120 film Explorations
I spur of the moment bought a medium format 120 film camera at Glass Key Photo in SF during the summer.
I’ve been intrigued by medium format for a while, and fortunate enough to have friends like Ben —who’ve loaned me cameras over the years.
Canon Demi - Ben Ericson
Ben is an exceptional film maker and photographer based in Seattle.
Check out his work here.
The photos below are from a 5x7 Fuji 670ii I borrowed from Ben in 2020.
I’d done a bit of research and wanted to stay under a grand for my first medium format purchase.
I was intrigued with the Mamiya 645. It hit the price point, had great reviews, and looks cool.
On a pass through SF drive I stopped by Glass Key Photo, a film camera shop off Sutter St, to check out their 120 camera selections.
I love this shop. The guys who own and run it are very knowledgable and happy to help.
I picked up my Nikon Fe2 and Canon Demi from Glass Key as well.
First frame I captured with the Kowa
I was checking out the different 120 cameras in stock. They didn’t have the Mamiya, unfortunately. But this Super Kowa 66 caught my eye.
It felt good in my hands, included a side handle with shutter release— which I thought at the time I’d be shooting more from the hip..turns out that’s not the case. I love this camera on a tripod.
Thanks for the photo, Leon!
Check out the galleries below of the first few rolls shot with the Kowa Super 66.
The images above have been digitally retouched a little —mostly exposure correction.
Below is Portra 400
Below is Cinestill 400
The camera doesn’t have a light meter, so I used the app called Light Meter.
I noticed it measures about one stop under. So the next rolls I exposed to compensate.
These below haven’t been digitally retouched. Straight from the scanner from the Oscar’s Photo Lab in SF.
These exposures came out much better. With the exception of the light leaks the camera has.
I tried out some double exposures at burning man. They are kind of neat.
This blog has taken me so long to publish I’ve gotten another roll developed since these past two. So I’ll share it below!
I’m trying to figure out what happened with this roll.
Here some theories..
• I flew with the roll, it went through X-rays. Its iso400, so according to TSA it shouldn’t be affected.
• I shot 1,1.5,2 stops over exposed from the Light Meter app
• I missed the mark on the exposure and didn’t actually over expose..
• The film is bad stock
I’m not super detailed with my notes, but will be more detailed for the next few rolls to see what’s going on.