leaf shutter on Mamiya

[katie h.]

I am considering buying a Mamiya 645 E camera and 70mm LS lens.

Please forgive me but I am new to MF and the idea of using a leaf

shutter in a camera with a focal plane shutter intrigues me. I have

read that:

 

"When using the leaf shutter that is built into the lens, you will

need to set the body's shutter speed to 1/8 of a second or longer to

prevent it from closing before the leaf shutter. Then set the

shutter speed using the ring on the lens. If using flash with the

leaf shutter, the flash sync cable must be plugged into the lens

rather than the body."

 

What other steps should I be aware of if I want to take advantage of

the leaf shutter lens. Do I need to lock the mirror up? Does the

shutter button on the camera trigger the leaf shutter and focal

plane shutter at the same time? All I have to do is flip a switch on

the lens, right? And if I plug my studio lights into the lens then

they will get set off too? This is so exciting/confusing. Thank you

for your help.

[david_holland1]

I use a LS lens with a Pentax 645N. I suspect that these comments will apply to the Mamiya as well, but hopefully a Mamiya user will step in and fill out the details and make the necessary corrections.

 

At least with the Pentax, other idiosycrasies are that the lens must be manually cocked for each shot and that some of the metering options are not available in LS mode. However, as you suspect, the shutter button trips both shutters, the leaf after the first focal plane curtain is fully open and before the second begins to close.

 

You shouldn't need mirror lockup just because it is as LS lens--only for the same reasons you normally would.

 

With the Pentax, the there is a focal plane position on the shutter speed ring, plus 4 shutter speeds (not a switch). The leaf shutter functions if one of the 4 shutter speeds is selected and the diaphram works automatically. In the focal plane position, it works just like any other Pentax lens, except that shutter priority program exposure automation are not available.

 

Your studio lights should fire when the shutter is tripped if the synch cord is plugged into the lens (the Mamiya RB/RZ work the same way). In practice, since the studio lights generally overpower the ambient light anyway and the flash duration is only about a thousandth of a second, the lens shutter will probably be more useful at locations where there is enough ambient light to cause ghosting if you use the focal plane shutter maximum synch speed.

 

My main use for the LS shutter is to balance ambient light with flash either to get the fill ratio I want with frontal lighting or to provide main illumination with back lighting.

 

Since my LS is a 135, since I normally want to keep shutter speed up to the inverse of the focal length or more, and since my Pentax synchs at 1/60 with the focal plane shutter, a LS lens is the only way to get to the higher shutter speeds with flash.

 

In additon, if you're shooting in fading afternoon light, if you start out with a slower film you get into some really slow speeds pretty quickly.

 

If I'm planning to hand hold, I use Portra 400. The 1/500 shutter speed is fast enough for correct exposure in full daylight as well as helping to control camera shake. And there are two more stops available before I get to the focal plane synch speed.

 

In the first case, if you want the flash to fill the shadow side at one stop less than the highlight, you would set the aperture for a flash output one stop less than normal and then use the lens shutter to provide the correct exposure for the highlight at that aperture. It may be counterintuitive at first, but if you are using an auto flash, you would use the auto setting for f/8 if your aperture is f/11. The flash then "thinks" it needs less light for the larger aperture and reduces the output.

 

In the second case, with backlight, you simply set the aperture for the flash and then use the shutter to epose correctly for the background at that aperture.

 

I don't know if this is exactly what you're looking for, so please feel free to clarify.

 

Also, if you want to see some shots that were done with flash and a LS lens, let me know and I'll email some.

 

One final thought: I use a hand held meter and don't bother with in camera metering. It's a lot faster.

[jonathan_brewer1]

Hi Katie

 

I have a Mamiya 645 Pro-TL which I use with the 150mm LS F3.8 lens, which along with the 80mm LS lens is one of the newer LS lenses, the 70mm leaf shutter lens is an older lens design and you'll have to manually cock the shutter everytime you take a shot.

 

The newer 150mm and 80mm LS lense have a cable you connect between the Pro-TL body and the lens which automatically sets the cameras shutter to 1/8 of a sec., if you get the motor drive 2 for the Pro/Pro-TL, the lenses shutter will automatically be recocked after each exposure, there are many Pro/Pro-TL systems for sale with a prism/back/motor drive 2 as a package, the newer design leaf shutter lenses are available for not that much more than the 70mm. If you decide to go for one of the new leaf shutter lenses, get one for sale w/the cable connect, since these are around $50.00 from Mamiya as a separate accessory.

 

All this may cost more that the 645E but not that much more,................... the price difference isn't to me ins't worth the hassle of having to manually recock the 70mm between shots.

[katie h.]

Great information! Thanks. David, that pretty much answers my question. I'd really like to see some of those fill flash pictures if you wouldn't mind sending me some.

 

Jonathan, I was not aware you needed to cock the shutter between each frame. You can do that without taking the lens off the body, right? That's good information to know about the newer lenses. Thanks for both of your help.

 

Katie

[carl photography]

Katie, I like my 645E outfit. I bought it because it was only one year old, and a used three-lens outfit was inexpensive.

 

But since you're new to MF, you might want to start with a used lens-shutter based system (e.g. Mamiya RB/RZ, Bronica, Hasselblad), if you really want a leaf shutter. However, additional lenses would be more expensive because they all contain a shutter.

 

Frankly, I find the Bronica ETR cameras and handgrips to be more comfortable to hold, compared to the Mamiya 645E camera and grip. And for tripod use, the 645E lacks a removable viewfinder which would provide more versatility.

 

As said above, you don't need a leaf shutter in the studio; only for balancing fill flash with sunlight.

 

"Brandon's Dad"

[david_holland1]

I'll be glad to supply a few images, but give me a bit of time. Check back in a day or so and I'll provide a path.

 

Cheers