I'm looking to buy a medium format camera. I'm not really sure what to get as this is almost as big a change as going from compact to SLR.

I've got around $600 to spend at the moment, so a Hasselblad is pretty much out of the picture, no pun intended.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

:Edit:

I've been looking a bit and I've found a Hassy 500CM ELM Chrome for about $200 for the body, first off, why is it so cheap? And second, how expensive would it be to get a back and a lens?

A third question, should I be looking into TLRs as well? What are the pros and cons of them?

This post was edited by kratos on May 1 2010 05:33pm

that hassy is so cheap because its body only, you need film back, lens and viewfinder for it also, the body is just a box with mirror.

you should get 500c/m kit(body, film back, 80mm 2.8 lens and waist level view finder) quite easily for that price, i had mine for 500€ and iv heard that old hasselblads are much cheaper in usa, so you might even get a light meter also with that 600$.

mamiyas are great choice also and they some models shoot 4x6 and 6x7 also if your into that. basic kits(for common models) are about same price as hasselblads, but lenses are bit cheaper. pentax and contax also made some good medium format cameras and there are some cheaper brands also.

shooting with hasselblad isnt much difference than shooting 35mm slr on manual mode, you just need to learn how f-number effects dof since the format is larger. f/2.8 on medium format is about same dof as f/1.8 on 35mm camera. naturally you can use the dof scale to help you out a little.

i dont really know much about tld cameras, but i do know that slr is much easier to focus and frame.

btw if you get hasselblad i suggest getting split image focusing screen for it(belive me you will regret if you dont get one) and note that you cant change the focusing screen for 500c, only for 500 c/m and newer

Right now I'm looking at a used Mamiya M645 with an 80mm lens and a 110mm lens, a eye level metered prism, and a 120mm film insert. I'm probably going to end up wanting a waist level view finder, do they make split image viewfinders for Mamiyas?

If I can get a Hassy I would rather have that, but this is only $175 for it all.

This post was edited by kratos on May 1 2010 07:42pm

why do u really want to shoot meduim format? it is not very practical at all unless u have a digital back

if u just want to play around with meduim format for fun get a holga and invest the 600 bucks into film and proccessing + food and weed while ur out shooting. i guarntee ull get better results.

and and YES to split image focusing screens. what good is a nice chunk of film if u cant get it perfectly sharp

This post was edited by SaltheSalmon on May 1 2010 09:04pm

What is practicality in a hobby? If it entertains me for more then 10 minutes I'd through $1000 at it.

must be nice to have all daddys money ^^ why not just get a digital back hasselblad then if thats ur opion.

ur just throwin money on crap that u will later realize was pointless. meduim format is dead.

FYI, it's my own money that I made through my job.

Film won't die so long as people are interested in it. That stands for 35mm, medium and large formats.

Medium format is the sexiest format available, hands down.

Mamiya rb67 + 90mm lens + 120 film back. This should get you out of trouble.

Don't get a holga, they are hella gay.

http://photo.net/medium-format-photography-forum/00TFHB

here it says that m645 comes with microprism focus screen, thats basically as good as as split image. that set is pretty nice since it comes with metering view finder, but if you do get waist level view finder, you need to use external light meter ince the meter on that set is built on the eye level finder. if your looking for square negatives, that camera doesent make the negatives square, but you get few exposures on one film than you would get with 6x6 camera like hasselblad. one more thing you should remember is that the mamiya doesent have film backs that you could change, so you need to use full roll before you can shoot other iso. but film backs cost bit, so if your not going to get more backs, its no big deal.

i dont agree with that must have digital back since those cheap ones that you might someday be able to afford have so small sensor that its not much bigger than 35mm dslr.

also film is not dead, its not long since kodak announced that new ektar 100 iso color film and i think it was this year when they announced it for large format also.

that 175$ for the camera sound suspiciously cheap, but maybe they sell for that price where you live. here they go for more like 400€ if in working condition, maybe 500€ since there is another lens and metering finder for it.