mattagucci

One of the reasons I started with a medium format film camera was the allure of “Sprocket Shots”, that is, exposing all of the film including the sprocket holes. The whole film is covered in emulsion so it can be exposed to light and then developed.

I 3D printed some adapters for 35mm film and a new take-up spool to keep the film centred.

After some initial research I also added a leader to the front of the film. If you add a leader of about 30cm, you can maximize the amount of shots you get from one roll of film.

I kinda got obsessed with the idea of medium format film. It started with wanting an anamorphic lens for my mirrorless camera. I wanted to jam more compression into my videos while retaining a wider field of view.

Somewhere along the way I was sucked into the magic and retro of analog film photography and found out that you could buy cameras with gigantic “sensors” much larger than full-frame. Initially my heart was set on a Mamiya RB67. Fully mechanical, big 6×7 negative, all the retro.

After a lot of consideration I started looking around for it’s smaller sibling, the Mamiya 645. Handily there was an absolute mint one for sale in Hobart.

Very soon after I loaded up my first roll of 120 film, Kodak Gold 200, and went for a drive. Here is my first roll of analog film ever:

When I got my scans back it was a rollercoaster of emotions. I almost nailed every exposure! I have light leaks! I have a lazy film counter that caused 2 photos to be taken off the roll! I really, really like the compression and sense of scale that medium format gives.

I had this roll developed and scanned with my local camera store. They did a great job. But I wanted to do it myself…