My First Medium Format Shots (6x9c). Camera: 60 Yr-Old Folder-Camera

geraldfinnegan

These are from a Ercona II, 1952-55, an East German twin of the well-known Zeiss Ikonta Camera with Zeiss lens, renowned German Lens Company. They are 6x9 format (2 1/4"x3 1/4"). The camera is a folding camera and completely manual, all values estimated as there is no light-meter, or rangefinder either (so you estimate distance as well). Film is wound forward to each new frame, and the shutter is wound before each take. It's all educated guess-work, or - in my case - guesswork (though I know a little about it). Depth of Field apparently is the key to problems of estimated focus, for with a Depth of Field of f11 or more and a distance set of around 7 meters, then evrything beyond 12 feet or so is in focus already due to Depth of Field so any distance shots can be made quicker actually than can a modern camera on auto-focus. Of course, there has to enough available light to have a hand-held shutter time value.
It's a "return to basics" kind of photography. Very enjoyable.
Anyway, I left these alone, no high-tech tweaking after they were scanned, just to see what the camera would do as it was manufactured. I think I'll leave them alone, I like them.


"Tunnel, Delaware Park, Buffalo NY"




Old Tree




Path, Delaware Park

erich6

I think it would be neat to shoot with a manual camera like that. One of the best advantages of digital is how quickly you can see and correct mistakes in your photos. That's certainly helped me learn photography. But I think there's a different type of learning that you can only get from shooting like you did here. Just getting an "intuition" about framing, exposure, focus that can only occur when you have to think about it instead of the camera doing it for you.

Erich

geraldfinnegan

re: learning
Yes, I think that's true, and it's better to have a feel for the scene and lighting and let whatever you're using be a tool, not just an automaton that averages everything out. I just heard somewhere that Ansel Adams didn't use a light meter, and also that he would work for 6 mos on one negative for his very famous photos. HE was the meter, the autofocus etc. from the wealth of experience he must have built up all those years.
Thanks for writing
best
jerry