romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

The Mamiya RB67 was the workhorse of studio and portrait photographers. There should be used samples available if you seek them out, with choices of lenses, backs and viewfinders.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

My former boss was a real scrounger.
He got 3 Leica M4 kits at state surplus for next to nothing. Kits were the body, a 35mm, 50 & 90mm lenses and a fitted case.
There was just something about using that Leica.
It made me work harder to live up to the hype.
I almost feel the same way with the D800 now.

saichiez Loc: Beautiful Central Oregon

That is correct, and there are literally tons of them on eBay. I have seen and bought them for prices some are paying for Kiev and other FSU medium formats.

One quick search for Bronica SQ variants:

[http://www.ebay.com/sch/Film-Photography-/69323/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=bronica+SQ&rt=nc[/url]

And for Mamiya RB67:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=bronica+SQ&_osacat=69323&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1311.R1&_nkw=mamiya+rb67&_sacat=69323

Festina Lente Loc: Florida & Missouri

I have often felt the same way.
Top flight gear does make you work harder to live up to the gear's potential (or hype..).

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

Bet you could find a pro level TLR for cheap on E-bay search for Mamiya TLR and Rollei TLR.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Bazinga! $275
http://www.keh.com/camera/Mamiya-Twin-Lens-Reflex-Camera-Outfits/1/sku-MT019990520120?r=FE#

mtnredhed Loc: The part of NorCal that doesn't move

While the C330 is a great camera, I'd be a little leery of anything they class as "ugly". You should read their rating definitions.

F16 Club

Buy it with closed eyes
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kiev-88-TTL-6x6-Camera-and-80mm-f-2-8-lens-Ex-condition-FREE-SHIP-USA-/310522019693?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BUA%252BP%252BFICS%252BUFI%252BIIUM%26otn%3D1%26pmod%3D261133200884%26ps%3D54

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

To me "ugly" means "bent". I'll only go for "Ex" and above.

sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

for all questions concerning russian cameras, i recomened USSRPhoto.com. I stumbeled upon that site, trying to identify a soviet panoramic box camers I have. Excellant resource for all things soviet. Many of the soviet cameras are knockoffs of leicas, poloroids, hassenblads etc. Don't forget the russians made things klunky but very solid.for example, the AK-47, the t-35, soyuz spacecraft etc.

as for KEH and items rated bgn and ug, I say go for it. I have bought items at those ratings and other then some minor cosmetic flaws nothing was wrong with the equipment. I got a battery pack for my d-100 rated ug for some minor cuts in the plastic paid a whooping $1.79 (no typo) for it. I picked up a n-90 slr rated bgn for $8 , back was sticky from having been in camera armour. a little goo gone and the camera looks brand new. Remember KEH has an in house service center, they test and clean what they sell. they are very consevative in the consumers favor in their rankings. remember what they sell comes with a 6 month warranty and a 14 day return policy.

wjames Loc: Australia

in my experience there is nothing wrong with the quality of the kiev if you stick to their lenses ..........however mechanics need watching.
As a professional i used both and the hassel B spent 10 years without so much as a shutter speed test during its service.while the keiv was often in the repair shop for mechanics. It was a one off. Other colleges had similar problems..........i found the same with nikon and cannon.......the nikon was far more reliable.

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

It's actually easy an easy problem to solve. You can cock the lens off of the body. :thumbup:

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Not if it's stuck ON the body.

Actually, you can it (it's a bit tricky), but you don't do that in front of clients., unless you want them to learn new words.

pounder35 Loc: "Southeast of Disorder"

True. We had a Hassy expert in our shop and I know there is a trick to it but I was too busy with the 35's to worry with the Hassy's. :thumbup:

mtnredhed Loc: The part of NorCal that doesn't move

Wow. My RB was way easier. If the body and the lens weren't in sync as far as the shutter being tripped, it didn't break anything. You just took the lens off and pushed in a pin. Lock ring style mount. Plus the body was made for manly men and manly women. It was built like a tank, and only weighed a little less. When the shutter tripped, nearby seismographs would record the event as the mirror swung up to the stops. I used to have to sandbag the tripod to keep the whole thing from going airborne.

Only wimps and girly men expect their film to advance when the shutter is cocked. Not the RB. No sir. Setting the shutter/mirror and advancing the film were two different levers both of which moved with the smoothness of the brake lever on a steam locomotive.

The original RB didn't even try and keep you from shooting with the darkslide in, or double exposure. Only later did they cave into the lightweights.

You want TTL metering? They had it. Built into the chimney finder (made out of real chimney bricks) was an arm that you swung into position. At the end of the arm was the light sensor the size of a frisbee and a match needle the size of the speedo from a '68 Caddy. And the meter took manly toxic mercury batteries that would kill you if you held them. It came with special tongs for handling them.

Then there were the massive, blacksmith like bellows that would let you track the lens out so far, it had to have an exposure compensation scale on the side.

And the tripod socket? Ha! It took a 3/8's carriage bolt and came with it's own torque wrench for tightening.

If you dropped the camera, you didn't check the camera for damage, you checked the floor!

;) Only parts of the above are true, but hey....