In January, I decided to part ways with one of my photographic ties to New York City. I had purchased my first medium-format camera for three hundred dollars in 2015. I forget the neighborhood—possibly Bushwick—but the camera that I had purchased was the Bronica SQ-Ai. I didn’t know much about its reputation at the time – that it was the poor man’s Hasselblad (and I was then, too, a stone’s throw from middle class), that it was popular among wedding photographers (I would go on to photograph my own common-law partner), or that one of its red flags were the faulty backs.
I had shelved the camera for five years during Covid before dusting it off and deciding to sell it. And so began a series of events that led me to use the camera once more, albeit a little bit differently.
I sold the camera and shipped it to Vancouver Island, only to learn from the buyer that it wasn’t firing, not even with fresh batteries. Three rolls of film were wasted, sighs were sighed, and frustration kicked the bucket of joy. Was my camera doomed to electronic failure? Was it … irreparable? I had the camera shipped back, processed the refund, and set out to diagnose the issue with the patient—my camera of course, not the buyer. The camera would fire without batteries on multiple exposure mode, as per the playbook, but it wouldn’t fire at 1/500th, either without batteries or with fresh ones. What else was there to do but turn to Google for help?
The literature suggested that the camera back might be the culprit. Indeed, the square back I had would keep winding the film past the first frame—the back wasn’t engaging with the camera body properly. Fortunately, we had another Bronica back on consignment, the 645 format one. I loaded it with dummy film, and presto—the pin engaged successfully with the camera body, and the roll stopped at frame one. I fired off shot after shot, winding the camera through to the end of the roll. To confirm the diagnosis, I repeated the process a few times. It turned out that the camera itself was fine—the issue was with the first back.
After developing my film at Rocket Repro and nursing my cold with an ocean of tea, I sat down to appreciate the 645 format. The resolution was an immediate standout difference. With sixteen pictures per roll, I had less than half the available exposures compared to my Nikon F2, but four more than if I had been shooting with my 6×6 back. This experience with the rectangular format and higher resolution is making me reconsider keeping my Bronica SQ-Ai and shooting more 645s in the future.
If you’re interested in experimenting with the format, we have the following 645 camera for sale on consignment: the Zenza Bronica ETRS sells for $900.00, and comes with an excellent Zenzanon EII 75mm f2.8 lens, prism, and back.
A Few 645 Tidbits
- The 645 format produces images with an aspect ratio of 4:3, which is similar to the aspect ratio of classic television screens.
- The negative size of the 645 format is approximately 2.7 times larger than that of 35mm film.
- Due to the larger size of the negatives, the depth of field will be shallower compared to 35mm cameras.
If your medium format camera seems to be malfunctioning, the issue may lie with the camera back, rather than the camera itself. My Bronica SQ-Ai was returned due to a perceived malfunction, but this unexpected turn of events led me on an adventure and presented an opportunity to explore a format I had rarely considered before. Sometimes, a returned camera may still be worth keeping.
Boris Riabov
