Mamiya 6. Let's talk.

Woodsy

Woodsy

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Jonathan
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I've wanted a mamiya 6 or 7 for ages now; its been the camera one dreams of but can never really justify the expenditure for. However! Now I'm of the opinion 'sod it, I'll just save and sell as much crap as I can in the mean time'.

Because of the price I'm interested in the mamiya 6 and 50mm lens combo, rather than the mamiya 7, with the possibility of adding the 75mm later. Having used my 645 super for a good while now, I'm finding that I'm not using grads on anything other than large format and I'd really like a square format camera again. My main concern is the RF focusing, which I've only had limited exposure to thus far, however I'll come back to that shortly.

So what are peoples' opinions of the mamiya 6? Pros and cons please! Anyone moved away from the mamiya 6 in favour of a different system? Anyone moved to a mamiya 6 from a similar system?

Finally, I've never actually held one. This is something I would really like to remedy before doing anything that's hard to undo; such as selling my 645. Is anyone coming to any of the fusty and crusty meets planning on bringing one that I might admire in person?

Aaaaaaaaand..... Go :D
 
Are they the ones with the bellows from the 1950s? I'm instantly suspicious of anything with bellows.

If you mean the 1990s one then it's been on and off my list for ages. I keep thinking I want one then realise I can't be bothered to spend that much...then I want one again. Repeat until bored :)

For 6 x 6 then my rolleiflex automat is actually quite good. No bellows for light leaks. Normal WLF to wrestle with. I don't get on with it as the shutter button isn't on the top and I find that ergonomically annoying. Along with not really finding a WLF anything other than awkward to use as well.

Ken Rockwell is a big fan of the 6. Reading the article again has made me want one again.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/mamiya/6.htm
 
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Yep, definitely the 1990's one that ken raves about. For what I'd be using this camera for, having an eye level finder is preferred.

I don't have any aversion to bellows; I do have two LF cameras after all... but I'm not really keen on a TLR. Further if I wanted a WLF, I'd just take the prism finder off my 645.

What I'm really after I suppose is to know about any direct, or close to direct, alternatives to the 6?
 
Um.. I'd probably think the Pentax 67 might be the only vaguely similar type of thing. But it isn't square.

The Lomo Bel-End er Bel-Air is multi format and has multiple lens options but they're all 'dreamy' aka OOF looking. There's lots of plastic crap in 6x6 that Lomo do. The LCA-120 is quite a wide angle and it's not Lomo looking as the others.

Hopefully @skysh4rk will be along with some helpful suggestions!
 
I may be mistaken but for someone (@Woodsy) who occasionally:p:D shoots quality LF images and iirc chose to ditch most of his gear in favour of concentrating on the IQ of that format, to head into the Lomo route is possibly like reverting back to a Box Brownie:runaway:.

I appreciate that perhaps some of the lomo kit offers a half decent result, acceptable to some of us, but I'm not sure it's going to offer a satisfactory solution to Jonathans needs.
 
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Its what I use, I don't use much else, I've had it for 10 years.
Its tough to think of any negatives really, apart from the obvious RF limitations but I'll list them anyway.
Close focusing, it doesn't focus as close as an SLR or bellows camera, you can't fill a frame with a head portrait so no chopped scalps or missing ears, no face portions.
Its a bugger to use with grads since you don't see TTL.
Film loading can be a bit faffy, but it might just be me, with lens cap on and back closed the camera balances on the cap but when you open the back to load or unload it still balances but its right on the edge of tipping, if you don't know that it appears to be fine, lulled in to a false sense of security you go about your film business not realizing a butterfly flappin its wings in Kathmandu is gonna send it over.
My strap lugs are close to the wind on lever, when loading the strap gets tangled up with the lever and I might have to do a few half strokes winding the film to the start line, its just a bit faffy stood up trying to keep the film under tension with one hand whilst pulling back the lever with the other....and then the strap gets tangled.....uhhhh.
Its awkward to do sat down with the camera on your lap with the lens between your legs, but probably the best way.
Inside the back there are 2 red sliders, they release spring loaded pins that hold the spools in position, with pins released there are 2 buttons that pop out the bottom of the camera, these must be pushed back in after the spools are seated, if you forget one or both, the film still winds on but it gradually gets tighter and tighter to wind and will eventually be an expensive fail.
Its not easy to forget them, they stick out the bottom but, yeah, I've done it, luckily I realized what was happening, stopped and only ruined a roll of film.
Umm, that's about it really, a couple of occasions I haven't extended the lens properly to shoot and the shutter hasn't fired, umm..the RF patch can be tricky to see properly when shooting in to direct sunlight but I thing that's true of most RF's, its a bit square for an RF, not square edged but square in form factor.
I can't really think of anything else negative, I can't write the positives or we'd end up with an epic Teflon Mike post of a length hither to unseen by the human eye.:)
 
I think @raathistle has or had one. Now you've got two reasons for getting in touch with him... :)
 
I've read a few comments about the winding mechanism being a bit fragile. They may have improved this when they changed from the 6 to 6MF, because the weak point seems to have been fixed on the Mamiya 7. It could be worth having a word with Miles Whitehead to see if he's able to repair them and can still get hold of the part.
 
Thanks for the continued comments all, seems that people that have / have used them definitely like them. I like the look of that bronica, thats rather tastey! Seems to be about the same price as well, so worth considering. I guess I'd prefer a 6x6 format though, so will see what other comments appear.

