfinders available for the C220 and C330, I just prefer the standard waist level viewfinder. You look through the top lens and you are taking your photo with the bottom one. The aperture and shutter are part of the bottom lens too. TLR’s eliminate the need for a big mirror which is a source of vibration and poor image quality in some cases.
You will find the C220 to be extremely quiet to operate and you can hand-hold slow shutter speeds (e.g., 1/8th, 1/15th, etc) otherwise not possible with a SLR type camera. Plus this camera is fully mechanical. Did I mention there are no batteries!
You may have to deal with the parallax issue from time to time, but this is not an issue for me typically. You will notice this in your closeup/macro photos the most. Basically, what you are looking at through your top lens does not exactly match what you are photographing with the bottom lens. To help address this issue you can simply look at the scale on the left side of the camera to determine your degree of error (e.g. 1, 1.5. 2) then refer to the lines in the top of your viewfinder to ensure you have all of the critical information in your scene. It sounds more difficult than it is in reality. There are accessories like the Parallax Paramender that you can find on eBay to address this but I don’t personally use this because I am not always shooting on a tripod with this camera. In regards to exposure compensation you can refer to this same scale for a range of correction from .25 stops to 2 full stops. For more detailed information on exposure compensation, go here.
I love to use this camera for street photography too. Be sure to read the tips I have below for using the C220 for street photography without a light meter. Depending on the exact C220 you have it could be over 40 years old and it is as relevant today as it was in 1968. A great place to view over 20,000 photographs made with the Mamiya TLR cameras is on the Flickr TLR photostream and their is an active discussion group here too. If you want to narrow in on just the C220 then there is a a Flickr photostream for this too.
Sample Photos
The square 6×6 format of the Mamiya C220 is part of the reason why I love making prints with this camera. Plus I get a lot of enjoyment using film and developing it myself. Shooting black and white film in this special camera is not only a lot of fun but don’t forget it still produces professional quality prints that will compete with almost any camera made today. For these photos I used Tri-X rated at EI1250 and developed in Diafine. Keep in mind this is a fully manual camera so there is no need to set the ASA (ISO) and you will probably need a light meter for most shots. I used a light meter for all of these photos but you can estimate your exposure on a normal sunny day using the Sunny 16 Rule and F/8 technique discussed below.
Fallen Trees – f/5.6 at 1/30th EI 1250
Woods Ave Trees – f/8 at 1/60th EI 1250
Tree Roots – f/8 at 1/30th EI 1250
Lime Kiln – f/8 at 1/30th EI 1250
Big Trees – f/8 at 1/30th EI 1250
Sunny 16 & F/8 Rules for Street Photography
When using a fully manual camera like the C220 or RZ67 Pro II there might be times when you don’t have the time to use a light meter. Street photography is a good example of a situation when you won’t likely have time to meter your scene because things happen too quickly. You can employ some old school rules to help you get the shot. If you haven’t tried these techniques go out around your city or town and have some fun with it. Leave your light meter at home!
The Sunny 16 Rule is an old fashioned method used to estimate exposures for daylight photography without a light meter. On a sunny day when your subject is in the sunlight you can set your aperture to f/16. Then you would set your shutter to the reciprocal of your film speed. For example if you were using Tri-X 400 your shutter speed would be 1/400 or the closest setting you have for your manual camera.
If you don’t want f/16 as your aperture for creative reasons then you can simply use the basic relationship rule between ISO, aperture and shutter speed to make changes. In general if you use a larger aperture (smaller number) you would increase your shutter speed. This is known an inverse relationship between the aperture and shutter. If you want to step down your aperture by two stops from f/16 to f/8 then you would increase your shutter speed by two stops in order to keep the exposure the same. If you think about it, it is logical. If you make the aperture opening smaller (bigger f/stop number) you have more depth of field and require more light for your exposure. On the other hand if you make your aperture open bigger (smaller f/stop) then you need less light for your exposure.
Photojournalists “back in the day” used a neat little trick that you can still use today. By setting your aperture to f/8 and pre-focusing they would typically get the shot. Use the Sunny 16 rule that I described above and you should be able to get a high percentage of keepers that should grab everything from about 6 feet to infinity.
Resources for TLR
Graham Patterson has compiled a lot of very useful information on the C220 that you may want to check out if you are interested.
Mike Rosenlof posted a review on Mamiya TLR on photo.net that is worth reviewing if you are interested in getting one of these cameras. You’ll learn more from the readers comments than you will via the article, but I would suggest reading both.
The TLR forum at photo.net is a good place to ask questions and learn.
Flickr has a Mamiya TLR discussion forum that is good two good general TLR groups with the first here and the other one here.
Be sure to leave your comments or suggestions at the bottom of this article. If you like my articles be sure to use the “Like” or “Share” buttons located at the bottom of each article so we can get more feedback from other photographers.
You can view more of my large and medium format images on my Flickr stream.
You can read more articles on large format photography by clicking here or on medium format here.
Source: http://blog.blackandwhitefineart.net/2011/01/mamiya-c220/
Ilford Pan F Plus Film Review
Ilford’s Pan F Plus (which I sometimes condense to PanF+) is probably my overall favorite film. I discovered it shortly after I started shooting film and I quickly latched onto it as my “go to” film for outdoor situations.
Before we get into the film review, I just want to mention that this is a non-technical review. We won’t be examining the grain structure, sharpness, color rendition, or anything else overly technical. Think of this as a practical review from a regular photographer.
This post contains Amazon Affiliate product links.
