Best 645 shots so far

The week before last I was in Paris for a few days. The weekend was spent with the wife in the centre, Montmartre and the Palace of Versailles and not too many photos were taken (at least on film). The two and a half days following that the wife was working there (business trip) and I was on my own in possibly the most beautiful city on Earth, free to walk and take pictures in glorious sunshine. It was great

I took the 645 with 55mm and 75mm lenses and shot colour medium format. I also took a Ricoh film SLR (XR-M) and shot FP4+, but I still need to develop that. On digital I used my little Fujifilm X-M1 with Pentax DA limited and M lenses. I even managed to meet up with someone from the US forum and buy the DA 40mm, the last DA limited prime I was missing

Anyway, tonight I scanned the first roll of 120 that I shot there (Fuji 400H) and here are my favourites. I have a roll of Reala and two of 160NS to follow.



Paris P645 400H 012a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 400H 013a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 400H 009a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 400H 003a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 400H 002a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 400H 005a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

I really like looking at these. There is always that stand out difference between film and digital. Thanks for posting.

Best regards

Here is some Fuji 160NS from the same trip. I wish I'd had more time in the cemetery. I was about to put the 645 away and shoot some B&W 35mm when I realised that the cemetery was about to close (at 6pm).



Paris P645 160NS 015a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr


Paris P645 160NS 012a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 160NS 010a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 160NS 014a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 160NS 003a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

This last shot was underexposed by a stop as I forgot to reset the ISO from 320 to 125, I'm glad to see it came out well.



Paris P645 160NS 002a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

More great images.
I spent three hours in Père Lachaise on my last visit. There is just too many images available there that need a photo,

I've already started buy darkroom kit to do my own medium format films. I've a full 35mm set-up but have been wanting to do medium format processing for a while now. This thread, for me has been the push I needed.

Best regards

I agree - an amazing place!.

These are yet more superb images Jonathan

Many thanks. I'm glad to push people in the direction of using film more.

Many thanks

This first one is 160NS and the others are the now discontinued Reala. I find that Reala is superb in the shade but in bright sunlight it's very saturated with a lot of contrast. I need to try to get through my remaining rolls this summer as they're already a few years expired.



Paris P645 160NS 007a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 Reala 004a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 Reala 006a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Paris P645 Reala 007a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

Here are a few 645 shots from a recent roll of Rollei RPX 100 which I ran through the camera. I only have one more roll of this, I bought two when I was on holiday in Germany a couple of years ago. There's a film shop in Berlin that has far more selection of films than is available in any shop in the UK or here in Spain and this is one of the few goodies I bought.

It seems like a good film - fine grain and good contrast and tones, very similar to FP4+.

I'm currently undecided whether to take the 645 or the less flexible but more travel-friendly Yashica Mat 124G on an upcoming trip to Galicia in October. It's a difficult decision.



Pentax 645 Rollei RPX 100 006a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Pentax 645 Rollei RPX 100 005a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Pentax 645 Rollei RPX 100 001a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Pentax 645 Rollei RPX 100 015a by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

Wonderful stuff going on here. What are you using to scan.

Best regards

Thanks. I use an Epson V500 scanner. It's pretty good for medium format, not so much for 135.