@ChrisR, indeed! He'll show up some time. I don't have any of his contact details though, so will just have to wait :(
 
Strappy said:
Noooooo! Don't say that or all my GAS has been nothing but a load of hot air!!! :jawdrop:






Geddit? GAS ... hot air ... :coat:
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Dissapointed!....there's no other word to describe it.

You leave us for umpteen months to fend for ourselves and keep the battlements manned against the constant threat of invasion from the digiyites, only to return and offer us ^^THAT^^

Try harder young man, you have to try harder......was that not expressed on every page of your school reports?!! :D
 
Thanks all for the comments :)

@osh and @raathistle, I'd really appreciate your comments and thoughts on the 6.

@joxby, many thanks for the in depth comments chap. I don't suppose you or @AshleyC are coming to any meets in the nearish future are you? I'd love to get my hands on one to get a proper idea of what they are like to use? 's on me :)

Edit: Sorry, @AshleyC, on reading back you did actually offer in your post above! Apologies. I believe I'll be at the Oxford meet in April, so would hugely appreciate having a ganders then if you're around! :)
 
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Yeah I should be there although there is a trip to China planned for school hols to go see the other halves family so I will check the dates
 
Hopefully Ash will make the Oxford meet, I had hoped to make the May Cornwall meet but I think I'm gonna be in Newquay the week after.....during school holiday armageddon...:(
 
So, @Woodsy neither you nor @AshleyC managed to make the Oxford meet... pity, though I'd forgotten about the Mamiya 6 idea, I would have loved to have handled one again. Now he's gone and put a whole 6 setup in the Classifieds and then gone off on his Easter hols! Fair price too, from what I remember a couple of years ago. Bit steep nevertheless. I do want it... maybe... but that much money? Of course, it's basically free as you can sell it for the same again later... no, doesn't convince me, either! :runaway::confused::eek::(
 
needs must im afraid. Im looking to buy a house this year and one of my revenue streams that i was banking on fell through. So im selling anything that isnt nailed down to get the deposit. still got the Wista and Fuji xt-2 though so that will do me for now :) I wont honestly be bothered if it doesn't sell. They really are something good.
 
ChrisR said:
So, @Woodsy neither you nor @AshleyC managed to make the Oxford meet... pity, though I'd forgotten about the Mamiya 6 idea, I would have loved to have handled one again. Now he's gone and put a whole 6 setup in the Classifieds and then gone off on his Easter hols! Fair price too, from what I remember a couple of years ago. Bit steep nevertheless. I do want it... maybe... but that much money? Of course, it's basically free as you can sell it for the same again later... no, doesn't convince me, either! :runaway::confused::eek::(
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Do it Chris, what's the worst that could happen?
 
ChrisR said:
So, @Woodsy neither you nor @AshleyC managed to make the Oxford meet... pity, though I'd forgotten about the Mamiya 6 idea, I would have loved to have handled one again. Now he's gone and put a whole 6 setup in the Classifieds and then gone off on his Easter hols! Fair price too, from what I remember a couple of years ago. Bit steep nevertheless. I do want it... maybe... but that much money? Of course, it's basically free as you can sell it for the same again later... no, doesn't convince me, either! :runaway::confused::eek::(
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I ummed and arred over a Mamiya 6 for ages and finally picked one up a couple of months ago. They are absolutely superb to use, and I now wish I'd bought one years ago. For me it's the combination of lovely handling, good viewfinder and collapsible body, which means it's getting a lot of use. I mentioned on another thread that it seems way smaller than my old Mamiya 7ii, which can only be explained by the collapsible lens. It makes quite a big difference if, like me, you often like to carry something relatively light when out and about for a walk.

I'd say go for it if you have the money, and see what you think. The prices have shot up recently and you should be able to sell it for what you paid without any problems.

If it's any help, Miles Whitehead still services Mamiya 6 and 7 cameras and when I asked him about the M6 winder, he said in his experience they are no less reliable than any other camera.

Sorry if I've just destroyed your bank balance.
 
AshleyC said:
needs must im afraid. Im looking to buy a house this year and one of my revenue streams that i was banking on fell through. So im selling anything that isnt nailed down to get the deposit. still got the Wista and Fuji xt-2 though so that will do me for now :) I wont honestly be bothered if it doesn't sell. They really are something good.
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Is that XT-2 or TX-2 ?

:D
 
AshleyC said:
there's an x in there somewhere and a 2.
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lol.......well one is a doorstop, the other is on joxes extremely desirable hit list

Every time I do my interwebs trawl for the extremely desirable, all it ever comes up with is the doorstop, despite their obvious differences

ah well....to search another day..:)
 
Well, had to Google it after that. I presume you're not talking about the TX-2 computer that was a predecessor of Digital Equipment Corporation (of blessed memory), or the wildlife programme, or a bunch of other stuff... but the Fuji branded version of the XPan? (Both made by Fuji AFAICS.)
 
ChrisR said:
Well, had to Google it after that. I presume you're not talking about the TX-2 computer that was a predecessor of Digital Equipment Corporation (of blessed memory), or the wildlife programme, or a bunch of other stuff... but the Fuji branded version of the XPan? (Both made by Fuji AFAICS.)
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Yep, Fuji X-pan, TX-1 or TX-2 I'm not fussy
People get their X's and T's mixed up, they print TX-2 when the thing they're selling is an XT-2, they also do it the other way round.......its a false dawn forest out there, you have to check...:D
 
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