Digital BW, The Print

Hi!

I have been using a Mamiya 7II for a year or so now and have run 
hundreds of rolls of film through it.  I'm really satisfied.   I have 
four lenses and find them to be super sharp.  Ideal for 
backpacking or long hikes in the mountains-my first love.   
However, I can't imagine using it without a tripod and cable 
release.  I have a really light weight aluminum job that I hang a 
bag of rocks from and it becomes very solid.  Or a heavy sucker 
that I use on short hikes and from the roadside.  I can print at 
~300 dpi on my Epson 10K and get ~30x40 prints without 
interpolation (from Nikon 8000 scans at 4000 dpi).  This is the 
advantage of a 6x7 transparency.  Not B&W I realize, but how 
does the camera lens know.  The through-the-lens MF cameras 
are truly beasts - let the young and strong haul these around.  
Similarly I gave up my 4x5 a long time ago, back when I had a 
wet darkroom and did a lot more B&W.   One of these days I will 
get an Epson 7000 or 9000 or somesuch and try my hand at 
B&W again with third party inks and papers.  Ah - life is too short. 

Tom Andrews
www.wildlandart.com  (warning! - color work only)


> Robert,
> 
> You wrote:
> 
> > didn't like the Pentax 67II that I tried a while back
> >(mainly because of mirror vibration).
> 
> For sharpness with a light tripod, even if you can lock up the 
mirror, the
> inherent vibration of focal plane shutters is a killer.  So, a leaf 
shutter
> was a requirement for me.  They are virtually vibration free.  For 
us
> backpackers, total system weight is critical, and a big, heavy 
tripod is
> unnecessary dead weight I no longer have any interest in.
> 
> So, one way or another, I think the leaf-shutter, MF rangefinder 
is the way
> to go if you don't need close-up capability.  (Flowers really don't 
make
> great B&W subjects, I've found.)
> 
> Paul