{"id":48414,"date":"2026-04-07T23:02:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/?p=48414"},"modified":"2026-04-07T23:02:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:02:24","slug":"ep286-medium-format-mini-baby-rolleiflex-4x4-60mm-f3-5-with-lucky-shd-400","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/blog\/48414","title":{"rendered":"EP286: Medium Format mini \u2014 Baby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5 with Lucky SHD 400"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nRoll #286<\/p>\n

Film: Lucky SHD 400 (repackaged by Taobao seller \"\u9280\u7c92\u5b50\u6392\u5e8f\")
\nDeveloped & scanned: Violet Color, 2025\/9\/10
\nCamera: Baby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

A few days ago, the algorithm served me a listing for a Fujifilm GFX 50R \u2014 or maybe the 50S, I can't remember \u2014 priced somewhere around 50,000 NTD. Not bad, I thought. Digital medium format is actually within reach now. But when I dug into the specs, something felt off.<\/p>\n

Having shot medium format film for years, the formats I know are 6x6, 6x7, and at the smallest, 645. I briefly owned a Fujica GW690 with its 90mm f3.5 lens ages ago \u2014 massive negative, but I never warmed up to that lens, so I shot a few rolls and moved it on. Anyway, the point is: the smaller the format, the more \"ordinary\" the results feel compared to 135 film. So imagine my surprise when I found out the GFX sensor is only 43.8mm x 32.9mm. The Hasselblad X2D and Pentax 645Z are in the same ballpark too. That's actually smaller than the 127 format used by today's subject, the Baby Rolleiflex 4x4. I'd honestly never been sure whether 127 counted as medium format \u2014 now I know. It does. A tiny, pocketable slice of medium format.<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#1
\nWorth noting upfront: this repackaged roll had serious light leak issues, which is a real shame. 127 film isn't easy to source, so I usually grab it from Taobao \u2014 search \"127 \u81a0\u5377\" and a couple of sellers come up. This shot is a typical Taiwanese diner setup; I was having beef noodle soup for lunch.
\nBaby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5 (1\/30, f3.5)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#2
\nThere was a stretch where I was practically living at this MOS Burger, laptop open. I remember taking this one \u2014 I balanced the camera upright on a YouBike saddle to get the shot, but I'd completely blanked on how to use the self-timer on the Baby Rolleiflex. Three attempts, only one came out without camera shake.
\nBaby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5 (1s, f8)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#3
\nAnother attempt at figuring out the self-timer. The Baby Rolleiflex really is a cool little camera \u2014 mostly because of how absurdly small it is. Holding it in your hands just feels different from the full-sized Rolleiflex. More playful, somehow.
\nBaby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5 (1\/2, f3.5)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#4
\nWhenever medium format comes up, someone inevitably brings up that \"air-cutting\" quality \u2014 that razor-thin separation between subject and background. My take: that effect really comes from longer focal lengths, not format size. The Pentax 6x7 with the 105mm f2.4 is the gold standard for that look \u2014 one frame and the scene slices apart like theater flats. The Baby Rolleiflex, being the mini that it is, gives you nice bokeh, sure, but there's no slicing going on.
\nBaby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5 (1\/2, f3.5)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#5
\nA Saturday beer. The iPad next to the can was confiscated from my son. Unfortunately, the poor quality of this repackaged film makes everything look muddy \u2014 which is a shame, because I'd been genuinely excited to see how the Baby Rolleiflex would handle black and white.
\nBaby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5 (1\/2, f3.5)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#6
\nMy brother got my son a Mario Kart set \u2014 it's actually Luigi, but close enough. XD
\nBaby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5 (1\/2, f3.5)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#7
\nAround this time I was running a black diffusion filter on my digital camera pretty much constantly.
\nBaby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5 (1\/2, f3.5)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That's the full roll \u2014 Baby Rolleiflex 4x4 paired with Lucky SHD 400 black and white film. Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roll #286 Film: Lucky SHD 400 (repackaged by Taobao seller \"\u9280\u7c92\u5b50\u6392\u5e8f\") Developed & scanned: Violet Color, 2025\/9\/10 Camera: Baby Rolleiflex 4x4 60mm f3.5 - A few days ago, the algorithm...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1897,1997],"tags":[2039,2040],"class_list":{"0":"post-48414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lucky-shd-400","8":"category-baby-rolleiflex","9":"tag-iso-400-black-and-white-film","10":"tag-2040"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/006687012708.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48414"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48424,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48414\/revisions\/48424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}