Mamiya RB lens

TareqPhoto · Sep 28, 2013

Hi again,

I am thinking to buy Mamiya RB67 because i don't like my RZ battery longevity, but i am not sure which lens to get, mostly i was thinking to buy 1 of 2 lenses on standard FL, either 90mm or 127mm, i am having 50/180 for my RZ and buying 110mm even i am not much with RZ, still i like that RZ handling and focusing and always having sharp amazing shots, don't get me wrong, i will not give up R, but i will use RB when i feel i will go out for long time and worry about battery running out.

So what do you recommend me as a lens between the two [90mm, 127mm]?

markbarendt · Sep 28, 2013

The 90 would be a good theoretical split between the two and if needed you can crop to the 127's view.

Why not just carry a spare battery or two?

Jeff Kubach · Sep 28, 2013

I would go for the 90 also.

Jeff

TareqPhoto · Sep 28, 2013

markbarendt said:
The 90 would be a good theoretical split between the two and if needed you can crop to the 127's view.

Why not just carry a spare battery or two?

The battery is difficult to find in my country, and i will do that for sure but it annoy me when this happen and sometimes i forget to carry a spare battery and suddenly i find out that the battery is ran out, with mechanical RB i will never worry about that.

TareqPhoto · Sep 28, 2013

Jeff Kubach said:
I would go for the 90 also.

Jeff

Well then, 2 votes for 90mm, it will be the choice, and one day i may add 127mm if necessary but i don't think so.

MattKing · Sep 28, 2013

The 127mm lens is relatively quite small.

I would tend to make my decision based on which of the wider lenses I had - pair a 90mm with a 50mm or a 127mm with a 65mm.

In my case, I now have neither. My "small" kit is a 65mm and a 140mm macro lens.

My "large" kit adds one or both of the 50mm and the 180mm.

TareqPhoto · Sep 28, 2013

MattKing said:
The 127mm lens is relatively quite small.

I would tend to make my decision based on which of the wider lenses I had - pair a 90mm with a 50mm or a 127mm with a 65mm.

In my case, I now have neither. My "small" kit is a 65mm and a 140mm macro lens.

My "large" kit adds one or both of the 50mm and the 180mm.

For my RZ i have 50mm and 180mm and later will add that 110mm, but for my RB i think i want a standard lens that is not so wide and not so long, 90 and 127 both are medium focal lengths from what i read and see, so that i am thinking about one of them, maybe i tend for slightly wider which is 90mm, but i said if that i may add 127mm later if 90mm didn't suit me, with my RZ i shoot with 50mm outdoor like 90% over 180mm, not sure if 110mm will have more use over 50mm, but if i will get 90mm for RB then i am forced to use this lens only anyway.

TareqPhoto · Sep 29, 2013

Ok, i just ordered RB67 and i have to wait almost 12 days until i can get it [hope not longer than that], so i will get the lens sooner or later, i hope i can order by next week early before i go to vacation in October.

mesantacruz · Sep 29, 2013

TareqPhoto, from what i understand you can use RB lenses on RZ camera. What you cannot do is use rz lenses on an rb camera.

TareqPhoto · Sep 29, 2013

mesantacruz said:
TareqPhoto, from what i understand you can use RB lenses on RZ camera. What you cannot do is use rz lenses on an rb camera.

I know that already, thank you very much!

TareqPhoto · Oct 10, 2013

My RB67 arrived yesterday i think because they called me yesterday to take it from post office, but i couldn't get it yesterday, so today i received from there.

It came with just WLF, no film back and nothing else, it is really in excellent condition or as they rated it "LN", now i will wait a bit then i will order the back and the lens.

Does that RZ back working on RB body?

MattKing · Oct 10, 2013

TareqPhoto said:
It came with just WLF, no film back and nothing else, it is really in excellent condition or as they rated it "LN", now i will wait a bit then i will order the back and the lens.

Does that RZ back working on RB body?

You need one of the RB backs - the RZ backs won't work.

