Mamiya C330

Since returning from Africa, I have been using my Mamiya C330 on a regular basis. This camera, with its square 6x6cm negative size, uses 120mm film and there are 12 shots per roll. There is around 40€ end to end cost for each roll, so I'm a bit choosy with what I shoot.

In the past, I used to bracket a lot, which means I would take multiple shots of one scene with different exposures. I’ve decided, for the time being, to only use the Mamiya C330 with the 80mm lens. I typically try to use an exposure with aperture set on f/2.8 which has shallow depth of field (how much is in focus). Since I can’t have everything in focus, I have to choose what I want as the heart of the image.

A perfect amount of light for me is when I get a meter reading at 1/125 f/2.8 where I have a shallow feel with some sharp lines.

In Africa, I swapped every other roll, TMAX 400 black & white with Kodak Porta 400 color. I have run out of my TMAX 120 so now I am working through my Porta color. It’s a nice change of pace, though I keep TMAX 400 in my Contax T3 point and shoot for the quick photojournalist shots around the house.

In March, I took a 17 rolls of 120mm and 35mm rolls from the previous few months up to 5 years ago and had them processed and scanned. A couple of the old rolls were corroded, even so, it was inspiring to be reminded about much I love film photography.

Below are a few of my favorites. More to come...