selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

The only reason I traded my RB67 for a Hasselblad was that the Mamiya was too heavy and bulky for travel.

The Mamiya images were just as good and the extra centimeter got me closer to an ideal format - size matters.

But the Hasselblad (without the prism) can be hand-held, the Mamiya needs a tripod.

Paul J. Svetlik Loc: Colorado

Hallelujah to all of us faithfulls!
Let us enjoy the technology marvels of so much more comfortable times!
Yes, they are heavier.

I am still happily using 645, 67, 69, 4x5 and 8x10.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

I used to shoot high school football for the newspaper back when we could use flash. Hand-held the RB with prism using the “L” grip, Braun RL 515 flash on a Jones bracket. Pre-focus about 5-10 yards in front of the scrimmage line and waited until the play was in my zone. I was much younger then.

pendennis

I used a couple for years, especially for portraits. I've even hand held the beast for a couple of weddings. The 6x7 format is great, and I've gotten great scans from transparencies and negatives.

I liked the 180mm for head and shoulders portraits, and the 90mm was just about perfect as a "normal" lens. I also had a 55mm which is a great wide angle lens.

If you can find them, there are 6x4.5 backs available, if you want to "down size" the format. There are also prism finders out there, both metered and non-metered, that can be had for little money.

Good luck, and enjoy!

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

And if you do your own printing, you’re going to love working with that big negative! (compared to 35mm)

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Any of you RB users ever seen a after-market soft focus device for the 180? I got mine used and it came with a couple of discs that fit into the rear using “O” rings. The discs had a layer of two of black loosely woven net fabric, like stocking material. Worked really well. I’ve never seen it for sale anywhere. This was before the internet.

rfmaude41 Loc: Lancaster, Texas (DFW area)

I have (and use) an RZ67 Pro II, different format backs, 11 lenses and a TC, on a regular basis. There's nothing like film, eh ?

rfmaude41 Loc: Lancaster, Texas (DFW area)

For my RZ67, I have the 180mm Portrait (soft) lens and the three (original) inserts, but they are similar to filters.

rfmaude41 Loc: Lancaster, Texas (DFW area)

Actually a 110mm, 100mm or a 90mm is a much closer equivalent to a 50mm for 35mm, if using a standard (6X7) back. The 127 is more like a 60 - 65mm. And, of course, the equivalency depends on the format (6X7, 6X6 or 6X4.5)

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Here's the math behind my most expensive film purchases. I use Ilford FP4+ 4x5 and purchase boxes of 25 sheets for $32 a box, at the last purchase. That's 2575 sheets of film for the equivalent price of a D850. Oh, and for those wishing to know the price per photo, $1.28 per sheet, add another $0.25 for chemicals and you're around $1.50 a shot.
--Bob

jack schade Loc: La Pine Oregon

I’m looking forward to see some of your images.

Jack

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Congratulations! The RB is a classic and goes far beyond a collector's item- it is a highly usable instrument. My first tip or suggestion is remember not to drop it on your foot!

I have had mine since 1970 and have used it and a few RZ models in my commercial and portrait studios- one RZ has since been digitized and is still in daily service.

Even the older RB lenses are incredibly sharp, even by today;s standards. I use a 90mm for full length portraits and groups, the 180 for ¾ length and closeup portraits and the 75mm shift lens for some of my commercial work. I routinely make prints up to and including 30”X40” with no loss in quality.

If you are into “retro” here's some interesting news. There is a Mamiya Sekor 150mm-SF lens that will work on both the RB and RZ cameras. The SF stand for soft focus. It works on the same principle as the famous Rodenstock Imagon. There are 3 different aperture disks that yield various degrees of softness plus a standard diaphragm. With no disks in place and at full aperture it is extremely soft but not degraded in quality. At around f/11 and smaller, it is razor sharp. There are infinite degrees of softness and effects by combing the disks at various diaphragm settings.

Here's more: On the older model 180mm lens, the entire optical unit easily and safely screws off of the shutter. There is an adapter that allows the attachment of many old-time and current soft focus and other portrait lenses. I use my older Rodenstock Imagon, that I formerly used on a 4x5 view camera, for a very distinctive soft focus results- kinda 1940s Hollywood etc.

I too miss my favorite black and white films and papers. Believe it or not, for low-key portraiture, my favorite film was Verichrome Pan. It featured extremely fine grain, medium speed and had an absolutely crazy dynamic range when processed in D-76. For high-key portraits, my favorite was Plus-X Pan- it had a bit more contrast and yielded very clean whites. Nostalgia! Nowadays, of course and sadly, it's all gone but here is the good news; I use currently available Kodak Portrait 160 Film (120 rolls). It yields lovely skin tones in color and the big plus is that it converts nicely to black and white- very close to the dearly departed films. It scans well too!

I'll post a few of those soft focus shots in the next reply box. I am on the road on assignment, not in my office and I have these stored in my i-Phone- excuse the quality please! By the way- there is no post processing retouching on theses images- just about right out of the camera.

Kuzano

It depends on the Walmart location. I hear that some midwest locations use Dwayne's. I live in Central Oregon.... Bend and Redmond both have Walmart Super Stores. I finally found someone in one store who actually knows about the "Send Out Only" program. She told me it depends on the contract for film and camera supplies. Both of these stores have Fujifilm contracts. Both have an actual Fuji Kiosk to drop film into, rather than go to the counter. When you do that, you mark the envelope in the kiosk after marking it boldly "SEND OUT ONLY".

i SHOULD MENTION I WAS TALKING ABOUT 120/220 ROLL FILM. (if you can find 220). I SHOULD ALSO MENTION I OFTEN DO ONLY TRANSPARENCY AND NEG 120 ROLL FILM-NO PRINTS. I HAVE NEVER PAID OVER $10 IN FIFTEEN YEARS FOR PROFESSIONAL PROCESSING. THE STORE PEOPLE ARE RATHER VAGUE AND UNKNOWING ON THIS. I ONLY USE AND TRUST THE KIOSK/ENVELOPE SYSTEM. THE STORE PEOPLE NEVER OPEN YOUR FILM, NOR DO THEY SEE THE FINAL RESULTS. I ASK ON THE ENVELOPE FOR PROCESSING ONLY AND UNCUT ROLLED RETURN IN A SHORT CARDBOARD TUBE.

It works quite well for me and has for some years.

PH CIB

Used to shoot a Pentax 6x7 with 120 and 220 roll film,,,,Looking forward to Your Pictures !!!

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

RZ with RB 150mm AT Lens.