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 Trying something new - Until the introduction of the Advanced Photo System or APS a few years ago, the vast majority of cameras allowed just one size and shape of image to be taken. In some ways it's a big advantage to know the exact picture proportions you are working with, as you soon gain an automatic sense of what can and cannot be incorporated into the frame.
For the professional or advanced amateur who shoots pictures every day using the same old picture ratio of 3:2 or whatever, you often yearn for a change - for something fresher, something a little different. That's why I decided to set myself a challenge, and try taking pictures with a completely new camera and a completely new image format. So I borrowed a Fuji GX617 in London, grabbed some Fujichrome roll-film transparency from the fridge and set off in the car for some locations in deepest, darkest Wales. The camera I'd chosen to wake up my weary senses was a medium-format model that takes just four pictures per roll of 120. The images are the usual 6cm deep, but an impressive 17cm long each. Yes, I'd chosen a panoramic camera, and from the moment I first inspected it I knew that things I took for granted were going to be very, very different - just what the doctor ordered.
One of the most noticeable initial differences was the speed of setting up and taking shots. Whereas with a 35mm SLR, or even my Mamiya RZ67 or Pentax 67, you can be loaded up and firing off in seconds, the Fuji GX617 takes ages to prepare. The elongated camera back hinges down and takes some acclimatisation before a film is loaded up properly. A range of unusual controls are placed in different positions too - it was like jumping in an unfamiliar car and expecting to drive fast straight away, in other words no chance. Apart from the odd film-loading technique, the lenses are strikingly different too. Each comes with permanently-attached protective bars, so that the front element doesn't get bashed around, I presume. Just like a large-format camera, all the shutter speed and aperture controls are placed around the leaf-shutter lenses, with little mechanical or electronic linkage to the camera body. Focusing is set by using a scale on the lens - again just like using a 5x4 inch camera.
On top of all that, you cannot view your subject through the lens as you can with any SLR. A separate viewfinder to match each lens has to be slotted onto the top of the body. These have bright line guides as to what the lens includes, so I carried around three lenses - a 90mm, 105mm and 180mm - plus three finders to match. No doubt this method was fine for distant subjects, but what about the parallax effect with closer ones? One of the first lessons I learned was that keeping the Fuji GX617 dead level is absolutely essential. If it's tilted to one side, the horizon obviously shifts and looks daft, but leaning the camera back away from the vertical also has a severe effect on the way a subject is portrayed if the wider lenses are fitted. There's a spirit level built into the Fuji body, and I doubled up by using two more - one built into my tripod and a small accessory version I've had for ages. Though it's relatively light at 2310g body only, I couldn't really envisage using this camera in hand-held mode, and kept it firmly attached to the top of my tripod.
Other quirky characteristics had to be quickly absorbed. You can't whip the lens off in mid-roll, for example, as there's no blind to protect the film. So if you fancy fitting a different focal length, you have to finish the film that's loaded, remove it, take off the old lens, fit the new one, and put in fresh emulsion. It's no big deal as only four shots are available per 120 roll, or eight per 220 length, and I always bracket either side of the recommended exposure my Gossen meter suggests. Which reminds me - there's no integral TTL metering device with the GX617 either, so you need a separate meter for exposure calculations. I'd set off looking for locations to suit the 6x17cm panoramic format, and soon found lots of suitable candidates in the north of Wales. Sweeping landscapes, elevated views, and even a suspension bridge fitted the elongated format perfectly. One aspect of the Fuji still troubled me, though - how to use filters to control the extra intensity of the sky area.
Eventually, by trial and error, I found a method that worked, though my Hitech system didn't function too well on the widest 90mm lens. Here the angle of view is so great that the lens could 'see' the protruding edges of the filter holder, and included them in the picture frame. It was a situation exacerbated by the fact that this lens needs a special neutral density centre-filter to produce even exposures right across the frame. This screw-on unit adds an important millimetre or two onto anything else hung off the front element. However things worked a treat with the 105mm and 180mm optics, and I was able to use a neutral density or coloured graduate filter to bring the sky illumination levels down within the contrast limits of the film. By borrowing the Fuji GX617 panoramic camera I'd gone to the format extreme, but there's no reason why you cannot try a similar ruse to freshen up your visual thinking. Lay hands on any unusual camera that you can - something that gives a different view of the world. Try for something cheap but wacky such as the square image 6x6cm Russian Lubitel - it can be yours for around £30. Or have a dash with an APS compact or SLR, to sample the three image sizes on offer. You'll find using a new image format helps you see pictures in a whole new light.
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