paulhu54

When I said that the Hasselblad is a 'manual' system, I meant no TTL metering(except with a TTL prism), manual film advance, manual focusing, and you have to set your own aperture and shutter speed. The Hassey does not depend on any battery or electronics. The Mamiya 645 AFD has all the electronics for metering, automatic film advance, auto focus, etc. You can set the Mamiya 645AFD on manual focusing, and manual metering mode(set your own shutter speed and aperture. But, if the battery is dead in the Mamiya 645AFD, then you can't even press the shutter release, whether you set focus and metering to manual or not.

 

I get best of both worlds, that's why I like both manual and automatic cameras.

After owning Mamiya 645AFD for just a few months, I bought a pre-owned Hasselblad 501CM kit. I tell you, I love both systems. Mamiya 645AFD has all the advance electronic metering system, and Hasselblad is just a manual system, but the Hasselblad 80mm CFE lens that produced the 6x6 slide images are very impressive. I like both systems beacuse the Hasselblad force me to have discipline, and to think and plan carefully before any shot, while not depending on electronics. The Mamiya 645AFD gives me the quick shots that I need when time is critical, and I don't have time to do any manual calculations.

You can down the Metz manual at Metz website:

 

http://www.metz.de/en/photo_electronics/manuals.164.html

400UC gives great vibrant colors. I tried 10 rolls in Disney World last year, the characters' constume colors stood out fantastically. Unfortunately, in contrasty conditions (e.g. bright sunshine days), the sky just shows bright white instead of blue, but buildings, clothes, and skin tones are just fantastic. I use 400UC in overcast conditions, and it seems to work out very well.

1. ISO 50-400 in 1/3 steps.

2. Shooting untethered, SD and Compact Flash card slot built in.

No word regarding any new lenses. The lens conversion factor on the ZD SLR is only 1.16 x focal length, rather than 1.5x and 1.6x as in some 35mm digital cameras.

According to Mamiya Corporation America, the ZD camera should be released in America in a couple of months, and the ZD back should follow the ZD camera soon, since both camera and back share the same hardware and software. However, no exact time table has been given on the release date of the ZD back.

The Mamiya ZD D-SLR is finally shipping, available in Japan on

December 21, 2005. Following is the link to the English version of

the announcement:

 

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

 

The following is the link to the DPNow news item:

 

http://dpnow.com/2298.html

I have purchased over tens and thousands dollars worth of camera equipment, both new and pre-owned from KEH over the last three years. Whenever I have a problem with any purchased equipment, I just return it to exchange for another one, no questions asked. I only shop at KEH, B&H Photo, and Adorama.