About Pan F Plus
Ilford Pan F Plus is an ISO-50 black and white film available in 35mm
Shooting with Pan F Plus
Bright light and fast lenses are your friends when you shoot with Pan F Plus. The film is ideal for outdoor sunlit situations, though it can also be used to gain extra exposure time in lower light.
The ISO speed rating for the film is 50, but it can be exposed between (exposure index) EI-12 and EI-400 depending on the developer and processing. I’ve only taken it to EI-25, EI-50, and EI-100 with no problems using Rodinal.
I typically expose at EI-25 so I can achieve wider apertures with my older cameras. When you have a camera that maxes out at 1/400 seconds on the shutter, you have to lower the speed of the film if you want to move away from small apertures and gain some extra DOF. If I need a faster film, I’ll just use something that’s more well suited — the grain in Pan F Plus becomes more apparent at EI-100.
Developing Pan F Plus
It seems that just about any developer will work on Pan F Plus, but check the massive dev chart if you’re unsure.
I’ve used Ilford Ilfosol 3 and Agfa Rodinal to develop the film. The Ilfosol 3 seems to work fine at EI-50, but I’ve never tried pushing or pulling with it (and there’s no data in the chart for that). The Rodinal appears to do a good job of keeping the grain down, and it has the added benefits of being able to push/pull (time) and control contrast (dilution).
In my experience, Pan F Plus is fairly susceptible to contrast changes when pushed or pulled with Rodinal. At EI-25, the negatives are fairly low contrast. And at EI-100, the negatives are fairly high contrast. Of course, these contrast levels can be somewhat compensated by varying the dilution.
Examples of Pan F Plus
Pan F Plus tends to have somewhat of an “oldschool” appearance to it, probably because of the slightly lower contrast than most films. The midtones are usually creamy smooth and transition well between highlights and shadows, and skin tone/contrast is captured well. When properly exposed and developed, the sharpness is like none other. Here are some varying examples of this amazing film.
photo credit: Brian Auer
photo credit: maz hewitt
photo credit: Brian Auer
photo credit: maz hewitt
photo credit: Brian Auer
photo credit: PhilPankov.com
photo credit: ManWithAToyCamera
photo credit: tim_dvia Ilford Pan F Plus Film Review.
Ross Portable Divided – A Special Twin Lens Reflex
Lens:
f8, 7 ½”, 6″ x 5″ Rapid Symmetrical, iris diaphragm to f64 with click stops. Serial no. 50527 .
Viewing lens: similar but without iris (unused slot for Waterhouse stops). Serial no. 52147 .
Shutter:
T-P Time shutter, without speed indicator. Serial no. H8238.
Construction:
Black stitched hide covering on wood, black painted interior.
Format:
4″ x 5″ plates held in double dark-slides.
Focusing:
Bellows to 8 feet.
Attributes:
Reflex viewing through second lens. Full-size ground glass focusing screen. Eye-level mirror in hood. The lens retracts to close the door.
Movements:
Cross front.
Serial Number:
670 .
Lens:
f8, 7 ½”, 6″ x 5″ Rapid Symmetrical, iris diaphragm with external pointer to f64. Serial no. 52234 .
Viewing lens: similar but without iris (unused slot for Waterhouse stops). Serial no. 52243 .
Shutter:
T-P T & I shutter, speeded 1/15 – 1/90. Ross label. Serial no. O8295.
Construction:
De-luxe finish of brown stitched hide covering on mahogany, polished interior, aluminium fittings.
Format:
4″ x 5″ plates held in double dark-slides.
Focusing:
Bellows to 8 feet.
Attributes:
Reflex viewing through second lens. Full-size ground glass focusing screen. Eye-level mirror in hood. The lens retracts to close the door.
Movements:
Rising front.
Serial Number:
915 .
Notes:
Address label on case: Ross & Co. 111 New Bond St. London.
With:
- 6 double dark-slides (1 – 12), mahogany with aluminium fittings.; Lens cap.
- Ross focusing magnifier, screw adjustment with locking ring. Two lenses. In box.
- Extension back. Focusing with combined lens is to c 2′ 4″, with single element focusing is from infinity to 11 feet.
- Velvet hood for focusing screen with wooden eye piece panel.; Focusing cloth.; Canvas case.
The 
Portable Divided was one of several twin-lens reflex cameras put on the market in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The concept was not new, there had been models made previously but not in great numbers. At this time hand-held detective cameras were available as were folding bellows cameras, single-lens reflexes were just making an appearance. The Portable Divided appealed to the user who wanted a larger finder that showed exactly what would be in the negative and was quick to use. This was true of the Ross, which was able to be used in the hand; advertisements stressed how, with the neck strap, it could be steadied against the body and used for action shots, the image remaining visible at all times. Advertisements recommended it for yacht photography.
It is fitted with a good lens but has only a small focusing distance and limited movements. The lenses can be racked back past infinity allowing the door to close with the lens and shutter in place. A swing back was available.
These are early models of the Portable Divided with a single door, later an improved folding model with double doors was introduced. The doors of the later model when open became the sides of the camera allowing a more compact design.
The De-luxe model, finished in brown stitched hide and aluminium, dates to c.1897. The improved model, with double doors, was also sold in a de-luxe finish. The extension back with this example is a bellows unit with two side struts. It slots into the normal position for the dark-slide.
References & Notes:
BJA 1892, p. 51.; BJA 1893.; BJA 1897.; BJA 1913, p. 60.; YBP 1893, p. 15A.; BJA 1898, p. 78 (focusing hood).
Illustrations:
Christies Cat. 6/5/05 lot 317. Unusual model with polished mahogany finish.; Christie’s cat. 6/10/83 lot 332. Improved model with pigskin finish, lens no. 59216.
TLRgraphy 