Another unexpected acquisition! (Mamiya 6)

[revdocjim]

I've been contemplating selling off my Wista 45n for lack of use. I even got it appraised a couple days ago. Then today I saw that a Mamiya 6 with the 75/3.5 lens was in stock. I called the shop right away and had them put it on hold. Then I packed up the Wista again and knowing it wouldn't be enough I also somewhat reluctantly threw in the recently acquired Nikon F3 and lenses and hopped in the car. At the shop today's appraiser was significantly more generous. He offered me just over $500 for the 4x5 rig and about $320 for the F3 and 5 lenses. After all the math was done they handed me the Mamiya 6 and almost $100! I'm still pinching myself. I'm starting to like this idea of reducing the number of cameras I own and replacing them with a few very choice ones.

 

[Photo-gear]

congrats!

 

[AlbertZeroK]

Most excellent! I recently aquired a mamiya 7! Love mine!!!!

 

[brian steinberger]

Mamiya 6, my favorite camera! Enjoy!

 

[antmar]

No words can describe how perfect this camera is! I really love it. I wish you to enjoy it as much as I do...

 

[Chris Lange]

I would have kept the F3 system if I were you...the Mamiya is a great camera, but just doesn't have the strength of the F3, and won't play nicely in the same situations that the F3 would. Oh well, I guess if you were using the F3 more often you wouldn't have gotten rid of it!

I love rangefinders, but I find myself missing my F3s when I see a shot that I want to shoot discretely, and all I would have to do is pop the finder off, focus, and shoot, with no one being the wiser.

 

[wharris]

=) awesome

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

Sweet camera. May I ask what lenses did you trade in?

 

[revdocjim]

Thanks for the comments. About the F3, it really was beautiful. It was recently given to me by an elderly man who has a camera store that is no longer in business but the shelves are littered with left over merchandise. The F3 was from August of 1980 and had been sitting on the shelf in his store ever since! Naturally, it was in immaculate condition. The problem is that I find myself shooting less and less 35mm. On the one hand I have a beautiful Minolta 9 which is about as sweet as a film SLR gets. And I have all the lenses to go with it since I shoot Sony DSLRs. And still it doesn't get used much. Needless to say, the 4 or 5 other Minolta bodies I own get used even less. And if I'm really wanting to go with an older manual focus 35mm camera I'm more likely to pick up one of my Pentax bodies since I have a nice collection of M42 lenses that I really love. So as beautiful as the F3 was, and as historically significant of camera as it is, I just knew that it wasn't going to get used much. And finally, I am more likely to use my DSLR or mirrorless digital camera for the kind of stuff I would shoot with a 35mm SLR. But it was a hard decision.

As for my trade in, the links below will show you everything I traded in. The list of lenses is at the bottom of each page.

F3

Wista 45N

 

[Colin Corneau]

I think you made a very solid trade -- you traded in things you don't use often for something you will use often, and love. What's the downside of that? I can't see it.

Quite envious, as I'd love this camera also. Big fan of the square format and the rangefinder will make it even easier to use. Good on you.

 

[mooseontheloose]

Great find with the Mamiya 6! I'm quite envious -- wish I was a little closer to Tokyo so I could see about exchanging some of the gear I have for the same system (there are very few options down here in Kumamoto).

 

[revdocjim]

Great find with the Mamiya 6! I'm quite envious -- wish I was a little closer to Tokyo so I could see about exchanging some of the gear I have for the same system (there are very few options down here in Kumamoto).

Rachelle,
I got this camera at Fujiya Camera in Nakano. You can order stuff from them and I think even trade stuff in all on the phone or online. They update their used inventory web page daily around noon and it reflects what was in stock at 10AM. Shipping is pretty reasonable too.

Jim

 

[revdocjim]

Thanks Colin. I'm in rangefinder heaven right now with the Mamiya 6, the original Mamiya 6 from the 1940s, the Mamiya Press Super 23, the Fuji GS645 and the Fuji GF670!

By the way, I found your B&W China collection rather intriguing. I have lots of questions I want to ask but this isn't the right thread. Anyway, nice work!

 

[mooseontheloose]

Thanks Jim -- I've had a look at the site -- very tempting! I'll have to look at it in more detail when I'm in a less tempted state of mind. ;-)

 

[revdocjim]

Oh Rachelle... you're being way too objective and mature!

 

[Sirius Glass]

Enjoy!