Mamiya 645 Super

[greg_kosh]

Is this camera any good?

More importantly - will accept a digital back on the market??

Thanks

[bueh]

What do you mean by "any good"? I guess you can say that any camera that was used by a lot of professional photographers must be <i>any</i> good. Some say that the Super had sometimes film flatness issues and argue the M645 1000s was better, although that camera had no interchangeable backs. Both share the same lenses, which are excellent and more important than the body anyway in my humble opinion.<p>

As far as I know, the 645 Super accepts digital backs by Heidelberg, Jenoptik, Migavision, Phase One and Rollei. But I don't know the details.

[wayne_crider4]

Film flatness issues would be a problem with the back. I own a Super and

have no such problems. It's a fine camera and in capable hands as good as

anything else. At the recent prices, I think it a reasonable cost way into MF

photography.

[david_surowiecki1]

I think the camera is pretty good overall. Not as nice as the Contax or a Hasselblad, but i'm pretty happy with it, especially with a digital back. I use it with the Imacon 22 megapixel back, and the images look phenomenal. With film, i think my Pentax 67 gives me images with a nicer feel, and my friends who shoot with Hasselblad with the same digi back have images that are a bit crisper, but the Mamiya is a nice balance between cost and flexibility of use.

[jim_mcbride]

I have been very happy with this camera as my principal medium format film camera. I

have used Mamiya for over 25 years and have quite a few 645 system lenses which I hope

will be useful when I eventually get around to investing in a compatible digital back. Any

information about prices for compatible digital backs for the M645 Super would be much

appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[lukep]

<p>This camera is not bad, especially at the prices you can get it for these days. I am not sure about the digital back situation, but if there are backs out there that will work with it it would seem like a particularly low cost digital platform to work with, with a lot of lenses available cheap on Ebay.<br>

Now, for build quality, you notice with these small Mamiyas, they are not Rolleis or Hasselblads. They feel plasticky and a teeny bit cheap if you don't mind me saying so. They do the job though. There are two prism heads - a metering and a non metering. Now, it depends how considered your photography is. If you don't mind pokin about with a light meter, the non-metering prism is fine. Otherwise get the metering one, for more money of course.<br>

As for the lenses, I think Mamiya glass is pretty good. However, if I compare side by side, grain for grain with my Nikon 35mm lenses, they are not as good. i.e. the Nikon glass is sharper IMO. To be expected. Nikon have invested '000s more man-hours into developing '000s more lenses than Mamiya. But Nikon can't give you 6x45 frame size, so that's the trade off. From my experience also, build quality is an issue with the lenses. Of four lenses I own, one works fine with good image quality. One works, with soft focus problems, two do not stop down (the little sprung lug has gone that shuts the diaphragm). I bought them all second hand, for not much money, but it has been disappointing. There is no point in repairing, since they can be bought cheaper off ebay. Mamiya have told me to service an 80mm costs £60 + parts, handling and VAT. No way! These quality issues and the age of the system now would give me grey hairs if I were a pro and this my only tool.<br>

As MF SLRs they are a good purchase. Lenses are affordable, you can get polaroid backs, lock up the mirror and change backs. ie. all the versatility and control a MF SLR should give you in a compact, affordable package. As such, there is a certain future-proofness about them. MF image sensors are starting to be popular, but don't look like exceeding the 645 frame size, possibly ever. No need! This is making the RBs, RZs etc. start to look sluggish and obsolete... not the 645s.<br>

Ultimate image quality-wise, you will do better with a Pentax 67 or an RB 67 or a Mamiya 7, or a Hasselblad. But you'll pay more, and lose some of the compact control the 645 super gives you.</p>