Intimate Street Portraiture using a Mamiya 7 II

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Submitted By: iamchrisjett

Location: New York, NY

Joined: Oct 7 2006

Posts:

Intimate Street Portraiture using a Mamiya 7 II

Posted: October 7, 2006 - 4:04pm

Hello all. I am interested in street portraiture. I have a large Nikon D200 system and recently got myself a Mamiya 7 II and a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II system. I'll wind up using the RZ system for studio work and considered the 7 II to be my street camera.

My 7 II came with a 65mm lens, which I figured would allow me to get in close to my subject, although after shooting a few roles I am not as close as I would have expected. Obviously the 65mm is a wide lens, and maybe I should be using the 150mm instead.

Here is one example of the type of image I was looking to take with this camera:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wd9hot/66354767/in/set-1431746/

Obviously this camera is good for landscape and cityscape shots, but how about up close, when the subject needs to be full-frame, or when there is less than a few feet in between you and the subject?

Thanks for any help.

Chris
www.chrisjett.com
www.flickr.com/photos/iamchrisjett/sets
ChrisJettPhoto@aol.com

Submitted By: Larry Berman

Location: Pittsburgh

Joined: Mar 7 2005

Posts:

Re: Intimate Street Portraiture using a Mamiya 7 II

Posted: October 7, 2006 - 4:49pm

You obviously need a medium telephoto for the type of images you want to create. You can also do something similar with the 60mm macro on the D200 and avoid the cost of film and processing.

Submitted By: iamchrisjett

Location: New York, NY

Joined: Oct 7 2006

Posts:

Re: Intimate Street Portraiture using a Mamiya 7II

Posted: October 7, 2006 - 9:23pm

Quote:
You obviously need a medium telephoto for the type of images you want to create. You can also do something similar with the 60mm macro on the D200 and avoid the cost of film and processing.

For doing this kind of work with my D200, I have no worries. I have a wide variety of Nikon lenses and am thoroughly familiar with it, but I do not want to give up on film yet. I may not use my Nikon F100 much anymore, but a well-taken medium format print still captures my attention.

I figure I will just use the 150mm on my 7 II although I will probably have my D200 in tow just in case I want a digital shot as a backup.

Thanks!

Submitted By: Larry Berman

Location: Pittsburgh

Joined: Mar 7 2005

Posts:

Re: Intimate Street Portraiture using a Mamiya 7II

Posted: October 8, 2006 - 5:00am

That's a lot of equipment to carry for street shooting. I'd carry a small prosumer digital camera as a backup, not a D200 with lenses.

Though I own a D200, I walk around with a CoolPix 8400 which has a 24mm lens at the wide end. It's as small and light as I need and still covers the lens range I'm comfortable with.