My old twin-lens reflex, still in good working order. I believe this was the first of the Mamiyaflexes with interchangeable lenses, dating from about 1960. The lenses on the camera are 135mm, a mild telephoto length; the set leaning against the camera is 80mm, which is roughly equivalent to 50mm on a 35mm camera. The camera focuses with a bellows that extends surprisingly far, making macro work possible with a “paramender,” a gizmo that raises the camera so that the taking lens is in the position of the focusing lens when you’re ready to snap the picture.
Back in the days of film, 35mm was amazingly flexible and fast, but if image quality was paramount, medium format was what you wanted (or large format, if you were an obsessive type (and yes, I’ve done 4×5 as well)). 120 negatives are huge. They can record far more information than puny 35mm frames, and they are much easier to print. A medium-format black-and-white negative developed in PMK is as much fun as you can have in the darkroom.
Unfortunately, medium format was an order of magnitude more expensive than 35mm. There was no way I could ever afford a new Hasselblad. However, old but useable twin-lens reflexes were available for quite reasonable prices if you looked around a bit.
These old cameras can do excellent work, but their operation is totally manual. You have to set both the aperture and the shutter speed yourself. Consequently, the first accessory you need is a good light meter. The item on the right is a Gossen Luna Pro incident light meter. Used, it cost nearly as much as the camera did, and it was worth it.