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| A t-shirt that I have had for several years. |
Almost 20 years ago, my mentor, Bill Brudon, gave me his Pentax 6x7 kit. He said it was too heavy for him to use at his age (80-ish), and as I was in my 40s, I thought the camera was just fine. At the time I was all over the place with my photography, trying to figure out what I really liked, and working through all those wonderful cameras that came my way. The 6x7 was large and heavy, and I lugged that camera around in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, thinking that I had the perfect camera for landscape photography. I took it on a trip to New Mexico in 2003, and took a few good photographs with it.
After a decade, I hadn't used it as much as I thought I would, and lured over by the much lighter Rolleiflex and Hasselblad to a 6x6 format, the old 67 didn't see much use. At some point, and I don't remember when, the 6x7 had a mechanical problem, so I ended up selling all the 6x7 stuff I had. In 2014, I was selling the photographic gear of a deceased photographer, and ended up buying a Pentax 6x7 that lacked the battery cover (easily remedied with tape and cardstock). The 90mm normal lens was all I had for some time, then I bought the 135mm macro lens for a lot less than I would have paid a decade earlier. Over a year ago, I picked up a box of Pentax 6x7 accessories at a thrift shop for $10. Among the items were two Pentax close-up diopters for the 6x7, which obviously sell for a lot more. This spring, I purchased the 55mm SMC Takumar lens - which is just what I needed to do landscape photography. Now that I'm in the Appalachians, I know that the 55mm lens and the 90mm will be used quite a lot. With the 10 negatives/roll of 120, I'll be more selective in my shots compared to using 35mm. Yes, using a camera like the 6x7 does slow down my photography, and that's probably a good thing.
To be honest, the Pentax 6x7 is a beast. It's a bit ungainly, but not as much as a Mamiya RB67. It's weighty (5 lb 6 oz), and at 63, I know that it's not the camera that I'll take on a hike in the woods. However, the negative size is perfect, and I am finding so many interesting things to shoot here in NC. It's all about the negative, though, and the 6x7cm negative has a lot to offer. I'll never be a large format shooter - it's just not my thing. A Fuji 6x9 "Texas Leica" has some appeal to me, but the Pentax 6x7 has great lenses from wide to telephoto, and the SLR has many advantages over a 6x9 rangefinder camera. Not that I don't love the 6x9 format - I do, but 6x7 is really nice, too. For close-ups and macro work, the 6x7 excels, and somewhere in my files I have transparencies of that early work that I did. I just did a bit of a look through my negatives from 2003, and here's one from the Guadeloupe Mountains near Carlsbad, NM.
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| Nothing spectacular, but proof I was there, I guess. |
At this point, I'll be selling some items to acquire some Pentax 6x7 accessories -- a waist-level viewfinder, for one. Low-angle shots really require one. I used to have the 200mm lens, which is great for portraits, so I just purchased one on eBay. I already have a lot of 35mm Nikon gear, so all of my Minolta SLR gear will be on the auction block soon.
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From 2002, UM Peony Garden, Fuji Superia
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