Mamyia 645 Super

Erik Petersson · Sep 17, 2010

Hi,

I got to borrow a Mamyia 645 Super from a friend for a few weeks. It comes with three lenses, 80, 45-ish and 150 if I remember correctly. the shorter lenses are 2.8, the longer is slower.

I am eager to try out medium format, and would be interested in knowing how other use this camera. It is heavier than what I normally use (Nikon FM2, FED etc), so not for carrying around and taking photos spontaneously, as I usually do. Studio work? Landscape? Portraits? Lenses are likely to be good, right?

I have an assortment of expired and near-expired 120-film of all kinds which I believe are in excellent shape!

thanks!
Erik

MattKing · Sep 17, 2010

Hi Erik:

Lenses are good

This camera and the models that followed it (645 Pro and 645 Pro-Tl) were in their heyday quite popular with wedding photographers, so you might be surprised how good they are for carrying around and taking photos spontaneously.

Which finder(s) do you have? Do you have a power grip? Do you have the left hand grip?

These were shot using one of my Mamiya Supers (I used to have two):

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

and

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Have fun with it!

Erik Petersson · Sep 17, 2010

Thanks for your reply!

There is a right hand grip with a motor drive. The sound is impressive, sounds very professional, but no candid shots! It has a prism finder. No left hand grip.

First thing will be to document my neighborhoud, the streets where I live. It is maybe the most trendy and self-contained part of Stockholm right now, which would be interesting to capture in some fashion.

traveller · Sep 17, 2010

Heavier? Sure but it is no problem to carry the 645 around. I take the 645 even with me when I travel. The motordrive helps a lot. Have you got the AE prism finder? The lightmeter of this is excellent.

The lenses are excellent too but you are right, candid shots are difficult. On the other side, often people come to me and start talking about photography.

But once it happened that a father told his son that it looks like I can not afford a real camera because there is no display. Got his PS out of his pocket and showed him what a real camera has to look alike

chriscrawfordphoto · Sep 17, 2010

Much of my best work was done with a 645 Super. The 150mm lens you will get is probably the f3.5 version, which is excellent. I use mine on a tripod for landscapes and architectural work. I know many will say, if you're gonna do that, get an RB-67 for the bigger film. I'm a skinny guy with a lot of health issues that make it hard for me to carry a lot of weight in the field, so the 645 Super is a great kit for someone like me. Light enough I can carry it easily, big enough to blow away 35mm in quality.

150mm f3.5N

80mm f1.9N lens

80mm f1.9N

All shot on Kodak E100GX

Erik Petersson · Sep 17, 2010

You are right, this camera will give more opportunities to interact with people, which will be interesting. Usually I try to be the proverbial fly on the wall. But recently my self confidence as a photographer has increased.

Probably his camera was more expensive than the Mamyia! Depreciating quickly, unlike yours!

Erik Petersson · Sep 17, 2010

Chriscrawfordphoto, those clouds are gorgeous!

Alan Johnson · Sep 17, 2010

I have a 645 Super and the AE prism finder is spot on for shooting transparencies in average metering mode.Rather than carry round the 45(heavy) and 80 I have settled on the 55mm for landscapes,no problem carrying this around on long hikes.

chriscrawfordphoto · Sep 18, 2010

Thanks. The skies always look like that in Texas and New Mexico. Very different from where I live now in Indiana.

traveller · Sep 18, 2010

Erik Petersson said:
Probably his camera was more expensive than the Mamyia! Depreciating quickly, unlike yours!

You know the digital crap they print the name Rollei on

But for using the name for this crap they should get [censored]

John

chriscrawfordphoto · Sep 18, 2010

traveller said:
You know the digital crap they print the name Rollei on

But for using the name for this crap they should get [censored]

John

Mamiya made their own digital camera too, the ZD. Nearly every camera maker still alive today has made or still makes digital cameras even if they still sell cameras that use film (Mamiya's 645AF-D can be fitted with either a film or digital back).

traveller · Sep 18, 2010

chriscrawfordphoto said:
Mamiya made their own digital camera too, the ZD. Nearly every camera maker still alive today has made or still makes digital cameras even if they still sell cameras that use film (Mamiya's 645AF-D can be fitted with either a film or digital back).

I know and I know better than to call a camera crap just because it is digital. But these are cheap cameras sold with the name Rollei to make the impression that it is a quality product and that annoys me because they have nothing in common with the quality of a Rolleiflex

chriscrawfordphoto · Sep 18, 2010

traveller said:
I know and I know better than to call a camera crap just because it is digital. But these are cheap cameras sold with the name Rollei to make the impression that it is a quality product and that annoys me because they have nothing in common with the quality of a Rolleiflex

Ohh, I didn't know they were selling point n shoot digitals with the Rollei name. Those are crap! I guess people buy. I know people buy Panasonic digital point n shoots with the red dot and pay twice the price :confused:

Mamyia 645 Super

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