This morning I held a Mamiya 6 MF, the first time I've ever held any from this range of cameras ... now I'm going to have to sell something.. or rather... a few things 😬
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I have had a Mamiya 6 they are very good, amazing lenses.I think they a bit fragile. Mine came with a service receipt for £700 from a London shop.Good luck with your search.
I sold mine because I was also nervous about the electronics.The lenses are very good but are susceptible to haze.The lubricants were starting to fail on mine.They are an expensive doorstop.I didn't have any issues with the quality of photos they were great.
First time I held an m6 and clicked the shutter, I was pretty upset that I even touched the thing. I have resisted touching one of these or a Hasselblad for that exact reason.
The one I held Bellamy found for my friend, as well as the lenses he wanted. There's a few for sale on UsedLens co uk but finding one from a good dealer at a reasonable price is rare.
In 35mm I'd take an SLR every time, but for some reason I've got used to range finders in medium format, I think because often they're more convenient to use.
Yes. Indeed.
My 6x6 experience is limited. In fact, I have just made a contact print of 12 negs (exposed yesterday) from a Zeiss for #FolderWeek which about adds 20% to my lifetime output!
I reckon, if the square format is for you, the Mam 6 MF is a superb, portable way to do it.
Go for it Steve!
(Says someone who has not bought another camera for 20 years .... less a "spare" FM2N two years ago. I will now go and put my tin hat on). 😉
They are beautiful but fragile cameras, incidentally packed the 7ii for tomorrow as I’ve had 120 in the fridge for far too long, glass on these things is some of the best.
I looked at both the 6 and 7 versions and wasn't willing to risk the electrics going south on me, so I ended up with a Fuji GW670iii. If my experience is anything to go by, I think you will find the medium format rangefinder experience very liberating and so much fun to use. Enjoy
The lenses for that system are criminally good, albeit a little clinical - but who cares, when your negatives look like they came from the gods? Truth to tell, I get a lot more use out of my Perkeo, but when I can use the 6, it impresses. (Bring many, many batteries, however.)
Interested to know what motivates you to use the Perkeo (also very nice) more often, I've some friends with Mamiya 7 cameras too, and they don't seem to take them out too often either.
Easy: size. The Perkeo will fit in a coat pocket, or in a bag, so I can take it all over the place (and as a second camera if shooting more seriously). The Mamiya isn't huge, but too big for casual use. Eats more space than my Pentax kit, though much less than my mirrorless.
Likewise, I baby it more than my SLRs (b/c, expensive and not made to be abused). So if I travel with it, I need to allocate space to pack it reasonably. It ends up being a very "intentional" camera. But certainly not too big to hike with, etc. (Definitely an either/or with the SLR, though.)
Bear in mind, I travel light and prioritize compactness. My most used camera these days is my Minox 35, which I carry most of the time. So my sense of the Mamiya as relatively big should be taken with that perspective in mind. Many people would probably find it rather small!
I came close to buying one of those a while back, but in truth I don't think I'm ever going to be far away from buying one. Fortunately I haven't held one yet.
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And I only saw your post like a couple of minutes ago.
I have a Bronica RF 645 ...... a very similar idea but 16 frames on a roll of 120.
Best of luck!
My 6x6 experience is limited. In fact, I have just made a contact print of 12 negs (exposed yesterday) from a Zeiss for #FolderWeek which about adds 20% to my lifetime output!
I reckon, if the square format is for you, the Mam 6 MF is a superb, portable way to do it.
(Says someone who has not bought another camera for 20 years .... less a "spare" FM2N two years ago. I will now go and put my tin hat on). 😉
Damn.