Mamiya 7 11 advice needed!

hello, i'm a photography student and I'm interested in buying a medium format mamiya 7 11 rangefinder, I

want to know if this is a good choice? what are the pros and cons? and what pricing should I be looking at

second hand with a standard lens. Is it an all round good camera suitable for a range of uses, eg,

documentary/ studio? what are it's limitations?

I'm not familiar with using rangefinders, will it take me a while to get the hang of looking through the view

finder?

thanks very much!!

I looked into buying this camera, but instead bought an SLR (the Mamiya 645 af). From my research, the prices were around 1200 to 1400 USD. What was attractive about this camera was the very sharp lenses, the 6x7 format and the small size compared to other 6x7 cameras. Rangefinders are also quieter than SLRs and they don't have that mirror slap which can cause your images to be slightly less sharp.

 

The reason I decided not to buy this camera was that framing is less precise, so it would not be as good as an SLR for portraiture. The other thing I did not like was that all the lenses were too slow. I think f4 was their fastest lens. I love low light photography, so this made me turn to an SLR too. I do wish I had both cameras! But I'm not rich, so I went for an SLR.

 

I am not sure, but I think the Mamiya 7II was also leaf shutter, which would make daytime fill flash easier than a focal plane shutter. You might want to look that up to make sure though.

Simon, if you will take the trouble to do a simple search on this forum, you will find lots of information, some of it written by me, on the camera.

 

It is a wonderful but limited instrument. It has fabulously sharp lenses but only a few. It lacks interchangeable backs, does not focus close and and can be tricky to focus. Framing is a bit of a guess at times and macro is essentially impossible. It has leaf shutters so will synch easily with any flash.

 

Most people, myself included, do not use it as a primary MF camera but love it for travel and hiking since it is lightweight and can be easily hand held since there is no mirror flapping around to cause vibration.

 

There... now you probably don't need to search but it still might enlighten you and be a useful tool in the future when looking for readily available information.

 

Eric

I agree with the points made by Eric Brody above. To these you can add a lack of ability to see depth of field TTL and a somewhat quirky exposure meter that in essence reads from the same area no matter what lens you have fitted. The Mamiya 7 is a great camera, and I wouldn't want to be without mine, but if you want one camera to do everything decently well, this ain't it. Look at the MF SLRs such as Hasselblad, Bronica, Pentax and indeed Mamiya.

I agree with the posts above - the Mamiya 7 is a fine camera and a real pleasure to shoot with. The lenses are first class and the results can be superb. However I found it did not suit my style of shoting where I like to maximise depth of field from as close as possible to as far away as possible. In the end I gave up on it and sold the lot. If digital had not diverted me I would probably have gone for a MF SLR either a Pentax 67 or a Hasselblad/Bronica.

The Mamiya 6 is a cult camera, in the sense it is smaller (collapsible front mount), has great but limited lenses, and can be purchased at lower price. Mine haven't been exactly trouble free, but no really expensive repairs to date.

 

A close up attachment gets you to a few feet of the subject with normal lens and a polarizing filter attachment works quite well. I personally don't have any trouble with depth of field, as I am used to calculating all that from past RF experience, and the VF is OK when one gets used to it.

The lack of close focusing and the lack of a lens around 110mm to 120mm are disadvantages for me (for close portraiture).

Great camera but it took me one roll of film to know I hated the range finder aspect of it.

I love my Mamiya 7 II. But it's not my first rangefinder, and it's not my first MF camera. I'd suggest that you try an inexpensive 35mm rangefinder first - an Olympus ot Minolta fixed lens would be good choices. Then you'd go into this understanding rangefinder limitations.

 

If you really want 67, look into the Bronica GS-1. Leaf shutters, excellent lenses, and more compact than comparable Mamiya cameras.

I also use a Mamiya 7 and I like it very much, especially as a travel camera. However, I don't

think a rangefinder is the right choice for the studio. Also, it is expensive.

Simon, a response on this question needs qualification. It all depends on what you want to do with it, what you are used to using and how adventurous you are willing to go. With the Mamiya 7II, you may well discover a different and hugely enjoyable way of working. No, it?s not the camera for studio portraits. Documentary, yes.

 

As for some of the limitations noted above, here?s my take:

 

Limited range of lenses? How many do you need? I have two wide angles, a 43mm and 50mm; both are wonderful and the best you'll find. The 80mm standard lens is great; people rave over the 65mm and 150mm and I find the 210mm very usable for scenics. Slow at f4? People forget that you can hand hold the Mamiya 7II at slower shutter speeds than an SLR because of the lack of mirror and shutter vibration. And you're not looking through the lens so the viewfinder isn't dim. And the lenses are very sharp at f4 because of their non-retrofocus (non-SLR) design. It won't focus closer than 1m, so if you want closer you'll need another camera for those shots. I find the viewfinder great. Of course you have to know that photos don?t have the infinite depth of field that you see in the viewfinder, but, hey, photographers are supposed to know that!...so you have to check the DOF scale on the lenses. On the other hand, SLR viewfinders show you the DOF of the lens when fully open and unless you shoot wide open all the time, that's not what you'll get in your photo, either. Do you really close down to evaluate DOF for each shot? The lens DOF guides, used with a 2-stop correction, are better than a low-magnification enlargement on a dim viewscreen when the lens is stopped down. How will you like the viewfinder? You'll just have to try it out to know. The Mamiya 7II requires thought in use and your response to it will depend on how flexible you are in learning to like some things to gain other things. Regards, Rod.

It's a nice camera. Issues for me as as follows:

 

The 85 - 100% frame lines (depends on where you focus) drives me nuts.

 

Close focus is an issue

 

Focusing on repeating patterns (railings, sand ripples etc.) is hard

 

The 'everything in focus' viewfinder is not to everyone's taste. Don't forget to focus!!

 

Use handheld is quite limited if you need any kind of dof at all since you need stop down which quickly get you into 1/15 and below. This is a pain for any near/far landscape compositions and the main reason I don't use it much.

 

Can't easily use ND grads

 

Metering is 'different' with different lenses since it is not TTL eg. with a tele it is close to centre weighted and for a wide it is closer to a spot.

 

Lenses are hellishly pricey but amazingly good. Wides can need an external finder.

I shoot all my landscape images with a Mamiya 7II, and I love it.

 

However, since it is a rangefinder, it comes with all the rangefinder advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages have been mentioned above and include being hard to focus, hard to use ND filters, imprecise framing up close, minimal telephoto options, etc. The advantages including no mirror slap and a quieter shutter cycle.

 

One advantage of the rangefinder design that does not get mentioned often is that there is no mirror interposed between the rear element of the lens and the film plane. This allows for an inherently better lens design because the lens can sit closer to the film. And the Mamiya 7 series cameras take advantage of this feature to produce the best lenses in MF!!

 

By "best," I mean high resolution, good contrast, and minimal distortion (especially with the wide angle lenses). Consequently, the Mamiya 7 series cameras produce absolutely outstanding and stunning images.

 

If image quality is highly important to you, AND you can live with the disadvantages of the rangefinder design, then the Mamiya 7 series cameras are a great choice.

 

JMHO, FWIW, etc.

 

--randall<div></div>