Mamiya 645"X" & RB67 - MLU

[ricardovaste]

HI :)

 

I've been adviced to look at these two for entering medium format for the first

time. I dont want to spend much over 100GBP, i was told to look at these, and

they dont seem too much over my budget.

 

Can someone advice which bodies have MLU?

 

Preferrably a 645 body, as they seem to be cheaper...

 

Thanks!

 

Rich

[jrs photo]

On the RB67 pro SD it is the lenses that have mirror lock up (MLU). There is a knob that sets

the lens, and even a special cable release to activate MLU before taking the exposure. I don't

know the 645 system but suspect it might be the same.

[bueh]

All RB's have mirror lock-up since it is a function of the lens, as Juan pointed out. Almost all Mamiya M645 bodies have this feature EXCEPT the M645J and M645E.

[bueh]

Sorry, my mistake -- only the M645J has no <abbr title="mirror lock-up">MLU</abbr>, the M645E can pre-fire the mirror. This is one of the advantages of Mamiya 645 cameras over the products of their competition -- many Bronica and Pentax 645 <abbr title="single-lens reflex cameras">SLRs</abbr> lack mirror lock-up.

[a._t._burke]

1000S 6x45 has mirror lock up, is inexpensive and easy to use. The standard 80mm F:2.8 is a good lens. See it compared here:

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=730969

[ricardovaste]

Thanks for the info on both threads Bueh :). Okay, ill steer clear of anything 645J then, thats simple, thank you both.

 

Just ran into something concerning... I read a thread on here, though i cant find it again - ah! - concerning the quality of mamiya sekor lenses. It says that they are far from great and that you wont see a massive leap between them and the highly correctly 35mm lenses of today... Correct? If so, is there an adapter that will allow me to mount higher quality medium format lenses on the M645 or RB67?

 

Thanks for the tip Tom, ive found a couple of them and im watching them now. & Thanks for your test link; the mamiya certainly seems to do near enough the best there, but im not massively impressed with its sharpness.

 

Thanks all.

[bueh]

Richard, <b><a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00NGMY">as I said before</a></b>, I like the M645J even more than the 1000s. In reality, 645 is a format for hand-held shooting, where <abbr title="mirror lock-up">MLU</abbr> is pointless. But if you want this feature, by all means ignore the 645J and get a better body. Price-wise the difference is not much between the older camera. But since the prices have fallen to all-time lows, I'd still recommend a nice, but more expensive Super kit with the prism and motor grip -- it really is an awesome experience.

<p>

The Sekor C lenses are pretty amazing. I have had some duds (the 35mm non-N), but in my humble opinion Mamiya glass delivers outstanding results. I used virtually every lens from 35mm to 210mm and never noticed poor image quality. Sure, my negatives from the RZ67 look even better, but that's probably just the larger format. 35mm format is no match for the Mamiya 645. But again, if you love shooting test patterns and are looking for the highest resolution, go for Zeiss glass if you think it will ease your sharpness paranoia.

<p>

If you want to, there are some common (less expensive) and custom-made (highly expensive) adapters that let you mount Kiev-60/Pentacon-6, Hasselblad and Pentax 67 lenses to a 645 <abbr title="single-lens reflex camera">SLR</abbr>. Unless you already have a full line-up of those lenses, it's not worth the hassle, M645 gear is cheap and readily available.

[brucecahn]

The Mamiya lenses are OK for color, not so good for B&W. Get the 6x7 if you can scrape up the cash. The quality difference in formats is considerable. 6x7 is a wonderfully proportioned negative.

[dalahorse]

What makes a lens okay for color but not B&W?

[brucecahn]

Jacob: I wish I knew. Some lenses, having been designed for color just are not good for B&W. Not enough subtlety in the tones.

[david_dorcich1]

Thats odd since black and white film and color film both use the the same light traveling through the same lens.

[brucecahn]

Well, it seems to me that you do not need tonal subtlety as much in color because the color itself provides the description and excitement. I have no tests to prove this, it is just a personal observation. I do know this: I got inferior B&W with Mamiya, Nikon and Fuji; better B&W with Schneider, Rodenstock, Leica and Zeiss.

[erie_patsellis]

Bruce,

interestingly, the older C and pre C lenses fare far better tonality wise than the new K/L series.

(what follows is strictly my opinion!)

I shoot a tremendous amount of b&w with my RB (as well as my 500 c/m, Sinar F, Numerous Toyos, Calumet C1, 16x20 camera) and with proper lens shading and filtration techniques, there are few (if any) bad lenses for b&w. Granted there may be differences in the tonality. (I despise my Hasselblad lenses for b&w, quite honestly) The biggest difference I see is that the Mamiya lenses have a very pleasing OOF rendition, very smooth and nearly velvety. Some feel that quality is a detriment to tonality, however with proper EI testing and determination, and proper exposure and processing/scanning/printing the tonality as every bit as good as any other lens I own.

 

 

erie