Pentax 6x7 vs Twin-lens reflex.

[Golem]

How much light they let in is simply a function of aperture. An f:2 lens on the Pentax lets in the same light as an f:2 lens on a TLR.

The difference in the cameras is primarily that the Pentax is an interchangeable-lens SLR, and its weight and bulk come from the much larger frame size than found on 35mm cameras. With almost every TLR, the lens it was built with is the lens you have, forever and ever amen. Mamiya did have a TLR with lenses available, but the fact that the lenses had to fit next to each other on the camera very much limited the size of such lenses, so large-aperture really long lenses were not possible, and no TLR had any zoom lens available.

If you want medium-format image quality but a selection of lenses, the Pentax is your option.

Or a Mamyia Press, Graflex Xl, etc. Such rollfilm RFs were my faves. Never liked the huge Pentax but the Hasselblad was rather compact and I had no complaint with it except for its giant 40mm so I opted for the SWC, which became my fave go-to personal snapper machine. Just that wide lens on a film holder with no camera body between them. Liked that so much that I later created a 4x5 version of it, which by default was also a Polaroid Instant Super Wide !

 

[OMT]

I currently have RB67, RZ67 and Pentax 67. I shoot digital as my day job, so the form factor of the Pentax is the most familiar to me. I do like the waist level finders as well and the rotating backs of the Mamiyas.

 

[Woolsocks]

The Pentax 6x7 weighs about 2.4 kg with a lens. A TLR weighs about half that. Do the enormous Takumar lenses render a better image? They must let in much more light. I was looking at photographs by Fan Ho in a gallery in Tokyo. He used a twin-lens reflex and produced highly detailed sharp work that could--from what I saw--reasonably be printed to A3 size. If a TLR produces comparable images to a Pentax, why is the latter so big and heavy? That being said, I love using my Pentax, but sometimes have to use a roller suitcase to carry it around.

I never heard of Fan ho. Incredible. Understandable though. Most buildings and streets are now lighted day and night with artificial light of some kind.

 

[cgw]

I never heard of Fan ho. Incredible. Understandable though. Most buildings and streets are now lighted day and night with artificial light of some kind.

Most of Fan Ho's Hong Kong was fading fast in the 1960s.

 

[Woolsocks]

Most of Fan Ho's Hong Kong was fading fast in the 1960s.

Not just the buildings. Nutrition has gotten better for Chinese. When my father went there he was a towering giant. But by the time I became an adult a lot of Chinese men were near my height (I'm 6'4).

 

[greybeard]

Years ago when I had a dark room I had a Mamiya C330. The bigger negatives where much easier to work with and the IQ was much better than what I got from 35mm.