Cameras and lenses

135 format : I have used a Contax SLR system with all classical lenses : 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm. Then the zoom lenses: Vario-Sonnar 28-85mm and 80-200mm.

Digital : Canon 5D and 350D with 24-105mm, 70-200mm f/4 L zoom lenses, Zeiss Planar 50mm with adapter, Leica macro 100mm f2.8 with adapter.

Medium format. I have used Hasselblad V and Contax 645 systems. The Hasselblad V system was a love and hate affair, but the 200 series cameras were an outstanding achievement : simple and lightweight. Unfortunately they are no more being developed by Hasselblad, after switching to the H system. I have used 500 series and 200 series camera bodies. The 200 series is more a work of art rather than technical equipment, with silk-smooth operation. They used to be very expensive. Nowadays, they can be purchased cheaper but technical support and digital compatibility may be an issue. Lenses : 40mm, 50mm, 80mm, 150mm, 140-280mm zoom.

The Contax 645 is an excellent system which unfortunately was discontinued by Kyocera. It remains nevertheless an excellent choice and as long as user support is available I would recommend it. Lenses : 35mm, 80mm, 150mm, 140-280 zoom (with adapter). 

I also use a Kenko 2x HBF Teleplus MC6 converter for the Hasselblad. A test of this converter is here.

Scanner

Film and negative photographs in this site have been scanned using the following scanners : Leafscan 45, Minolta Dimage Scan Multi Pro with LEK upgrade and Imacon Precision II. You can find a comparison between the Minolta, the Leafscan 45 and the Imacon Flextight Precision II here. I currently (2007) use the Flextight scanner alone, and am now installing a Howtek Scanmaster 7500 drum scanner. As soon as the system is fully running, I will publish my considerations.

The Scanhancer is a device to be used in conjunction with the Multi Pro scanner. A test is available here .