Mamiya cameras RIP ?

[miles_hecker]

The Mamiya web site (mamiya.com) has been down for over a week.

The Mamiya camera division has been known to have sizable loses the

past two years.

 

Knowing this I visited a friend who owns a large camera store and is

the Mamiya dealer for Wyoming. He phoned the Mamiya wholesaler who

he's on quite good terms with and asked what's up? The answer "don't

be surprised if you see an announcement ending Mamiyas presence in the

MF camera world in the next 30 days...".

 

Very Interesting!!

Bronica & Contax gone, Mamiya soon to follow...

[jim_foley4]

Site in Japan is still up.

http://www.mamiya-op.co.jp/home/camera/eng/index.html

 

Hope it's not true.

[danny_liao]

I love my RZ. I hope it's not true either. But does this mean the ZD is ready for shipment????

[douglas_green1]

That would be a surprise. I would have thought that Mamiya would be duking it out with Hasselblad to be the last man standing. Given the breadth of their product offerring, I should have thought that they'd be much more likely to consolidate around the 645 and one offerring in the 6x7 space.

[jay ott]

Why do the rumors on here always begin the same way? Dealer X is a good friend of manufacturer rep Y and says "yada, yada, yada"? Rumors sometimes turn out to be true and sometimes they turn out to be partially true and other times wrong and therefore can _never_ be trusted so the mods usually delete threads based on hearsay and speculation.

[kevin_hundsnurscher]

It's looking like Hasselblad has won the digital MF battle. So far, all I ever see magazines shooting with are Canon's and H1s.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Just got off the phone with a contact of mine at Mamiya America Corporation. What i was

told was that they have been having server problems and are switching servers and

supposedly will be back up and running later today.

[ellis_vener_photography]

<I>So far, all I ever see magazines shooting with are Canon's and H1s.</I><P> I think

Annie Leibowitz, Mark Seliger and a bunch of other photographers who use the RZ67

regularly (among other

cameras) will find that conclusion very surprising. but yes the Hasselblad H1 runs rings

around all other 6x4.5 cameras on the market.

[schristian1]

The UK site is still up and running

[kevin_hundsnurscher]

An RZ67 with a film back, sure.

[andrewlamb]

"So far, all I ever see magazines shooting with are Canon's and H1s."

 

Not sure how you 'see' these things.

 

One example:

 

Glenn Luchford has been on photonet himself to talk about his shooting

methods and explained how he used the Mamiya 645 with a digi back. This is

someone who shoots YSL and Prada campaigns.

 

No more sweeping generalisations please :)

[mark_tompkins1]

Jerry Avenaim uses RZ67 and 645AFD with digital back.

[ellis_vener_photography]

I have now spoken at length with with someone very high up the chain at Mamiya America

Corporation, Lorenzo Gasparini. Mr. Gasparini says that the rumor "Miles Hecker" is

trying to spread is completely baseless and he isn't sure that MAC even has an official

dealer in Wyoming.

[miles_hecker]

Ellis, the dealer is Saunders Camera located in Casper, Wyoming.

Owned by Jerry Saunders whom I've known for 25 years.

 

I don't know who his rep is or how much he knows, but I am merely

repeating what he was told by that rep. I have owned a Mamiya 645

and still have a Pentax 645Nii and 40 rolls of 120 film in the freezer. I don't report on the demise of the MF with voyeurish glee. I actually think it's kind of sad..

[pavelp]

Miles,

 

I would take that Pentax 645Nii out of that freezer. Can't be good for batteries.

[jmf]

I just called them up monday for new light seals. Didn't seem to be any issues around getting to talk to someone or availability of parts. The .jp site is up just fine. As I mentioned in the lighting forum, the MAC site(s) have sucked/been pretty worthless for a while now.

 

Mamiya just isn't acting like a company thats given up. In the last few years they've revamped every film model and redesigned lenses too. The new digital model may still be vaporware as far as shipping goes, but sample units have shown up for reviewers.

 

No offense, but I'm guessing the Wyoming Mamiya dealer probably isn't even in the same distro tier as someone like Calumet or B&H. When one of *their* reps says MAC is in trouble, then I'll take notice.

[miles_hecker]

I honestly hope Mamiya makes it.

 

A good buddy of mine, David Brookover, has done a lot of freelance work for them. That said, I was serioulsly considering a Mamiya ZD system for a project I had this summer. It didn't show in June and I got a Canon 1DS to do the job. I really don't keep my Pentax in the freezer, it's full of film and french fries. :-)

 

If Mamiya doesn't deliver the ZD at a reasonable price by years end,

IMO the companies camera division has a cold future though. I am looking forward to the Pentx 645 digital. Even a full frame 35mm finder seems tiny compared to a good modern MF viewfinder.

[the shuttered eye]

<i>quote: "It's looking like Hasselblad has won the digital MF battle"</i><br>

and<br>

<i>quote: "the Hasselblad H1 runs rings around all other 6x4.5 cameras on the market"</i><p>