They come in three versions - Pro, Pro-S, Pro-SD.

Is your RB a Pro, Pro-S or Pro-SD model? And did it include the rotating back adapter? You will need the rotating back adapter to use the standard backs.

The initial, Pro version does not include all the interlocks that later versions have. So it is possible to forget to take out the dark slide, or advance the film before taking your next shot.

The Pro-S and Pro-SD bodies add those safety interlocks, but the interlocks only work if you use a Pro-S or Pro-SD back.

The Pro and Pro-S backs depend on foam light seals. The Pro-SD backs don't require them.

All three backs can fit on and work with all three models - it is just the interlocks that matter (mostly) when comparing the different versions.

Technically the backs consist of two parts - the outer shell and the inner insert - but almost all the functionality is on the inserts. The only thing to remember, though is that you need to match the shells and inserts. You cannot use a Pro insert with a Pro-S shell, for instance. Each of the shells and inserts are clearly marked as to which version they are.

TareqPhoto · Oct 10, 2013

MattKing said:
You need one of the RB backs - the RZ backs won't work.

They come in three versions - Pro, Pro-S, Pro-SD.

Is your RB a Pro, Pro-S or Pro-SD model? And did it include the rotating back adapter? You will need the rotating back adapter to use the standard backs.

The initial, Pro version does not include all the interlocks that later versions have. So it is possible to forget to take out the dark slide, or advance the film before taking your next shot.

The Pro-S and Pro-SD bodies add those safety interlocks, but the interlocks only work if you use a Pro-S or Pro-SD back.

The Pro and Pro-S backs depend on foam light seals. The Pro-SD backs don't require them.

All three backs can fit on and work with all three models - it is just the interlocks that matter (mostly) when comparing the different versions.

Technically the backs consist of two parts - the outer shell and the inner insert - but almost all the functionality is on the inserts. The only thing to remember, though is that you need to match the shells and inserts. You cannot use a Pro insert with a Pro-S shell, for instance. Each of the shells and inserts are clearly marked as to which version they are.

Thank you very much for this detailed post.

Mine is RB67 Pro-SD, and i look for 6x7 back not 6x4.5 one, i will make sure i get the correct back, i saw some on ebay and keh, but i can'r decide yet on which yet.

MattKing · Oct 10, 2013

TareqPhoto said:
Thank you very much for this detailed post.

Mine is RB67 Pro-SD, and i look for 6x7 back not 6x4.5 one, i will make sure i get the correct back, i saw some on ebay and keh, but i can'r decide yet on which yet.

If you can find one, a Pro-SD back will be newer, and give you the most functionality.

I note that KEH has a Pro-SD back listed currently. It is somewhat expensive, but they often don't last long on that site.

A Pro-S back would certainly be functional.

Did your camera come with the rotating back adapter? If it came from KEH, the listing would have usually said so.

TareqPhoto · Oct 10, 2013

MattKing said:
If you can find one, a Pro-SD back will be newer, and give you the most functionality.

I note that KEH has a Pro-SD back listed currently. It is somewhat expensive, but they often don't last long on that site.

A Pro-S back would certainly be functional.

Did your camera come with the rotating back adapter? If it came from KEH, the listing would have usually said so.

Well, i have to check out my camera again, i bought mine from KEH in fact, if they didn't list it as LN then i may think it is NEW, so i will try if i can find the back from same site before it is gone, i found the back on ebay new and used, so i will keep my eyes on all sites i can find.

TareqPhoto · Oct 10, 2013

Another news: just came back from Dubai, brought my RZ lens 110mm f2.8 from FedEx office there that is open 24/7, can't wait to test this lens on RZ even i am not much with RZ electronic things and that battery issue which i bought RB for that reason specifically.

TareqPhoto · Oct 12, 2013

I ordered the lens 90mm f3.5 KL, and i hope maybe next month or if i get my money paid to me as soon as possible then i will order the back and maybe another lens which is 127mm KL for RB Pro-SD, but i feel maybe i should look for something else such as wider lens [50/65] or at least a macro lens, what do you think?

