Pentax 6x7 on the street

I have owned a Pentax 6x7 since about 2001. It was given to me by my now-deceased mentor, Bill Brudon. It is not a camera that I use frequently, but I go through periods when I use it a lot for a short period. Mostly I use it on a tripod, as it's a pretty heavy beast, and that's one reason I don't use it for much than landscapes or portraits. The last year saw me trying something different. I figured that it deserved a try as a "street camera." Now, it's way too big to be a discreet camera, but I did re-attach the strap so that it could easily be carried over a shoulder and used hand-held. That means a film ISO of 400, so that I can shoot at higher shutter speeds. The mirror flip is loud, so this is not, I repeat, not a discreet camera!

Back in November, Marc Akemann and I went on a day-trip to Fenton and Holly, MI. The day was quite sunny, though the sun was getting low in the sky, causing long shadows. I used a roll of 220 Kodak Portra 400 VC that expired in 2007. Frankly, I was a little disappointed in the results. The shadows were really blocked up, so I probably won't use any more that film. The one thing that I had to be careful of is that the camera is easily banged into things, since it was hanging down from my shoulder, and the lens hood really sticks out. I quickly got used to the heft of the camera, and it's like shooting a Pentax Spotmatic on steroids.

Marc shooting with his trusty F100. His brother bought it for $25 at a yard sale.

Coffeehouse in Holly. It's a beautiful small town that has a nice antique mall district, small restaurants, and other shops.

Mural in Holly. This was taken in open shade, and the negative is lacking in contrast and seems underexposed.

Mailboxes, Holly. The 90mm lens is the "normal" lens for this camera, and vertical shots are fairly easy, as the camera has lots of "grippable area."

The plus side of the 6x7 format is that it is a big negative. Using 220, I can get 20 shots on a roll, which is a fair amount of shooting with a camera of this heft. However,220 is getting hard to come by, so in the future, I'll stick to 120 rolls. Some Kodak Tri-X will go for the next outing.