Portrait work with Mamiya 7

I am really impressed with the sharp handheld landscapes and street

level photography that my new mamiya allows, (e.g. negs. sharp at

1/15sec). I really miss portraits though. Does anyone have advice

about any adaptors/ extensions etc that can be used to do portrait

work using a mamiya 7 system?

 

Do I have to rely on going back to the 35mm system or buy another MF

system

Try the 150mm, or maybe the 210mm.

I assume that when you say portrait work you mean tight head and shoulders shots. There is no really satisfactory solution for the fact that the Mamiya lenses for this system do not focus very close. However, the camera is great for environmental portraits, full to half body, etc. My friend has a wonderful shot of two teenage brothers taken with the Mamiya 7.

Are you talking about portraits or headshots?

I've seen excellent portraits with the M6 and a 50mm lens, like all the shots here:

 

http://www.fotowillem.com/paris/index.php

 

It depends on your definition of 'portrait.' What are you specifically referring to? There

have been a lot of discussions here recently about people (unnecessarily) equating

portraits solely with headshots.

I have a little test for you, take a photo of someone at the minimum focusing

distance, then take a pair of scissors and cut around their face, now how big is your

fragment of negative?

I may use an 85mm lens on my 35mm SLR on those rare occasions when I want what Jeff terms "head shots"; that focal length can provide the perspective I find appealing with that subject matter. If I use the 80mm lens on the Mamiya 7 and crop to the same 24×30mm film area I'd use for a 1:1.25 aspect ratio print from my SLR, I can work at my preferred subject distance to have the same perspective, and use a lens that is likely as sharp as the lens for my smaller camera. If I choose to crop less agressively, I can still shoot from my preferred distance and have both more of the subject <I>and</I> more film area than small format can offer for portrait use. <P>

 

It seems, though, that many people think of the 150mm f/4.5 lens for the Mamiya 7 when they think of portraits. That lens can focus only to 6.8 feet; at that distance, a 150mm lens will fill the 24×30mm area usable in a small-format 1:1.25 aspect ratio print of a subject 15 inches high�about a "head plus top of shoulders" shot of an adult.* If you need tighter framing, the lens might not work for you�but, then, the 80mm lens might. However, either lens can aproximate or equal the results from a 35mm kit for what you might consider "portraits". Notably, if you care to include more of your subject, you can still crop very liberally and still use more film area than 35mm film can offer. IMO, that's where the Mamiya 7 shines.<P>

 

*Calculated using the formulas in the Kodak Professional Photo Guide <P>