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Raised on analog film (spent many hours in darkrooms both in high school as well as in elementary school). 35mm was the largest film size I tried.

When I went back to analog a few years back I introduced myself to medium-format as well as the tried-and-true 35mm. I think I was surprised at how inexpensive (eBay) and yet capable the older medium-format cameras were.

I confess to having put down the 35mm cameras though after I saw what the medium-format could do [1-3]. By all means, if you want to dabble in analog, consider an old waist-level, "box camera" and a roll of 120 film (the original Instagram square format, ha ha).

Amateur photos on Instagram:

[1] https://www.instagram.com/p/CE0f9B-FklF

[2] https://www.instagram.com/p/CGBV536ltLu

[3] https://www.instagram.com/p/CHW5joEliRY



Which lenses / focal lengths do you find you're using the most with MF?


Many of the cameras (twin-lens reflex) have just the one lens. (Or if they have other lens it's an odd sort of attachment — probably not worth the hassle.) There is a lot to be said to "using your feet to zoom" with a fixed (prime) lens.

I did play with both a Mamiya and Bronica that had bayonet-style lens mounts. I cannot say from memory which lens I used with each. They were primes to be sure. I'm thinking maybe about 150mm or so? I believe that because of the film size, they're equivalent to about half their length in 35mm. So a 150mm lens is more like a 75mm lens for a 35mm camera (a decent portrait lens).

Generally though, not an "action" camera, so telephoto was mot so interesting. People and land/cityscapes look best, IMHO so a wide to medium-angle lenses were the best.




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