Buying second-hand medium format

[mayordomo]

Hi again! I want to buy a second-hand medium format film camera. Where can I buy the best and guaranteed ones? Does Pentax 6 x 7 use 120 mm film? If not, how plenty are the film available in the market? Do you recommend other medium format film cameras other than Pentax 6 x 7? Thanks in advance.

 

[BlackSheep]

Yep, the Pentax 6x7 uses 120 film.
As for buying second-hand, recommending "the best" and/or getting a guarantee is kind of tough, just because they are older cameras and you are buying used. Also, there's a huge amount of different 120 film cameras out there, so to recommend one to you it would be useful to know what type of subject you want to shoot, what your budget is, how experienced are you with photography, etc.,etc.

I noticed that you are in Oakville - if you can get to Toronto, one thing you might want to do is to go to the Photographical Historical Society fair here in Toronto, it's on May 27 - FAIR | phsc.ca Going to something like that would give you the chance to see a bunch of different cameras, and get some good advice too. I bought my first 120 film camera there years ago.

 

[dxqcanada2]

The Pentax 6x7 is a giant version of the typical 35mm SLR. It was designed that way.
The Mamiya 6/7 is also similar though it is a rangefinder camera ... I like these better than the Pentax.

The more typical medium format camera's took the shape of a box ... the Hasselblads are the most common of that type.
I had the Bronica SQ-A ... I preferred the square 6x6 over 6x7.
I found that the Blad physical form was better to handle than the SLR form for MF.

There are plenty of MF camera's on the used market as many have gone away from it to Digital.

The question of where to get these cameras, in Canada ... well Henrys used to be a good place but they also have gone away from film, though I have not been to the downtown store in decades ... go to the PHSC fair as Blacksheep mentioned.
If you want to get 6x7 ... there is the Bronica GS-1 or Mamiya RB/RZ67

I have ended up ordering film from Henrys and also B&H (USA).

FYI: there is a Medium Format forum here: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/medium-format-large-format/

 

[Derrel]

Bronica SQ Series Camera Bodies - KEH.com

 

[usayit]

I have a Pentax 6x7. It is a bit beat up (bought it in that condition) but it works just fine. Its a tank and I enjoyed shooting with it. Great selection of lenses and viewfinders. I had difficulty sourcing the wooden grip which makes it a bit more comfortable shooting handheld. I found it on Ebay but I paid a little more than I wanted. The camera works best on a tripod but was designed to be a field camera. Make sure you get one that has mirror lockup... early versions did not have it. The Mirror lockup is very useful for this camera as the mirror does introduce some vibrations that can impact longer exposures. Mine came with a metered prism which essentially makes it a very large K1000 like SLR. I also have the non-meter'd waist level viewfinder as well. Here's a picture that I took years ago for comparison:

For more frequent field use, I actually preferred the Pentax 645. Smaller frame same negative but more manageable while on the go.

Neither camera uses film backs which may or maybe an issue for you.