TareqPhoto · Oct 21, 2013

The lens came and i delivered it from post office today, the box is sealed so i hope it is really new, will open it later, but i am planning to order the film back maybe next week or end of this month, can't wait to use RB67.

k_jupiter · Oct 22, 2013

TareqPhoto said:
I ordered the lens 90mm f3.5 KL, and i hope maybe next month or if i get my money paid to me as soon as possible then i will order the back and maybe another lens which is 127mm KL for RB Pro-SD, but i feel maybe i should look for something else such as wider lens [50/65] or at least a macro lens, what do you think?

I use the 65mm the most on my rb. I usually carry that lens and a 127 unless I am shooting portraits in which case i use the 150SF. Note that lens has marginal performance when not using it in SF mode. The 127 on the other hand is exceptionally sharp and I always use it in favor of the 90 (a focal length I am not comfortable with).

Good luck. Get a chimney viewer, the 65mm, a pistol grip handle, and go shooting handheld.

tim in san jose

TareqPhoto · Oct 22, 2013

k_jupiter said:
I use the 65mm the most on my rb. I usually carry that lens and a 127 unless I am shooting portraits in which case i use the 150SF. Note that lens has marginal performance when not using it in SF mode. The 127 on the other hand is exceptionally sharp and I always use it in favor of the 90 (a focal length I am not comfortable with).

Good luck. Get a chimney viewer, the 65mm, a pistol grip handle, and go shooting handheld.

tim in san jose

Ok, so from your post i think i may go with 2 lenses instead of one, 65mm and 127mm.

What is a chimney viewer?

MattKing · Oct 22, 2013

TareqPhoto said:
Ok, so from your post i think i may go with 2 lenses instead of one, 65mm and 127mm.

What is a chimney viewer?

My 2 lens kit is a 65mm and the 140mm macro lens.

The chimney viewer is a hard-sided waist-level finder. There are various versions - some have switchable magnifiers, and some have metering. The latest version (PDN???) of the metering chimney finder uses a modern battery (PX28) and modern light sensors.

k_jupiter · Oct 22, 2013

TareqPhoto said:
Ok, so from your post i think i may go with 2 lenses instead of one, 65mm and 127mm.

What is a chimney viewer?

Tall plastic square tapered tube with a magnifier in it. Fits on top of the body replacing either the pop up viewer or the prism. Mine is the simple one.

I just happen to like using it.

The 65mm is one pretty lens.

tim

TareqPhoto · Oct 23, 2013

Well, the RB body i ordered came with a WLV, so whatever it is i will accept it, i am not sure what accessories i should replace or get for that WLV, will give it a test later and i hope it is similar or same as RZ ProII WLV because i love it, but who knows.

Well, i am not in rush for lenses, i used 50mm a lot on my RZ67 and it is a fantastic lens, sometimes it has that distortion or not parallel lines, but i learnt how to make it straight mostly, and i think 65mm will be a better FL over 50mm, at then end i can use RB lenses on RZ, so 65mm may be better for RB/RZ over 50mm on RZ.

I was thinking about a macro lens, but honestly speaking i feel either i stay in digital with Macro or buy a macro lens for Hasselblad 6x6 rather than Mamiya 6x7.

TareqPhoto · Nov 4, 2013

Finally, the system kit is complete, whatever i buy more are just bonus and not in rush.

Just came back from post office with some packages, including Mamiya RB 127mm KL and RB film back 6x7, also i got a Panoramic adapter 135 for my Mamiya 7II, almost done with RB until i can afford 2 lenses, one wide and one long, for now i can enjoy using either 90mm or 127mm and i can't wait to see the quality of using RB comparing to RZ.

TareqPhoto · Nov 4, 2013

Maybe i will test my RB on Friday, so which lens i should start with to test, 90mm or 127mm?

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