I started a new job recently, so my photography, especially the ever-time-consuming film portion, has taken a back seat to, well, working. I knew I just needed a weekend to find a little bit of inspiration to hop back into it. I visited my family and, per my dad’s recommendations, visited a small town, a twenty minutes drive away, to check out a vintage camera shop. It’s owned by a lovely octogenarian by the name of Mort. Mort’s grandfather owned a photography studio in the late 1800s/early 1900s in Kansas City where he’d photograph every vaudeville act that drove through. Mort found all these negatives and has 11×14 prints for sale of the vintage photographs (and not ‘vintage’ how hipsters use it, but actual vintage.) The photograph prints are really just the icing on the cake for this shop. Mort has been collecting cameras since the 1940s (which makes me wonder if he’s not an octogenarian but a nonagenarian…old, regardless).
He has shelves of film cameras, lenses, movie cameras, Leicas, Nikons, Canonets, etc…and then he even has rare 11×14 portrait cameras from the early 1900s. Mort has everything physical relating to film photography, and yet most people who entered the store bought prints or just looked around. I was specifically on the hunt for a TLR camera. He had a good group of 120mm medium format cameras, but only 3 twin lens reflexes. Two were Rolleiflexes, out of my price range by a good 200$, and the other was the first camera he took out of the display case to show me.
The Mamiya C330f, an early 1970s Japanese TLR. The camera was as sharp and pristine as the Rolleis, but within my affordability. It came with an 80mm f2.8 lens, but has an interchangeable system with some of the best Japanese made TRL lenses. –Per research, I believe there’s a 20mm, 50mm, 80mm (which originally came with the camera), a 105mm, and some sort of line of super telephoto lenses, maybe a 180mm or so.
Mort had the 20mm wide angle, but I stuck with the 80mm and told him I’d save up and come back for the 20mm. 🙂
With older women walking around wanting to buy prints, Mort seemed incredibly happy that someone had come to buy one of his cameras. He went through every step of the camera with me to make sure I walked out knowing how it worked (I’ll write up a tips and tricks for the C330f sometime soon, since it does have some really nice features.) I spent just a little more than I’d wanted to buy a Japanese version of a Rolleiflex, but I’m very happy and excited with this buy. A Mamiya is a great camera for someone who doesn’t have that Rollei budget, but wants to dive into 120mm. So far, I’ve shot a few test rolls, and everything is in working order, just as Mort had said. (My first question about the Mamiya to him was, “Does it work okay” his response was “It’s my camera, it works more than okay!”)
Photos and review of the C330f coming soon.
–I have a roll of freshly shot HP5+ 120mm in a stand develop of Rodinal (yet another thing to get excited about) so I’m sure more posts to come.
Happy shooting!
Retro Glass Photos 
i’m waiting to see the images from celluloid 🙂
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