purchase question

[cigardoc]

<p>hello all,<br>

i am on the verge of purchasing a mamiya 7ll/80 or 65mm lens. i'm thinking of purchasing, cost notwithstanding, a<strong> new</strong> body and <strong>used</strong> lenses. i'm thinking that problems with a used body might be more prevalent and potentially more expensive to fix. is this a good idea? <br>

thanks for the help.<br>

david</p>

[peter_fowler]

<p>About 3 months ago I bought a Mamiya 7 from an ebay fellow in Romania,came with the 80mm lens and everything was and is fine.I'm not too convinced the camera has iffy build quality (electronics have been well understood there,Japan, for some time) If the camera looks good and the seller is willing to warranty it, it'd leave you cash for another marvelous lens.<br>

Regards,Peter</p>

[western_isles]

<p>I have used two used bodies and a selection of lens for a number of years. The Mamiya 7 is an excellent camera and the lens are outstanding. I would have no problem with buying another used camera or lens should my existing kit die although I would prefer it to keep going.</p>

<p>The main problem is the range finder going out of alignment and is quit common and not too expensive to repair. As soon as you acquire a Mamiya 7 go out and photograph anything just to make sure it is working ok especially the range finder. </p>

<p>If you have never used a range finder it does take some getting used to and there is a very good section on Mamiya 6/7 in the medium format section of photo.net.</p>

<p> </p>

[edwardmendes]

<p>I don't have any experience with a Mamiya 7 but have used a Mamiya M645 from the 1970's for years with no major problems, except when I dropped it in a pool at the bottom of a waterfall, but that was my fault. I bought it used over ten years ago and it still works wonderfully after countless rolls of film run through it.</p>

<p>My lens are used as well and the glass is excellent.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>I owned a Mamiya 7ii for ten years. The only "body" problem I faced ( and this happened several times) was the plastic handle on the base that you use to pull across the shutter blind when changing lenses is flimsy and breaks. A photo.net member did work up a metal replacement. Telling a Japanese company that it is sending something out that is poor quality is like talking to a wall. I had three significant lens issues, two of which were accidents, and the third a major issue with the functionality of a new 80mm lens, and that was replaced by the dealer. Handle aside I was satisfied with the Mamiya's reliability.</p>

<p>The point I do have to make is that the Mamiya 7ii, reliability issues aside, is an expensive camera to repair.</p>

[cigardoc]

<p>thanks for the quick and helpful replies. sounds like the body is pretty sturdy and reliable. i've used a koni in the past, so it seems that the body would be somewhat familiar, albeit much, much lighter.</p>

[henryp]

<p>The rangefinder would be a body issue. With leaf shutter lenses there's more going on than with lenses for an slr so you want to check the shutters carefully.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

[aplumpton]

<p>Henry is right, I believe. The optics are great but the shutters can be the source of problems, as was the case of one of my lenses, the 50mm G lens for the Mamiya 6. It required work on the solenoids or some other associated parts of the shutter after having failed outright on a European trip. The only other part that gave me trouble at another time was the wind on mechanism which I imagine is somewhat similar in the 6 and 7 bodies. Fortunately this required only minor repair ($40). I learned nonetheless to respect the mechanism and not to apply excessive force to the advance lever. Otherwise, no trouble at all for ten years running now. On the plus side as well, I check shutter speeds every once in a while and they remain very constant, with only the same small offset on the two or three higher speeds.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Rangefinders are pretty easy to check using a cheap laser pointer. Fire the laser through the eyepiece. With some careful positioning two beams should emerge from the rangefinder windows on the front of the camera. Where the beams converge is the rangefinder distance, and this should match up with the lens markings.</p>

<p>Using this setup it's also quite easy to re-align a rangefinder once you've gained access to the adjuster screws.</p>