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Tree trunks on a boulder at McConnels Mill State Park in Western Pennsylvania in the US. I saw this along the trail leading to the old Mill and was fascinated by how it looked. I was hoping to get a nice shot with my Mamiya 645. This exceeds what I hoped to capture.
Never underestimate the desire to expand.
Pentaxians have coined an acronym that neatly illustrates this fact: LBA - Lens Buyers Anonymous. It names those of us folks who never have enough lenses in our collections, or those who are buying, trading, selling, acquiring, casting-off their assortment of photographic glass. CBA is another acronym that applies here: Camera Buyers Anonymous. At last count, I have eleven cameras of various sorts.
This one, is a whole new ballgame for me.
A Rolleicord V, circa 1954-1957. It's a film camera, which takes 120mm film of 12 exposures with a resulting frame of 6 by 6 centimeters. It's a twin lens reflex, using the top lens for the viewfinder, which is used at waist-level, and the bottom lens for the film. All manual, no power of any kind on this camera. It's a finely machined photographic instrument made by Franke & Heidecke of top German quality.
How did I come by this beauty? A casual conversation with friends Don & Wanda, about photography. Don happened to mention that he had a Rolleicord, which, as Don put it, is the lesser brother to the more expensive Rolleiflex. I lit up with excitement, and let Don know that if he ever wanted to sell it, I'd be interested. A few weeks later, Don & Wanda knocked on my door, bearing this beauty as a gift. Wow! What a kind and generous couple they are! It was like Christmas all over again for me. Countless thanks to you, Don & Wanda for your friendship and kindnesses.
I have just scratched the surface in researching the camera, and begun the road to learning it's ways. I have some film, both color and black & white on it's way to me along with a manual for the camera. I'm looking forward to exploring this new to me photographic medium.
Medium format. That's what this niche of the camera world is called.
I can't wait to see what beauty of this world that I can capture on those 6 by 6 cm negatives.
I hope I never lose my quest for knowledge, or my enthusiasm at learning something new. It's what makes the world infinitely interesting.