Mamiya 6mf or Hasselblad 200fc/m

[MTGseattle]

I'm adding a dimension that we have touched on a bit to this thread. Let's talk serviceability.

In the medium format realm, is the Hasselblad 500/501 served by the most willing technicians and spare parts supply or is this not necessarily true? The reason for my new-ish line of inquiry:

I went on a nice hike over the weekend.

Colchuck Lake

Set beneath two of Washington’s tallest peaks, Colchuck Lake is an alpine gem. It is a larger cousin to the nearby fabled Enchantment Lakes and offers many of the same payoffs – including groves of larches on its far shore – but can be reached with less than half the effort.

www.wta.org

I had not been on a serious hike in a few years, the weather forecast was perfect, and I wanted to bring a camera for sure. I settled on the M6mf and the 50mm. I love the camera, but even after a recent repair trip, it's exhibiting 1 or 2 quirks, and I worry that each repair trip will remove one more of its nine lives. I have no idea how many lives were used up when I got it, but it seems like 2 or 3. Do I keep my cold dead hands on something that can shoot 120 or do I drop back to digital and use only sheet film for my film cravings?

This hike didn't have a ton of elevation gain, but I'm definitely not in the shape to do the same hike with 8x10. scale it back to dslr and 4x5 in the pack and we're talking some decent weight again. In nice weather day trip situations this is fine but add rain gear and the barest of safe overnight supplies and things add up quick.
For a 120 camera that can drop into a pack, some of the older folders start to sound logical but then we're into a serviceability drought again.

Yes, I have internal conflict going on.

 

[brian steinberger]

If your camera is not being repaired each time it’s sent off why do you keep sending it to the same repair shop? I mean I’m assuming you are?

 

[Steven Lee]

Relatively recently I was resisting the temptation to get the Mamiya 6. The mental trick that worked for me was this: when portability and the rangefinder experience is important, I have a Leica! But when I need high precision and physically pleasing instrument to produce a nice 6x6 negative, I already have a Hasselblad. Therefore, instead of adding another system to my collection, I simply invested more into Leica and Hassy lenses, covering all imaginable use cases.

And looking back, since I made that decision it worked quite well: I travel with both, and when weight is a problem the Hassy stays in a hotel room while I am having a good time with my M7. The Mamiya 6 is not as refined of a rangefinder to beat a Leica, and not as versatile as a Hasselblad. It's a neither-here-nor-there camera and it's just not how I prefer to operate.

 

[MTGseattle]

@brian steinberger That is a valid question.

Yes. same repair shop.

why? previous experience was with an older mamiya 6 (not 6mf), and the results were great. same shop also fixed a Mamiya 7II for me with nice results. Two successful experiences= why change it up?

This last visit concerned 2 arguably rough M6mf bodies and all 3 lenses. I think there was an oversight regarding the infinity focus cam on my 75mm (nothing wrong in my negatives, but the viewfinder patch is just slightly off) and the return spring on the wind lever "catches" sometimes or doesn't catch depending upon how you view that motion. (I have to nudge the lever to get it to return sometimes)

@Steven Lee that all makes sense. The Hasselblad I have wasn't searched out, I ended up with it in a trade, and I got it while the Mamiya was broken. As to 35mm, I'll probably hang onto the Minolta srt I have, but in a digital vs 35mm question, the digital will win moving forward.

With the Mamiya, I am definitely "leaving images behind" when I am out due to the particular nature of that camera and its lenses. If I had brought my dslr on the above hike, I may have rattled off 100 frames, as it was, I exposed 2 rolls of 120. Hiking with 4x5 would drop the exposure total down a lot more but again, they would be different images.

 

[Slixtiesix]

Everybody here knows I am a great fan of 6x6 waist level cameras, but I would not recommend switching to the Hasselblad in your case.
1) You mentioned that you like the Mamiya 6, but that you do not like the ergonomics of the Hasselblad.
2) The Mamiya 6 lenses, from what I read, are at least as sharp as the Zeiss lenses, also since the Mamiya has no mirror slap.
3) The Hasselblad 2000/200 system is overpriced these days. They are great (really great!) cameras with very special lenses. But I would not, with a good conscience, recommend spending 2000 $ on a camera that could not be repaired. If you find a nice camera on a bargain, then give it a try.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Everybody here knows I am a great fan of 6x6 waist level cameras, but I would not recommend switching to the Hasselblad in your case.
1) You mentioned that you like the Mamiya 6, but that you do not like the ergonomics of the Hasselblad.
2) The Mamiya 6 lenses, from what I read, are at least as sharp as the Zeiss lenses, also since the Mamiya has no mirror slap.
3) The Hasselblad 2000/200 system is overpriced these days. They are great (really great!) cameras with very special lenses. But I would not, with a good conscience, recommend spending 2000 $ on a camera that could not be repaired. If you find a nice camera on a bargain, then give it a try.

The biggest reason to avoid the Hasselblad 200/2000 systems is that fact that parts and service are no longer available.

 

[MTGseattle]

If your camera is not being repaired each time it’s sent off why do you keep sending it to the same repair shop? I mean I’m assuming you are?

A total of 4 different cameras over 3 trips.

1st was a Mamiya 6 with a 75mm back in 1997 or 1998. CLA and rangefinder calibration. I used the camera for 5 more years, then sold it and went digital for a few "dark years."

2nd was a damaged Mamiya 7II that I bought for what seemed like a bargain at a local shop in 2015. That camera received a new top cover, a replacement piece of glass for the rangefinder assembly and a CLA.

I used it for a couple of years, then sold it on.

last trip was the aforementioned pair of "distressed" Mamiya 6mf bodies I had. I managed to shoot film with both of them for about a year each. they both had problems when I received them but eventually the wind mechanism failed on both. A local repair place seems to have completely messed up one of them (they didn't charge me anything), then the whole works went to the other out of state shop that had been successful for me in the past.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I second this, I got Mamiya 6MF with the 3 lenses, one year later I sold the 501cm set to a friend. No regrets.
I have sent my 6MF for repairing this month, all great.
I still have my 1000f and the Ektar 80.

I have both a Hasselblad 501c V-System and a Mamiya 6MF system. Hasselblad for the studio and Mamiya 6MF as a travel camera. Each lens has similar optical quality levels, meaning both are great!