i had completely forgotten to write up an entry about my latest camera which i had received a couple of weeks back. it feels like forever since i've wanted to dabble in medium format. the Holga 120N was a great head start in understanding the wonders of the square format, yet it left me cold knowing that what i have been craving for was an actual TLR camera.
Meopta's Flexaret VII is nowhere near the Rolleiflex i have always dreamed of owning, but the camera in itself is a great introduction to the wonders of TLR cameras. earlier on i had strongly considered the Pentacon Six TL, but unfortunately the camera was a little bit over my budget, and truth be told it wasn't really a TLR.
the Flexaret VII comes equipped with a Meopta Belar 3.5/80 lens, which takes great pictures, to say the least. i personally had some trouble dealing with the parallax errors of TLRs. shots where i consciously make the effort to "correct" the errors aren't as nicely composed as shots i had forgotten to compensate for parallax errors. i suppose the errors aren't too extreme to begin with. the camera is a wonderful piece of precise machinery, and it is a joy to operate, starting from the loading of the film, to the crack of the shutter. that loud clanking sound when the shutter is clicked always yields satisfaction.
my test roll yielded some exciting results, and i certainly cannot wait to use this camera again in the near future, provided there are things to shoot and the monsoon season doesn't hamper with my walkabouts. plus the handling of a TLR is completely different than regular 35mm cameras, which makes using this camera even more interesting and fun.
(un)luckily for me, the camera also comes with the original hard leather bag that totally has that antique smell i absolutely cannot agree with.
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