Rolleiflex but is worth it as a first time medium format camera? Start low and work yourself up if you think your skill reached a certain level that you need a 'better' camera.). But there is a huge cost/usability gap between 'old school CCD' backs and modern current CMOS backs. There are many other more mechanical medium format camera which are easier to repair.Also if you want to stay in the 6x4.5 medium format there are cheaper versions like Bronica and (more & less depends which generation/model) Mamiya645.Ħ圆 either go expensive like a Hasselblad or all the cheaper TLR cameras like Seagull, some Yashicamat, older Zeiss models (there are also some expensive ones e.g. The Zeiss lenses for the Contax 645 and Hasselblad V + H cameras offer rendering quality that many photographers still feel is unique enough to be worth the trouble and expense of MF digital backs. If your style is built around shooting wide-open apertures for. What are you looking into in a medium format camera and specifically in a Contax 645? Is it the Zeiss lens? The format (6x4.5)? The Contax 645 is worth exploring if your photographic style necessitates this particular camera. The problem is the electronics and the servicemen use spare parts from dead Contax 645 cameras. However many of those photographers switched over to digital medium format cameras because those Contax 645 cameras are really difficult to repair. It was a workhorse for many well-known wedding photographers on the hight-tier level. Now, I know that this arrow has reached this line right here, which lets me know that the film is ready.It is a beautiful camera and that 80mm Zeiss lens renders superb photos. Now, I’m gonna keep my finger right here as I roll, roll, roll, roll. In this spool, I’m going to find a little slit, to put in the film. I like to flip this down right here, this little latch. I’m going to flip this around, I’m going to pull the film. And I’m doing this really slowly for you guys, ’cause I just want you to get a sense of what it looks like.īut of course, if I was loading for real, I would probably be moving a lot faster.īut you don’t wanna move too fast, because if you do, you could drop your roll and that’s 10 bucks down the toilet. I’m gonna flip these two open, I’m gonna take this out. Its fairly compact for a medium format SLR, although its Zeiss lenses, with their all-metal construction, are considerably heavier than some other brands.

It is extremely user-friendly, like most 645 format- but unlike many larger medium format cameras. So, you want the negative, you want the black part of the film, which you’ll see in a second, to face this way, which is the side that will be facing the lens, and of course, receiving the light to be exposed. The Contax 645 is somewhat like a slightly overgrown 35mm model. The film will actually be facing this way. 04:01: All right guys, this is the back of the Contax 645, this piece right here.