From the Arch Club Journal

The best medium format camera for travel, and the best 35mm for the studio

We read the forums, the shop guides and the reviews so you don't have to. Here is where the photographers agree.

Written by Arch Club. We shoot on a Mamiya 7 and a Canon EOS-1V ourselves, so read our picks with that in mind. Sources are listed at the end.

Medium format for travel

Medium format negatives are big, which usually means the cameras are too. For travel, photographers keep returning to one question: how much negative can you carry before the camera stays in the hotel?

I
Mamiya 7 II. The consensus pick.A 6×7 rangefinder about the size of a 35mm SLR. Quiet leaf shutter, flash sync at any speed and lenses that reviewers rank among the sharpest in medium format. The catch is price, and only a handful of lenses.
II
Mamiya 6. The smaller sibling.Square 6×6 frames and a lens mount that collapses into the body, which makes it one of the most packable interchangeable lens cameras in the format.
III
A classic folder. The lightest way in.Zeiss Super Ikontas and Voigtländer Perkeos fold flat enough for a coat pocket and still produce excellent negatives. Expect fixed lenses, older mechanics and a careful hand.
IV
Rolleicord. Small, simple, affordable.A twin lens reflex that forum regulars praise as light and modestly priced. Slower to use, but nothing to break.
V
Fuji GW670 and GW690. Big, but bulletproof.Huge negatives and very few controls. Travellers love the results and grumble about the size. Ours, the GW690II, gives 6×9 frames that need nothing but light.
The verdict: the Mamiya 7 II if you can, a folder if you can't.

35mm for the studio

In the studio, light comes from strobes, not the sun. That changes what matters: reliable flash sync, a proper sync socket for studio packs, full manual control and lenses that are sharp at f/8.

I
Canon EOS-1V. The modern professional.Canon's last flagship film body. It takes every EF lens ever made, works with today's flash triggers and has a sync socket for studio packs. Photographers who also shoot digital like that it handles exactly like their current kit.
II
Nikon F3. The studio classic.Decades of studio use, a sync socket and a famously clear finder. Its slow flash sync matters little indoors, where the strobe freezes the moment anyway.
III
Nikon F100 and F6. The quiet workhorses.Excellent metering and Nikon's deep lens range.
IV
Contax RTS. For the Zeiss look.Chosen less for the body than for the Zeiss lenses in front of it.
The verdict: the EOS-1V, for its lenses and its ease with modern flash.
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Shot on film at Arch Club

ARCH CLUB

A members' club for foot photography, shot only on film.

Every Arch Club photograph is made on a Canon EOS-1V, a Mamiya 7 or a Fuji GW690II, with real models in New York and never AI. Members receive new film photographs every month, and collectors can own the original negative, sealed in display resin with a print of their choice.

Membership$49.99/mo
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4×6 print$200
Negatives$1,100 to $2,000
Cameras35mm, 6×7, 6×9
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Sources we read

Published by Arch Club, Brooklyn, New York.