New (to me) Mamiya 6

AZLF · Nov 24, 2007

I had managed to stay away from the ebay camera listing for several months and made the mistake of perusing the vintage listings the other day. I found a Mamiya 6 120 6x6 cm folder that looked good and it arrived yesterday. It is an odd design that moves the film plane back and forth for focus rather than the lens. It has a Zukio 75mm f-3.5 lens. I've loaded it with Ilford 400 asa B&W and will shoot a roll in the next few days to see how it performs.

Has anyone else owned or used one these post war Mamiya's? If so are there any special tricks for use or pitfalls to avoid?

removed account4 · Nov 24, 2007

i have one and loved it until it broke
it wasn't faulty design, just foolish me, when i packed it away on a trip ..
the wind knob sheer'd off.
the only strange thing i found with the camera was the way to load it and get
the winder to actually stop at the right place ... ( in sync with the ruby window )
you load it at "1" on top, and when "1" appears in the ruby window, you click the little
lever/button thingy to tell the camera that you are have the film loaded and ready at "1"
then after you shoot your first exposure, your winder should stop at about "2" in the ruby window
all by itself

have fun!
john

Russ Young · Nov 24, 2007

They're very under-rated IMHO. I have two, the very last model and the model before it. The newest one is marginally sharper but both are excellent in both contrast and resolution. Get a hood, too... Hope you'll be as pleased as I have been. If the shutter needs cleaning, CERTO6 on Fleabay is the man. Enjoy your camera immensely,
Russ

AZLF · Nov 24, 2007

Russ Young said:
They're very under-rated IMHO. I have two, the very last model and the model before it. The newest one is marginally sharper but both are excellent in both contrast and resolution. Get a hood, too... Hope you'll be as pleased as I have been. If the shutter needs cleaning, CERTO6 on Fleabay is the man. Enjoy your camera immensely,
Russ

Thanks for the info. Can you tell me what lens hood I should be looking for?
The lens is not threaded so it must be some sort of clamp on type.

Mackinaw · Nov 24, 2007

I picked up a Mamiya 6 folder a few years back for $40.00 USD. A great little camera that takes excellent pictures. Pitfalls are few, my doesn't like direct sunlight (will fog the film) but operates just fine on cloudy days or if I'm in the shade. Mine has the external flash synch which is basically a metal bar that surrounds the lens. The synch works just fine but makes changing apertures a pain (need a pen or knife to move the aperture lever). Other than that, this camera is fairly easy and simple to use. I'm very impressed by the Zuiko lens. It's probably tessar-based, and its good.

Jim B.

P C Headland · Nov 25, 2007

I recently picked up one of the early ones, dating from about '41-'42. It's a very nice camera to use, with a surprisingly nice finder for its age. In fact, mine's got two finders - the normal one with the RF, and a waist level finder too (this was dropped on the post war versions).

The frame spacing is spot on. Once you've done frame one, everything from that point on is auto-stop. A little red flag comes down in the viewfinder after you've taken the shot, but on mine there is no physical interlock on the shutter. The RF patch is nice and bright too.

Here are the first shots off the camera.

Russ Young · Nov 26, 2007

AZLF-
the adapter you need is a 1 13/32 inch or 35.5 mm.; Kodak (and others) made them to fit Series VI hoods and filters (I use a K1 filter most of the time and occassionally a G when in the desert).
Mine is shot in direct light all the time and no fog- Jim. B. probably has some tiny pinhole leaks in the bellows.
As above, these are precise wee machines and the focusing film plane is just plain brilliance.
If you have any problems, pm me and we'll work through them.
Russ

AZLF · Nov 26, 2007

Russ Young said:
AZLF-
the adapter you need is a 1 13/32 inch or 35.5 mm.; Kodak (and others) made them to fit Series VI hoods and filters (I use a K1 filter most of the time and occassionally a G when in the desert).
Mine is shot in direct light all the time and no fog- Jim. B. probably has some tiny pinhole leaks in the bellows.
As above, these are precise wee machines and the focusing film plane is just plain brilliance.
If you have any problems, pm me and we'll work through them.
Russ

Thanks for the info on the hood. I'll be looking for one.

Mackinaw · Nov 27, 2007

Russ Young said:
Mine is shot in direct light all the time and no fog- Jim. B. probably has some tiny pinhole leaks in the bellows.

You may be right but I'll be damned if I can find them. I've shined a bright light all around the bellows while looking into the rear of the camera with the back door open and can't find anything. I'm thinking now my light leak may be coming from the back door.

Jim B.

New (to me) Mamiya 6

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