O.P.P. - Other People's Photo (Equipment)

We were in St. Louis last weekend and it was the first time all the (in-law's) grandkids were in one place since June so we booked a photo session at this portrait studio (which I won't name -- but it starts with "Portrait" and the rest sounds like "intonations").

Anyway, I'm always curious about the kind of gear that the studios use since they've all gone digital. I know that Sears' Portrait Studio near my house uses Nikon gear.

Anyway, this studio used Fuji Finepix DSLR equipment and Tamron XR lenses for its imaging gear and Photogenic PowerLights for its lighting





I also noticed a sensor above the doorway on each of the two studios which I think was for the radio slave on the top of the DSLR.



Another interesting tidbit is that this chain of studios doesn't sell you the RAW images, but if you order enough of them, they will give you a CD containing JPEGs good enough for desktop wallpaper, but not good enough for to get any prints from them any better than wallet size. The original RAW images are also stored on the CD in case you want to take the images to another one of their locations to get printed, but the RAW files are encrypted in their own proprietary format. From what I can tell the encryption is based on some customer information, possibly some store info, and another piece of info on the CD. I think the encryption occurs at the sales terminal and not at the DSLR level.

The 6x8 Conundrum

I have always been a big fan of the 6x8 format. Ever since I saw the Fuji GX-680 and how it was so similar to the 8x10 aspect ratio, I had always coveted the camera. At the time, it was the only camera that shot the format natively. Unfortunately the camera was priced WAY out of my means (and still is for the latest version).

Sure there are other rectangular formats but I was never a fan of the 645 format so my first rectangular medium format camera was a Pentax 6x7 which resembled a 35mm SLR on steroids than your average medium format camera that typically comes with a waist-level finder. The 6x7 was shot at eye-level like a 35mm SLR. Since it resembled a 35mm SLR, it wasn't as flexible as other modular medium format cameras - It didn't support multiple backs or backs that could be changed mid-roll.

My current medium format camera is the all-manual Mamiya RB67 Pro S which also shoots 6x7 format. It has a rotating back so that you can shoot horizontally and switch to vertical shooting without changing the orientation of the camera - you just have to rotate the back.

What I learned recently was that there is a 6x8 back for the RB67, and better yet it was a motor-driven back so getting it was like killing two birds with one stone. I would get my 6x8 format and I would get an automatic film-winding system. To advance the film and cock the shutter on the RB67 is a 2-step process and is more time-consuming if you're trying to shoot rapidly. Ideally I would like the Mamiya RZ67 which is an automated version of the RB67. The RB67 is all-mechanical and does not use a single battery. Anyway, I found the 6x8 back at KEH.com for a VERY reasonable price but quickly found out that the light baffle on my RB has a smaller opening than the image area of the 6x8 back. The same is said for the opening on the revolving adapter that the back goes on.

I called up MAC Group (Mamiya America Corporation) and ordered a 6x8 baffle for the RB and found out it's the same baffle that's on my current RB except it has a number 8 on it. It was a bit of a let down to discover that I already had the correct baffle but I'm confused as to why the baffle opening and the image area on the back are significantly dissimilar. So I'm kind of at a stand-still with my 6x8 efforts. I'm in the process of looking for a 6x8 rotating adapter (I believe the Pro SD adapter might accommodate me) and then shooting a test roll with the appropriate adapter and 6x8 back to see if there's any vignetting on the resulting images and we'll go from there.

I'm also looking into acquiring a used GX-680 because the RB now weighs a ton with the new prism finder, new back (that requires 4 x AA batteries) in addition to the already significant weight of the camera, so it's not really a portable camera.