Mamiya 7II any opinions?

coriana6jp · Jan 12, 2007

Hi All,

My first post in this forum. I have been looking for a good walk around camera (Hard to carry around my 8x10 or 4x5 all the time) for the last few months, tried a Fuji GA645zi and a Mamiya 220(which will head to auction shortly) Both are fine cameras, but not exactly what I am looking for. I borrowed a friends Mamiya 7II, this past week and loved it. Mamiya is currently running a special here and I get get a Mamiya 7II with external battery pack, 80mm lens, hood and soft case for about $1500. Eventually, I am thinking of adding a 150mm and a 43mm lens.

My initial impressions are quite good. But I am just curious what others think of the camera, and what their impressions are!

Any help or info would be great!

Thanx!

Gary

SuzanneR · Jan 12, 2007

I absolutely LOVE mine!

With that said, it took me a good six months of shooting with it to get really comfortable with the angle of view, and the focus. Of course, I moved "up" to it from 35mm. Not sure how different it would feel going "down" from 4x5.

The best part, I get great negs with it, and love printing them! $1500 for that whole package sounds like a great price, too.

Stew Squires · Jan 12, 2007

Have a few Mamiya 645 bodies and an RB67. Got my Mamiya 7II with three lenses in a trade. I find the camera wonderful to carry, and easy to use. The meter is excellent and the exposure lock feature great. The lenses are extremely sharp and the camera and lenses fit nicely in a small pack. Great choice for 6x7.

Stew

naturephoto1 · Jan 12, 2007

Hi Gary,

I love mine as well, but remember it is a RF for focus and framing. The camera is light and small for a 6 cm X 7 cm camera. All of the lenses are outstanding performers. They are some of the finest medium format lenses ever designed. I have the 65mm, 50mm, 43mm, and the 150mm lenses for the camera. The 65mm lens is the shortest lens for the camera that does not require the use of an external finder for framing.

For the price quoted it is an outstanding price. I plan on taking this camera on my next trip along with my Toho FC-45X 4X5 camera.

Rich

Loose Gravel · Jan 12, 2007

I have the Mamiya 7, not the II. Love it. I shoot about 100 rolls a year with it. A great camera. Especially with the 43mm. Also have the 80 and 150mm. 150 doesn't see much use, but the 80 does. I take the M7 everywhere. I had a Fuji 690 before. No meter and LOUD. You wouldn't think you could make a rangefinder that loud. And no meter is a drag. M7 is self contained and ready to go. Fast. see book Photo du Jour by David Hume Kennerly -- all taken with M7 and 43mm.

As a comparison, I have the Rollicord; too slow, no meter, and a Pentax 67II; good for closeups but a real pig. P67 doesn't get much action.

rpsawin · Jan 12, 2007

Gary,

I bought my 7II in November 2006. I bought it with the 65mm & 150mm lenses. I have since added the 43mm & 80mm. I just love this system. The lenses are fantastic and the big negs are a joy to work with. It's quickly become my favorite system. It gives me the best of rf photography, outstanding lenses and big negatives!

The package you are looking at is a great deal for $1,500. Best luck and keep us posted.

Bob

Jeffrey A. Steinberg · Jan 12, 2007

Great camera with the following lens: 50, 65, 80, 150.

Wonderful camera, great meter, light, easy to go hiking/climbing with. Outstanding optics.

--Jeffrey

Early Riser · Jan 12, 2007

I own 2 bodies, the 65, 80, 150 and 210 lenses. It is an awesome camera. The lenses are the sharpest I own, they are stunningly sharp.

Muihlinn · Jan 12, 2007

at that price is a a great buy. I love mine, and I agree with Brian about sharpness, sometimes it's jsust unbelievable what you get out of them.

lightranger · Jan 12, 2007

My primary camera is a large format view camera, but when I am doing street photography and moving around a lot I use my M7ll. It's quite and easy to use. I have the 43mm, 80mm, and 150mm, and they all get equal use. The only draw back is the lenses are somewhat slow. F4.5, so you need to stop down to get good depth of field. Except for the 43mm lens, I am forced to use a tripod in many situations if I want good depth of field. You will be happy with the system, just remember to fill the entire frame to utilize the 6x9 format.

coriana6jp · Jan 12, 2007

Thank you all for the helpful comments. I think I am going to go ahead and place the order today. I will have to hold off on other lenses for a while, but thats okay. While I prefer shooting with LF, there are times I really miss a walk around camera.

Thanx Again.

Gary

Tom Stanworth · Jan 13, 2007

while I do not own one I have played with a friends M7II and printed his negs. The results are astoundingly sharp. I prefer the feel and handling of the bronica RF645 by far but for a walk about 6x7 the M7II is by far and away the best option out there.

kunihiko · Jan 13, 2007

Hi Gary,
Congrats on your new purchase, but dont forget to bring a 35mm camera to Tokyo next week

bwakel · Jan 13, 2007

Good buy

Good choice - the camera's weight and ease of handling always amaze me. I've used mine for two and a half years and it really has been a great companion. My rangefinder's a bit out of kilter at the moment but since I generally work on hyperfocal distance it's not a major issue. I use 50, 80 and 150 lenses and they're all excellent. I would add the 65 if I could justify it as there's definitely a bit of a chasm between 50 and 80.

Only one question: what's the external battery pack for? The battery lasts about two years in my experience!

Barry

naturephoto1 · Jan 13, 2007

bwakel said:
Good choice - the camera's weight and ease of handling always amaze me. I've used mine for two and a half years and it really has been a great companion. My rangefinder's a bit out of kilter at the moment but since I generally work on hyperfocal distance it's not a major issue. I use 50, 80 and 150 lenses and they're all excellent. I would add the 65 if I could justify it as there's definitely a bit of a chasm between 50 and 80.

