Mamiya 6/6MF auto close-up attachment experience.

[MTGseattle]

I scanned through the first 5 pages of my "Mamiya 6" search query and gave up. There are quite alot of threads that just died related to this camera. I also know that there are a lot of past and current users out there.
Who has used or does use the auto close-up accessory? That's really mu only issue with my personal shooting style and the Mamiya rangefinders. I like to get pretty close to stuff for some detail/abstract compositions, and the 1 meter close focusing distance doesn't really work. Is the silly looking attachment a viable option?
Secondary to whether it's viable is how the heck does it work? Is it extending the focal length a bit by moving the actual lens focus point away from the film plane? There doesn't appear to be a piece of glass in the lens area of the adapter.

I wasn't sure whether this should be in the rangefinder threads or the medium format threads, so I started here. We'll see what happens.

 

[brian steinberger]

I have this adapter. I don’t use it much. If you want to do a lot of close up photography there are MUCH better options obviously (SLR). The main problem being precise framing. For what I do I just shoot and crop after the fact if need be. It does work well and the resulting images are very sharp. There is a glass close up lens that fits over the end of the lens and I believe the patch will only focus at closer distances (no infinity).

 

[grahamp]

There's the closeup lens (I'd have to dig mine out to check the strength and design) that fits to the front of the 75mm lens, and a huge acrylic lens (attached) that spreads in front of the viewfinder and rangefinder windows. The viewfinder is still offset to the side and above the lens axis, so although you can focus, and the frame lines see the adjusted framing, this is only strictly true for a flat subject.

With three dimensional subjects you will have to deal with two axis parallax. If you are familiar with the prism that is used on the taking lens of a Rollei/Yashica twin-lens viewing lens for vertical offset, the big side lens on the Mamiya adapter does the same thing with the diagonal offset of the M6.

The nice thing with the closeup lens is that there is no exposure correction, unless you get in your own light. The camera meter looks though the big side lens too.

Does it work? Yes, subject to the limits of close-up and parallax. You don't really focus the camera - more advance/retract the camera to find focus with closeup lenses, so a focus rail would be a good addition to a tripod.

It's big, and the side lens is vulnerable to damage.

If you only have an M6 and do a lot of natural close-ups and need portability, it might be worth it. I'd probably use my Mamiya C or the 4x5 since I have that option.

 

[MTGseattle]

Thank you both. I keep trying to bend one camera system to the far reaches of its design. If I'm out shooting and see something that is asking for a near-macro composition, the 4x5 is definitely the right answer. It just means a return trip.
I've never seen the auto close-up kit in person and was curious.
For true macro work (insects and the like) I own the proper gear in the digital realm.

 

[mshchem]

Thank you both. I keep trying to bend one camera system to the far reaches of its design. If I'm out shooting and see something that is asking for a near-macro composition, the 4x5 is definitely the right answer. It just means a return trip.
I've never seen the auto close-up kit in person and was curious.
For true macro work (insects and the like) I own the proper gear in the digital realm.

I very rarely use my close up outfit with the 6mf. It works fine, and it looks crazy, which is kinda neat. No one will mistake it for a digital outfit.

 

[grahamp]

Just in case anyone is curious what it looks like...

 

[Steve Goldstein]

I've used mine on my Mamiya 7 with the 80mm lens. Yes, there's probably some slight error arising from the difference in focal length (75mm on the M6 vs. 80mm on the M7) but I wasn't able to detect it. While I rarely use it, this is a truly weird and wonderful accessory.