And what a camera it is. Presenting my “new” Mamiyaflex C2.
I’m definitely a newcomer to photography; I bought my first camera about two years ago, a Nikon EM and a 50mm E-Series lens. I wanted to make sure that this wasn’t just a phase I was going through so this is the only camera and lens I owned for a year. During that year I took an alternative process photography class at my university and my professor let me borrow his Pentax 67 for a project. The first time I pulled those 6x7 negs out of the developing tank I knew I wanted a medium format camera. Here’s a photo from that first time shooting medium format.
That was about a year ago and since then I’ve let myself buy some “nicer” cameras like my Nikon F2. Coming from Nikon where there is seemingly an unlimited supply of Nikkor glass and accessories, I didn’t want to give up that versatility if I got a MF system. So, I kept my eyes open for a good deal on a Mamiya 645 or Bronica ETRS both at my local camera shop and online. I always liked the look of TLRs (who doesn’t?) but was turned off by the fact I would be stuck with a “normal” focal length lens.
I had seen Mamiya C330s and C220s a while ago when I was reading up on the Mamiya MF systems but I knew those were out of my price range (recent college grad). Then, when I was doing more research recently I realized that there were predecessors of these bodies that could be had at decent prices. So, after a bit of digging I was able to find an APUG member that was willing to make me a good deal on his spare Mamiyaflex C2 and 135mm lens. It arrived just in time load up a roll this weekend. The lens is the latest black body “blue-dot” 135mm f/4.5. I’m really liking this short telephoto for the type of portraits I shoot and with the WLF finder everything takes on that signature “3D” look when composing a shot. This is also definitely the prettiest camera I own. It has some dings and paint loss here and there, but I love its quirky styling. Especially considering it was made sometime between 1958 and 1962, it doesn’t look half bad.
A few weeks ago I bought a Gossen Luna-Pro to use as a light meter with my F2. Not wanting to deal with Wein cells or hearing aid batteries, I modified it myself to take two standard 1.55V silver-oxide batteries. Pretty simple job, just pop the back cover off and solder a Shottky diode into the power circuit that will drop the voltage the exact 0.4V difference between two mercury cells and two silver-oxide batteries. This light meter is proving to be pretty useful with this (coincidentally contemporary to the meter) unmetered camera. Yesterday I loaded up some FP4, stuck my Nikon SB-15 into the cold shoe and went out to shoot some portraits.
Something that will take some getting used to for me is remembering to always wind the film immediately after taking a shot… I already know there is at least one double exposure on this first roll. I’m pretty slow at the process of shooting with this camera: meter the light, focus, get the distance, set the aperture based on the distance and GN of my flash, set the shutter speed (remember to check the exposure comp scale on the left!), cock the shutter, compose, shoot, wind, repeat. It is complicated! Hopefully after a few rolls it will become more fluid.
The camera is not as difficult to hand hold as some make it seem, but I can see how a grip would improve the handling especially with the longer bellows extension needed for the 135mm. I might pick one up eventually. I just bought the 65mm lens for this camera and I think these two focal lengths will be a pretty good setup for the landscapes and portraits I shoot. For a total system (body and two lenses) that cost me less than $130, I don’t know how that could possibly be beat.
I’ll update this post in a few days with the first images once I get them developed. Hopefully I won’t be asking “why is the focus off” or questions like that.
Thanks for reading! If you have any tips on shooting with this camera or anything of the like (shooting portraits with fill flash), please let me know. Like I said, I’m pretty green to photography and I want to learn as much as I can from y’all.
Sam
I’m definitely a newcomer to photography; I bought my first camera about two years ago, a Nikon EM and a 50mm E-Series lens. I wanted to make sure that this wasn’t just a phase I was going through so this is the only camera and lens I owned for a year. During that year I took an alternative process photography class at my university and my professor let me borrow his Pentax 67 for a project. The first time I pulled those 6x7 negs out of the developing tank I knew I wanted a medium format camera. Here’s a photo from that first time shooting medium format.
That was about a year ago and since then I’ve let myself buy some “nicer” cameras like my Nikon F2. Coming from Nikon where there is seemingly an unlimited supply of Nikkor glass and accessories, I didn’t want to give up that versatility if I got a MF system. So, I kept my eyes open for a good deal on a Mamiya 645 or Bronica ETRS both at my local camera shop and online. I always liked the look of TLRs (who doesn’t?) but was turned off by the fact I would be stuck with a “normal” focal length lens.
I had seen Mamiya C330s and C220s a while ago when I was reading up on the Mamiya MF systems but I knew those were out of my price range (recent college grad). Then, when I was doing more research recently I realized that there were predecessors of these bodies that could be had at decent prices. So, after a bit of digging I was able to find an APUG member that was willing to make me a good deal on his spare Mamiyaflex C2 and 135mm lens. It arrived just in time load up a roll this weekend. The lens is the latest black body “blue-dot” 135mm f/4.5. I’m really liking this short telephoto for the type of portraits I shoot and with the WLF finder everything takes on that signature “3D” look when composing a shot. This is also definitely the prettiest camera I own. It has some dings and paint loss here and there, but I love its quirky styling. Especially considering it was made sometime between 1958 and 1962, it doesn’t look half bad.
A few weeks ago I bought a Gossen Luna-Pro to use as a light meter with my F2. Not wanting to deal with Wein cells or hearing aid batteries, I modified it myself to take two standard 1.55V silver-oxide batteries. Pretty simple job, just pop the back cover off and solder a Shottky diode into the power circuit that will drop the voltage the exact 0.4V difference between two mercury cells and two silver-oxide batteries. This light meter is proving to be pretty useful with this (coincidentally contemporary to the meter) unmetered camera. Yesterday I loaded up some FP4, stuck my Nikon SB-15 into the cold shoe and went out to shoot some portraits.
Something that will take some getting used to for me is remembering to always wind the film immediately after taking a shot… I already know there is at least one double exposure on this first roll. I’m pretty slow at the process of shooting with this camera: meter the light, focus, get the distance, set the aperture based on the distance and GN of my flash, set the shutter speed (remember to check the exposure comp scale on the left!), cock the shutter, compose, shoot, wind, repeat. It is complicated! Hopefully after a few rolls it will become more fluid.
The camera is not as difficult to hand hold as some make it seem, but I can see how a grip would improve the handling especially with the longer bellows extension needed for the 135mm. I might pick one up eventually. I just bought the 65mm lens for this camera and I think these two focal lengths will be a pretty good setup for the landscapes and portraits I shoot. For a total system (body and two lenses) that cost me less than $130, I don’t know how that could possibly be beat.
I’ll update this post in a few days with the first images once I get them developed. Hopefully I won’t be asking “why is the focus off” or questions like that.
Thanks for reading! If you have any tips on shooting with this camera or anything of the like (shooting portraits with fill flash), please let me know. Like I said, I’m pretty green to photography and I want to learn as much as I can from y’all.
Sam
