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Which one: Bronica GS1 vs Mamiya RZ67 vs Pentax 67?


dan_clark

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I've been into 35mm photography for over 35 years. It has been fun, but I long for a larger image. I've ruled out Large Format, because of complexity and hassle. I focus on (pardon the pun) landscape and some wildlife photography. I'm looking for a camera system that is relatively portable, can be handheld at times and produces very good images.

 

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Right now, I'm looking at the Bronica GS1, Mamiya RZ67 ProII and the Pentax 67. All are good cameras, but after reviewing as much data as possible and handling them in a camera store, I've formed some initial opinions. The Mamiya is an excellent camera, but is very expensive, very heavy and seems to work best as a studio camera. The Pentax looks to be well built and has nice lenses, but is an old design and feels somewhat awkward. The Bronica feels light and handy, and seems well built. But I'm concerned about the lack of lenses and about it's long-term ability to survive in the future.

 

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Any opinions about these cameras, especially in comparison to the Bronica?

 

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Thanks in advance from a medium format beginner.

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I apologize for offering a non-answer and sincerely hope that others will address your specific concerns with these three cameras. But I just wanted to point out that if image quality is your primary concern, then generally large format might be better for landscape and 35mm for wildlife, especially the very long telephotos by Nikon and Canon (500 mm and up). MF will still give you beautiful landscapes and there are some long lenses available (especially for the Pentax), but good MF wildlife photos are rare and wonderful indeed. It is sometimes better to use different formats (and different cameras) for your varied photo interests rather than asking one camera to do it all -- and it can be less expensive. A used Fuji 6x9 and a used long Nikon might give you more pleasure and better results than a MF system camera.
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I can only attest the the reliability I've had with an SQAi I owned and my present ETRSi. They have been excellent. Also, while there aren't a ton of GS lenses, they do seem to cover the important focal lengths.

 

 

 

Unlike 35mm where you might select a comprehensive range of lenses, I think you will find that anywhere from 2 - 3 (maybe 4 max) lenses are plenty. I do all sorts of applications with 3, could probably live with 2, but I want one more <g>.

 

 

 

I also have a Pentax 67 and while it's not graceful, you'll not find it awkward once you get used to it. The images are excellent.

 

 

 

The decision should probably weight heavily on whether interchangeable backs are a must for you and if you need leaf shutter lenses. Those are things you cannot correct with the Pentax (I know they have 2 LS lenses but not at convenient focal lengths for me - that's why I have both the ETRSi and the 67). I should add a convenient and affordable polaroid back is another Bronica/Mamiya advantage. But, there are other ways around this.

 

 

 

If the Bronica "felt right" to me, I wouldn't hesitate.

 

 

 

Mike

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Just a comment: I like waist level finders and portrait composition even in scenery composition.

The Mamiya RZ or RB are the only one to offer these, for the others you have to use a prism finder for portrait composition.

 

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That was the reason for me to opt for a 6*6. You shoot it square and

crop it afterwards. Ok, you waste some film, and the effective image area is roughly half of 6*7, but the camera is also smaller

than the Mamiya (which in fact is a 7*7 square). The GS1 and Pentax require a prism which is expensive and makes the hole thing heavy.

 

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You can do the same with a 6*7, use a wider lens

and crop it down to a portrait pic. To my knowledge Bronica does a 645 magazine with protrait orientation, so that you wouldn't even waste film.

(sorry the comment got slightly long)

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Dan, I own an RZ, have used it outside and think that its weight and bulk are overstated (I'm not a small person though). I took it recently on a safari in East Africa and took some landsape/wildlife shots (I don't yet have a long lens, so tightly cropped wildlife was out - elephants 8 metres from the car filled the shot even with the standard lens though!).

 

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I think the point made about the suitability of an RZ for nature is good. If you're into tightly cropped bird pictures, an RZ with 500mm lens and 1.4x tele converter is probably not the way (it's certainly not the cheapest way). If you only used MF for short/wide pictures then something like a Fuji rangefinder would be lighter and cheaper.

 

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The RZ is expensive, although in the UK it is very well priced currently (that probably doesn't help you though!). I have heard a lot of good things about the Bronica - it's certainly lighter, although the non-rotatable back is a setback (incidentally, I like using the waist level finder, but it's not very practical for shooting out of a vehicle window - you would probably need a prism to shoot from a vehicle or hide anyway). The reason I rejected the Bronica was that it seems unpopular in the UK - it was difficult to hire lenses, and there's very few used lenses on the market.

 

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You should attempt to hire these cameras before buying. I wrote a reply to a recent question 'Mamiya RZ67' where I described how to use an RZ if you've just hired one - this may be of use to you.

 

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Good luck.

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Joachim Hein wrote

 

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"Just a comment: I like waist level finders and portrait composition even in scenery composition. The Mamiya RZ or RB are the only one to offer these, for the others you have to use a prism finder for portrait composition."

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"The GS1 and Pentax require a prism which is expensive and makes the hole thing heavy."

 

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Pentax offers a "Waist level folding focusing hood" as well as a "Rigid magnifying hood", and Bronica offers a Waist Level Finder. I sometimes remove the prism from my Pentax and look right at the focusing screen to get a better feel for the overall composition. As far as expense, B&H lists the P67 body for 999.99 and a TTL prism for 439.95, that's 1439.94 total. The Mamiya RZ-67 with waist level finder is 1899.00.

 

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In response to the original question, I love my P67 for landscape work and general nature photography. The camera handles like a large, heavy slr, I've never found it to be awkward. I almost always use a tripod, even with 35mm, because I've become a stickler for sharpness. It has a nice selection of lenses, and all I've used have given great results, plus they're more affordable than the other brands.

 

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I have had only limited success using the P67 for wildlife work. My longest lens at this point is the 200mm with the 1.4x converter, which is equivalent to 140mm in 35mm. The longer mf lenses just get too expensive for my budget. For wildlife I still prefer my 35mm with 400mm lens and occasional converter. It's difficult, expensive and heavy to get that much telephoto reach with medium format.

 

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Hope this helps. Regards, Jim

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Sorry to nit-pick Jim, but the key words in Joachim's comment were portrait and waist level. The point he was making was that only the RB/RZ allow you to compose portrait format in the WLF - the Pentax and Bronica both have fixed landscape formats, so for portrait format composition a prism becomes necessary (unless you're a contortionist).

 

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On the subject of rotating backs - the original poster may also wish to have a look at the new Fuji 6x8 cameras. Fuji has removed the front shift/tilt from one of them to lighten the system up, and now believes it has a handholdable system.

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For landscape the Pentax 67 with a 45mm lens makes a great combo! Always use a tripod and mirroe lock-up where possible. As a wildlife camera I would pass. The 600mm lens weighs a ton. It comes with a huge box!!! However, there a couple of world class wildlife photographers that use it!

 

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If your primary use is landscape, then I would suggest the Pentax. The RZ 67 and Bronica GS 1 are superior studio cameras!!!!!! Application is everything. I have a couple of friends that shoot for Arizona Highways Magazine that swear by the Pentax 67. I sure love mine.

 

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Steve

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OOPS, You're right about the vertical format, I misinterpreted "portrait format". Please accept my apologies. (Somehow I can't get used to that phrase-ology, inspite of the fact that my printer setup also says portrait/landscape. My engineering background continues to dominate...vertical/horizontal.)

 

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Regards, Jim

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