Only one question: what's the external battery pack for? The battery lasts about two years in my experience!

Barry

Hi Barry,

I think that it is not an external battery pack, but the cable that allows the battery to be placed in an inside pocket, etc. This allows the usage of the camera in cold weather without battery failure due to the battery becoming too cold.

Rich

Russ Young · Jan 13, 2007

Another vote for the Mamiya 7 (yes, mine is an older model). Incredible lenses that teach you the value of a tripod; I own the 65, 80, 150 and probably use the 150 the most. If I can't have a view camera, then the Mamiya is the answer. If it is too bulky, then its grandfather, the Mamiya Six folding camera comes along- sharper than any other folder I've tested.
Russ

phritz phantom · Jan 14, 2007

i have the m7 as well and agree with all the positive comments. wonderful camera.

but there is one small flaw that wasn't mentioned yet. the meter of the camera seems to be a spotmeter (although not 1°, maybe 5°) and there is no mark displayed in the finder, which indicates where the metering exactely takes place. the measuring spot is a little bit below the field for focusing. this is something to get used to.
since the camera was market as one for professionals, i wonder how they could forget to include that mark, when they decided to put in a spotmeter (which i absolutely see as an advantage, since i could never get comfortable with the average metering thingies).

coriana6jp · Jan 14, 2007

kunihiko said:
Hi Gary,
Congrats on your new purchase, but dont forget to bring a 35mm camera to Tokyo next week

35mm?? Whats that?

Looking forward to seeing you next week!

Best Regards.

Gary

coriana6jp · Jan 14, 2007

Thank you to everyone for the additional comments, I think I have made good choice and I really appreciate all the help.

If I may, I have one additional question. How do you use a polaraizer with the camera? I have read a few comments and was a little confused, I saw one comment that the Mamiya filter was the only one that would work well.

Thank you again!

Gary

David Henderson · Jan 14, 2007

Polarisers aren't too hard. You just need to hold a regular polariser to your eye and rotate till you get the effect you want, noting the position of the edge markings; then screw in the polariser replicate that position on the camera. It soon gets to be pretty easy, though you possibly miss the finest control you can get with an slr via ttl viewing to some degree.

If you want to think about something difficult, think ND grads.

coriana6jp · Jan 14, 2007

David Henderson said:
Polarisers aren't too hard. You just need to hold a regular polariser to your eye and rotate till you get the effect you want, noting the position of the edge markings; then screw in the polariser replicate that position on the camera. It soon gets to be pretty easy, though you possibly miss the finest control you can get with an slr via ttl viewing to some degree.

If you want to think about something difficult, think ND grads.

Mr. Henderson,

Thank you so much for the reply! That helps alot.

Gary

Woolliscroft · Jan 14, 2007

David Henderson said:
Polarisers aren't too hard. You just need to hold a regular polariser to your eye and rotate till you get the effect you want, noting the position of the edge markings; then screw in the polariser replicate that position on the camera. It soon gets to be pretty easy, though you possibly miss the finest control you can get with an slr via ttl viewing to some degree.

If you want to think about something difficult, think ND grads.

I agree on the grads: they are pretty much pure guesswork, but Mamiya make a special polariser for the camera with a repeater filter above the lens one so that you can see the effect with the filter mounted.

Has anyone used the 35mm panoramic insert? I'd be interested to hear what you think.

David.

Muihlinn · Jan 14, 2007

Woolliscroft said:
Has anyone used the 35mm panoramic insert? I'd be interested to hear what you think.

It's fine for me as occasional panoramic shooter, as I just do a few rolls from time to time. If you're thinking about heavy panoramic use, I'll say it will be better thinking about a dedicated camera like the xpan, horseman or linhof.

David Henderson · Jan 14, 2007

The panoramic insert.

I ordered one when I bought my Mamiya 7ii several years ago. I returned it after a couple of weeks because.

First I found it a pain to use- very fiddly and its bulk seemed to get in the way of the camera back latching properly. I know they don't all do that, but I didn't seem to be alone either. Basically no matter how I inserted it, the camera back often sprung open mid-roll!

Second because it reduced the flexibility of the camera. Once you load a 35mm film you are looking for 18 ( or whatever) consecutive panoramics. If you see a shot for which you want to use the beautiful, full 67 frame, then tough. I wanted ( and still do) the flexibility to switch on the fly from panoramic to full frame and back. If I'd have wanted a dedicated panoramic camera I would have bought an X pan, which gives me a much better impression of what I'm shooting through the finder

Third because I find I can cut a perfectly respectable panorama out of the 67 frame and indeed I can decide the precise dimensions later. If I want to make a print from a 70 x 30 fragment, I can do that. If I want 65 x 24, I can do that too. I can be as flexible as I want and I can decide when is best for me. Further I can take the panorama out of the middle of the frame or from the top or the bottom to simulate a small degree of camera movement.

Hope this helps.

Baxter Bradford · Jan 14, 2007

Concur fully with David about the cropping options on this and didn't buy one.

I've had mine a year, taken some decent shots, but just don't have the affinity for the images made with this compared to the 4x5.

Have used ND grads with it. The real pain is the blind arc formed by the Lee filter adaptor ring. Investigated idea of making a bayonet one, but looked quite difficult. Have since switched to using HP5 and Fuji Pro160S colour neg in it rather than tranparency film. The built-in meter is able to handle this better.

The Mamiya polariser adaptor works well especially when hand holding (annoyingly for me currently on special offer at Robert White!), but the Kenko polariser from Robert White was a close second and even cheaper. I've found fitting the bayonet ring a bit of a fiddle with cold hands.

Mamiya 7II any opinions?

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