Mamiya 645 Film Back Compatibility?

[tmannion87]

Are all the Mamiya 645 film backs interchangeable? I have a 1000s and want to make sure this back will fit. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[spijker]

What you show is an insert, not a back. According to this wikipedia article, the inserts are universal for the manual focus series. So an insert from a separate back should fit a camera with a non-removable back like the 1000s and vice versa. So you should be fine with the insert shown on the photos.

Just make sure that the knob in the middle has "120" on it. If it has "645" or "AFDIII" on it, it is an insert for the AF (autofocus) series. Those do not fit the cameras and backs of the manual focus series (I just tried).

 

[MattKing]

What he said!
Those inserts work equally well in the cameras that have fixed film backs like the 1000s and in the film backs that are removable and fit cameras for them - the Super, the Pro and the Pro Tl.

 

[tmannion87]

Great, thank you! That's what I assumed but I wanted to double check before proceeding.

 

[Alexander Guiry]

What he said!
Those inserts work equally well in the cameras that have fixed film backs like the 1000s and in the film backs that are removable and fit cameras for them - the Super, the Pro and the Pro Tl.

Hey! I've got a mamiya 645af and want to purchase a second one online somewhere. Do you know if the other mamiya 645 models are compatible?

 

[John Will]

Hey! I've got a mamiya 645af and want to purchase a second one online somewhere. Do you know if the other mamiya 645 models are compatible?

The backs for the 645AF models are not compatible with non AF 645 models and vice versa.

 

[MattKing]

The manual focus lenses will, however work on the af bodies, as long as you don't mind stop down metering.
The af lenses only work on the af bodies.
And the finder options are not interchangeable.

 

[Main_Cogg]

The manual focus lenses will, however work on the af bodies, as long as you don't mind stop down metering.
The af lenses only work on the af bodies.
And the finder options are not interchangeable.

Well, I just learned something! I have an AF and always assumed that only lenses specific to that body would work. I may to do some shopping.

 

[MattKing]

Well, I just learned something! I have an AF and always assumed that only lenses specific to that body would work. I may to do some shopping.

Your welcome/sorry .

 

[Main_Cogg]

Your welcome/sorry .

I feel a gas attack coming on.

 

[MattKing]

I would be cautious (i.e. do further research) about the fisheye lens - cameras tend to be quite particular about really short focal length optics.

 

[Jeremy Mudd]

Well, I just learned something! I have an AF and always assumed that only lenses specific to that body would work. I may to do some shopping.

Yep, a common set-up for 645 AF shooters is to grab the older 80mm f/1.9 manual focus lens and use that for portraits due to its super shallow DOF.

I own several 645 ProTL's and usually the 80mm f/2.8 is my go-to instead of the f/1.9. The f/1.9 is so difficult to nail focus with and sometimes is just silly with the razor thin DOF when its wide open. Having the eyes in focus while the nose is not is certainly a "creative choice". The f/2.8 is plenty sharp wide-open and has a deeper DOF with nice bokeh.

That said, a fun lens to get and mount with adapters is the Carl Zeiss Jenna Biometar 80mm f/2.8. Manual focus, and some really nice swirley bokeh in the OOF areas. I have one in Pentacon Six mount with a Mamiya 645 adapter on it and its super nice.

Jeremy

 

[MattKing]

The manual focus 80mm f/4 macro is another good choice - relatively inexpensive, excellent quality, and who really wants AF for macro work anyways!