MF lens on 645AF body?

[LMNOP]

Has anyone had experience using a MF Mamiya 645 lens with a Mamiya 645AF? I ask because I currently own the 80mm 2.8 - an as much as I love the results, I've never been crazy about that flimsy focusing ring, not to mention the fact that I never use autofocus. In addition, some of the MF lenses are pretty cheap, I wouldn't mind have a 150mm and a super wide for less than the cost of a single AF lens.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/801027559-USE/mamiya_210_211_telephoto_150mm_f_3_5_n.html

Would any additional steps need to be taken to use this?

 

[Oren Grad]

See p 68 of the 645AF instruction manual:

http://www.mamiyaleaf.com/assets/files/documentation/645AFInstr.pdf

 

[nanthor]

Hi, I've used a few on the Mamiya ZD, which I assume is similar in use to the 645AF camera. It's just like using an MF lens on a fully auto 35mm, when set to aperture priority the camera will read the light entering from the lens and decide what shutter speed to use. The ZD (and hopefully the AFD) has a focusing confirmation led that lets you know when the focus is met, and you can also use your vision. I've used the 50mm shift and the 300mm MF lens in this way with no issues. There are some very interesting lenses for Mamiya 645 that can only be found in MF version such as the 80mm f1.9 (think of it as a medium format noctilux), the 50mm shift, and the 120mm macro. Bob.

 

[MattKing]

When mounted on a 645 AF body the manual focus Mamiya 645 lenses require that you use stop-down metering.

 

[Dr Croubie]

No problems at all, I do it all the time. That 80/1.9 is gorgeous, and all my Zeiss Pentacon6 and Takumar P67 lenses fit via adapters too.
a) you only get to use the centre-spot metering, not full-area.
b) there's obviously no AF, but the front/back focus arrows still work if there's enough light and you're wide-open
c) you have to do stop-down metering. If my M645AF has taught me anything, it's don't trust the TTL meter at all, unless your eye can form a complete seal around the eyecup stray light gets in and blows it out by a few stops (even more if you're using stop-down metering with NDs or CPLs).
d) get a handheld meter anyway

 

[LMNOP]

No problems at all, I do it all the time. That 80/1.9 is gorgeous, and all my Zeiss Pentacon6 and Takumar P67 lenses fit via adapters too.
a) you only get to use the centre-spot metering, not full-area.
b) there's obviously no AF, but the front/back focus arrows still work if there's enough light and you're wide-open
c) you have to do stop-down metering. If my M645AF has taught me anything, it's don't trust the TTL meter at all, unless your eye can form a complete seal around the eyecup stray light gets in and blows it out by a few stops (even more if you're using stop-down metering with NDs or CPLs).
d) get a handheld meter anyway

That is great to hear! For stop down metering, I take it you are on manual? I'm usually on AV - allows me to work quickly, but I have noticed that built in meter is off.

 

[Dr Croubie]

That is great to hear! For stop down metering, I take it you are on manual? I'm usually on AV - allows me to work quickly, but I have noticed that built in meter is off.

I'm usually on Av, sometimes manual. The meter is usually fine with the viewfinder blind down, but then you can't see where you're pointing, obviously. So either use one hand to shut the blind while you're holding it to take a meter reading, or use a tripod (or the aforementioned external meter), from there you can either use AE lock, EV Comp or Manual.

The one thing I discovered last outing was that you can't bracket in Manual, only Av. So to bracket I had to use Av, take the readings to figure out the centre-frame speed, then use the ev-comp to set the centre where I wanted it. My Canons bracket in manual mode which makes it all the easier, but Mamiya doesn't for some reason.