Best Source for Mamiya 7II Kit?

I am in the market for a new Mamiya 7II kit with the 80/4. They are available

new through B&H Photo and there are at least a couple Asian sources on eBay that

are substantially less money. Does anyone have a

recommendation/suggestion/warning? Thanks in advance.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfrtsZ0QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ2QQsassZahmuayQQsbrsrtZd

Ben, you may get it much cheaper on ebay. Be aware, however, if the camera breaks, there are not many places to fix it. Mamiya repair will refuse to do it, unless the camera is made for US market. You may have a hard time to find someone else who know how to fix it.

I can't speak for the USA but there are certainly independent repairers in the UK that can and do mend Mamiya 7 cameras, obtaining their parts from the UK distributor. They exist partly on the basis of convenience, partly because the UK agent id very expensive for repairs.

 

That said there's a number of things you might usefully think about.

 

First if your camera breaks down under warranty the only way you're going to get it fixed under warranty terms is to send it back to the seller- which you might find inconvenient or undesirable.

 

Second if there is any form of dispute over the sale- condition /functioning of the camera on receipt for example- how confident are you going to be of having this resolved across continents? There are organisations (eg Robert White here in the UK) that will ship overseas and who I think could be relied on to do the right thing. Do you want to put the guy with the best offer on eBay in the same category.

 

Finally If you're going down a route that may preclude the use of Mamiya USA for repairs post warranty, then the time to locate a decent source of such repairs is now, not when you need them. If you can't find a repairer you're happy to deal with then paying less for the camera initially might not be so smart.

 

I keep asking myself why, in these days of global markets, national distributors are allowed to operate with such restrictive practices- which are frankly against the interests of the brand owner as well as the consumer. But thats another story.

I bought a grey market camera from the eB*y seller "ahmuay". It works fine, and I saved about $900 over the US version. MAC won't repair it, so I'll use Precision Camera Works:

 

http://www.precisioncameraworks.com/

 

That $900 savings will cover a lot of repair work!

Like the above poster I have experience with "Ahumay" and can recommend him without qualification.

 

I bought a body and 43, 80, 150 and 210 lenses.

 

BTW I recalibrated the longer lenses with new distance scales and use a lase rangefinder for very accurate manual focusing and depth of focus readings (Laser Technology, TruePulse 200).

Be sure to check with Midwest, mpex.com, and KEH. Both are reliable and you can trust the condition of their used equipment. I have purchased used LF lenses from both and they were indistinguishable from new equipment.

 

Good luck.

 

Eric

I also recommend the seller Ahmauy on the big auction site. Brand new, pristine equipment. MAC wont take the business if you need to repair something, warranty or otherwise. But as a previous poster stated, other firms such as Precision in Chicago do excellent work on these cameras. I have had my 7II with three lenses for over a year with no problems.

Does Mamiya in Canada service grey market cameras? I never saw such a wide disparity in retail pricing solely caused by a distributors markup.

A brand new M7II + 65mm lens for US$2K from an official distributor in Singapore.

I got the kit from Robert White in England, but he had a special going on that has probably

expired; I saved about $700.

Harvey, I cannot besure that the Toronto distributor of Mamiya (Dayman,

Kindermann, I forget which) services grey market as well, but there is at least one

qualified technician there that does some work off hours on Mamiya equipment and

who once repaired the shutter of one of my Mamiya 6 lenses. He works sometimes

through my independent Leica trained repair guy there. Contact me if you want to

have the Leica technician's number in ordr to have Mamiyawork done by his Mamiya

trained technician colleague.

That $900 savings will cover a lot of repair work!

 

That reasoning has precluded me in having bought new cars, ever. Some people need the piece of mind, I don't.

I can't imagine not buying used for this particular camera. KEH is very reliable, with a great

warranty. There have also been several listed recently on photo.net. That said, I admit that

the only new body I've bought in the last 10 years has been a Nikon D200. I don't think I've

ever bought a new medium format camera. Just my preference.

I wouldn't mind spending a bit extra for a US warranty. In this case, however, the price difference is beyond reason.

Canada seems to be a little more reasonable, Nikon and Mamiya are Neanderthals on this issue. I have new and used gear and they both work great. The same for cars. I would be inclined to find someone in the USA or Canada that is third party service but if the Canadian distributer takes care of grey market gears they would be my priority choice.

 

I have Mamiya tlr gear but at some point a Mamiya M7 with a wide angle lens would make a great landscape panoramic camera. Take 6x7 scan the negative and digitally crop it to say 30mm x 68mm and you have a big piece of film for blowing up the pano big in printing.

I bought a new M7II and lens kit from David White in the U.K., and had it shipped to me here in the U.S. a few years ago. I saved a ton of $$.

 

Camera arrived with the rangefinder out of alignment. I sent it back to David White and got a new replacement kit with no problems. David White paid the shipping on the new camera, too. Absolutely no problems on the return experience, and it only took a few days.

 

Since most people don't live within driving distance of a suitable repair shop for the Mamiya M7 cameras, all repairs have to be done through the mail. What difference does it make (except for a slight difference in shipping fees) when you box the broken camera up and send to the repairer whether they are in the U.S. or the U.K., as long as the shop is relaible? I would say the only difference is that you write a U.K. address on the box rather than a U.S. address.

 

JMHO.

 

--Randall