In 2009, my good friend Adrian suggested I buy a Contax 645 outfit, for my pending trip to India and Nepal. He said it has some of the most amazing bokeh of any camera system he’s used. I have to confess I took a bit of persuading at the time, as I thought most medium format outfits were perhaps too bulky and heavy to take on any extended journey.

Ethiopian Deacon, © Bruce Percy 2010, Contax 645, 80mm lens

Well, after a visit to a local second hand camera store, where they had plenty of the systems for around £950, I bought one. It was impossible to say no – once I’d raised the system up to my eye and peered into that gorgeous large viewfinder. Like an EOS camera on steroids, I had auto-focus, metering and it showed me the aperture and shutter speed in the viewfinder.

And because the standard lens has a focal length of 80mm, it behaves like any 80mm lens does – it has shallow depth of field! But with a field of view like a 40mm lens in 35mm land. Going medium format means you get a lot less depth of field for the same angle of view you get with 35mm. And shooting at f2 or f4 at 80mm results in some very shallow depth of field indeed.

Contax 645

I’m in the process of working towards making some new portraits, so I figured I needed to get round to getting a spare system. I never used to travel with any backup cameras, but over the last year or two, I’ve had a Mamiya 7 bite the dust in Patagonia (because I dropped it on its head) and a Hasselblad 503CX lock up on me in my travels to Iceland and Norway.

So tonight, after gazing at the second hand prices for the Contax 645 outfit spiralling to dizzy heights of around £1,700 for a decent system with standard lens, I’ve taken the plunge and bought my backup outfit. I feel relieved, because these babies have turned into gold dust of late. I’m amazed…. what exactly has happened in the intervening years since I first bought mine for £950 in 2009? It seems the power of the internet and one particular wedding photographer (just look up google for contax 645 and you’ll find him) has spurred loads of photographers to buy this system. And for good reason.

Tightrope Dance, Jaisamler, ©2009, Contax 645 and 140mm lens

The Contax system has amazing lens quality, and the bokeh that the lenses produce – particularly the standard lens of 80mm at f2, is just stunning. I found that this was the lens I used for 99% of my portrait images. I prefer to get in really close to my subjects you see.

I also have the 45mm, 140mm and the 210mm lens. I have used the 140mm lens once, for the indian girl on the tightrope that you see here. But most times, it’s the 80mm I use, and I tend to be around two feet away from my subjects when I do.

Ethiopian Deacon © Bruce Percy 2010, Contax 645, 80mm lens

I think it’s time I made some new portraits. It’s another side to my photography, which I feel I’ve been neglecting. It’s been a concentrated few years running a workshop business.

If you like portraiture, and you’re in the market for a medium format film system (the Contax 645 can be used with digital backs too), then I would look no further than this system. But you’d better act now, as the prices have really gone up of late and I don’t see them coming down.

Recently, I’ve started to use Hasselblad cameras quite a bit. It all stemmed from a feeling that I wanted to shake up my process a bit. I normally use a Mamiya 7II camera and as much as I love it very much and it works so well for me, I felt I’d like to work in square aspect ratio and see how that would affect my judgement and compositions. It’s been a very quick adaption for me, and I’ve found I’m really enjoying the square format quite a lot. I’m also enjoying seeing through the lens too, something I did not do with the Mamiya camera (and that’s a beautiful process in a way as well – having to conjure in my mind how the final image will be, by using an approximate viewfinder – is a great tool for strengthening your sense of vision and compositional muscle).

Anyway, i’m writing this post today, because I’ve noticed that the resolution I’m seeing coming out the 50mm CF f4 lens I have, although is nice, it is nowhere as detailed compared to the Mamiya 7 50mm lens. I know the Mamiya lenses are in a league of their own, so in many ways, it’s no surprise that I feel the Hasselblad 50mm lens is less of a stelar performer when compared with the Mamiya’s wide angle competitor.

What I would like to ask though is, if you are a Hasselblad shooter of the 5xx series, can you tell me if the FLE version is much more detailed than the standard CF in terms of resolution? I’ve been shooting mine around f11, and it’s not as sharp as the Mamiya’s 50mm at f22! I’d like to consider moving to the FLE version, but only if it’s waranted. I see no MTF information on the web, so would be interested to hear your point of view.

Of course, the real proof is for me to go out and get one and try it for myself. That’s ultimately the only way I’ll know for sure. But I’d be interested in hearing from you anyway.