I can speak from limited experience, but a lot of research.
I ended up buying a Moskva 5, (A Zeiss Super Ikonta C Russian
Knockoff) The reason is the post WWII era, the Russian lenses were
all coated, and not all the Zeiss ones were. Also, it was 1/3rd the
price of the Zeiss, for what appeared to be better construction,
better materials, and a better lens. It cost me about $90. You can
find them on Ebay, they are folder cameras and so if you are going to
use them for travel, they are great.
Hassey's, you can't go wrong with them. The Mamiya's are a bit big,
but are work horses. If you are doing studio, then either is fine.
If you are travelling, then I would recommend the Hassey, as it's
generally more compact than the Mamiya's. That being said, the new
Contax 6x4.5 and the new Mamyia 6x4.5 are just beautiful, a huge jump
in size from the OM's, but they are going to give you 3 times the
image size.
The Zeiss Super Ikonta C, and thus the Moskva 5, they have a 6x9cm
film plane. So if bigger is better, then this is the best :-)
Of course, I don't have to tell you, a Hassey is going to cost you an
arm and a leg. So if you have the money, then pony up for the Hassey
and you won't be disappointed. If you are a student, Bronica
generally offers a student "package" that is everything you need,
body, film back, and 1 lens for something like 500ff the regular
price... if you are a student. One of my friends signed up for "PE"
at a local community college, got a student ID, went and bought a
Bronica set, and spent $55 for the 1 unit class, but saved himself
like $900 on the camera system. I don't know if that deal is going
on still or not, but you might check with your local camera shop.
I like my Moskva 5 because I can take it with me on trips, it folds
and is easy to store and use. It has a prism based focusing system
that is pretty accurate...
My $0.00026819084 (That's my 2 cents after federal taxes, FICA,
Medicare, Medical etc...)
Albert
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