I don't even think the "digital MF battle" has been fought yet. There is a whole range of MF cameras being prepared for release. The Mamiya ZD, the new Pentax 645 digital, and plans for a new Contax 645 (to be made once Zeiss and Kyocera sort everything out). I'm not sure in what sense the Hasselblad H1 "runs rings around all other 6x4.5 camera on the market". The H1 might be the only one currently being manufactured. But, IMHO, the Contax 645 is a superior camera. The camera is impeccably laid out, easy to use, very ergonomic, and built like a tank. The Zeiss lenses for Contax 645 are sharper and have more pleasing bokeh than the H1 lenses, as well as having unmatched color rendition. At $2000 less than the H1, the Contax 645 is a comparative bargain offering much better value for money. The results with the Contax 645 and Phase One digital backs (or even film!) are outstanding. Bronica may be gone, but Contax will be back. I suspect that Mamiya will be around for some time to come. There is room in the market for more than one producer of MF cameras. There are quite a large number of people dissatisfied with the H1 such that even if Bronica, Pentax, Contax and Mamiya all go away, a new player will enter the market to meet the demand for something other than the H1. (Sinar, for example, has a very interesting MF modular digital system for which Zeiss has begum making lenses -- I would buy into that before I would go to the H1). But quite frankly, my Contax 645 is good for another 10 years and new digital backs continue to be planned to accomdate it by all major manufacturers. So far, there is nothing in the market that gives me a reason to buy something else. Certainly the H1 doesn't. I would suspect that Mamiya 645AFD users feel similarly. Even if Mamiya goes under, there will be options and new digital backs for the Mamiya 645 AFD for many, many years to come.

[the shuttered eye]

I guess it's all a matter of taste and what you like using. For me the ergonomics of the Contax are far superior, and for me the sharpness, bokeh and color of the lenses do matter (and matter even if you use digital -- especially as you move toward higher resolution sensors -- USM doesn't really solve the issue of inadequate sharpness). As I suggested above, everyone has their preferences (even if we don't understand them) and that alone will be sufficient for multiple players in the MF digital market. I accept that some people like the H1, but there are many, many that swear by the Contax 645 as well, and others that couldn't do without the Mamiya 645. I and a legion of others think the Contax is best, Peter thinks the H1 runs rings around the competitors. I am happy the product works for him, it doesn't do it for me. But the H1 hasn't walked away with the market (being way overpriced is one of their big problems), and the new generation of competitor cameras that will be introduced will be more than adequate challengers for it in the market.

[__jon__]

>Miles Hecker , aug 16, 2005; 05:40 p.m.

 

> I don't report on the demise of the MF with voyeurish glee.

 

Maybe not with glee, but the other is part is accurate. Why don't you wait for the big

announcement next time?

[._._z]

<i><blockquote> I don't even think the "digital MF battle" has been fought yet.

</blockquote> </i><p>

 

Any fighting between MF digital competitors merely serves to further fracture this small

niche market. It's not as if MF digital is considered to be a growing segment by the

camera makers -- if anything, they're trying to shore up existing film customers, or

take business from owners of MF gear that isn't going digital. <p>

 

Before this 'battle' presumably begins, consider that MF combatants have already been

sucker-punched by 35mm digital -- the market, the economies of scale, the faster

speed of hardware improvement, the number of former MF pros and amateurs who

have already switched.

[gary_yeowell]

Lotus, Im with you on the Contax 645 front, the H1 in my opinion really does not come close in all the areas which I find important, simple as that. I will also be very interested in the Phase one P30 for my Contax when it arrives, at present I use a P20 on a 503CW but actually still mostly use that film stuff for both systems.

[gary_yeowell]

Peter A, you have asked so I will elaborate, but first I really cannot see what difference it makes to the usability of a system whether it is currently being manufactured or not, in fact I still use the Mamiya 6 which has not been made for at least five years and it still delivers the goods and is a better thought out system than the 7 which is still in production - get my point? Anyway back to the Contax, Shutter slap on the H1 is more like a Pentax 67 compared to the Contax 645, a real problem if handholding in available light. Contax is both lighter and better balanced than the H1 also uses switches and knobs which I much prefer to two fingered button operations and LCD menus. Autofocus on H1 is obviously better but I dont care as I dont use it, if autofocus was a requirement a Nikon F6 would be my choice, and the manual focus feel of the Contax lenses is far superior to the sloppy H1. Then there is build quality, a colleague of mine has had three H1 zooms and the first two had the front half of the lens fall off in his hand, the third replacement had a screw loose inside the lens so that went back, he's now on his fourth and crossing his fingers. Of the three demos of digital backs that I had when deciding manufacturer, all of which were on the H1 platform, the first two had to be abondoned without getting out of the shop as the cameras came up with error messages which could only be rectified by returning to Hasselblad. Lastly the rendition of Zeiss lenses pleases me far more than Fuji's, colour, contrast, tonal range, sharpness, out of focus rendition, all of which to my eyes are superior to the Fuji offerings. The one point I would make is that the 220 vacuum insert on the Contax is essential to get the best out of these lenses in terms of sharpness and there stunning wide open performance will only be obvious by using one. The H1 scores in higher flash sync speeds, again no use for me as I don't use flash, and the viewfinder which is brighter but distorted- just look at the outer edges, and the Contax finder is hardly dark.

[andrewlamb]

One interesting thing about the H1; I have a very knowledgable assistant who

told me that at one of London's uber-trendy studios they have switched from

the H1 to the V system for digital photography. The reason being that the Fuji

lenses were thought to be too harsh and not as good as the latter's Zeiss

offerings.

 

I have no axe to grind either way. I'm merely passing passing this on. I have a

Contax 645 which I think is ok but I'm not mad about it. I hate how fiddly it is to

put the Polaroid back on and there are times when I would like to use AF but

the Contax is rubbish for this.

[joseph_linzner]

MILES HECKER R.I.P. I heard from a friend of mine who was passing through Jackson Hole on a business trip. He found a local newspaper on the counter of a diner. While waiting for his breakfast order he managed to browse through the paper. Maybe it's just a coincidence but while checking the obituary column he ran into MILES HECKER recently deceased. It appears that he was run over by a herd of bison. I have asked my friend to e-mail a copy of the obituary to Mamiya.com which is up and running alive and well.