MAMIYA 6 SERIAL NUMBERS PC

The M6 is beautifully executed but a 6X7 negative would have been nice. Mamiya, in my humble but correct opinion, never quite got it right. Once you've used it for a while, this isn't a problem any more, but be prepared to look like an idiot when you first use the camera. There are interlocks for this stuff, so you can find yourself trying three times to take a picture before you actually do it.

There is a certain procedural precedence for doing things like, say, changing a lens, where you have to close this curtain right in front of the film to keep from exposing it, and then remember to reopen it once the other lens is on so you can shoot again. There's nothing whizzy about all this, but the lenses are terrific, as good as it gets in medium format, and the camera is a joy to use. There aren't a lot of controls on this puppy there's the shutter speed dial, with AE and AEL represented by a square and a circle so that I had to Sharpie in an 'L' to remember which was the lock (on later M6s, they labelled this AE and AEL, so it's less confusing), there's the f/stop, the focus, and a self-timer switch. Also, if everybody used them processing would get a lot cheaper. I wish everybody would use them because they do wonders for the detail in prints. (Ken Rockwell loves it he calls it the world's most perfect camera system and, within limitations, I don't think I'd dispute this). On a day-to-day basis, the Mamiya 6 is a great camera. That's no good! Your subject is supposed to see spots, not the photographer!

MAMIYA 6 SERIAL NUMBERS PC

On the Rolleicord, with no flash shoe, you have to mount this big bracket, put the flash on, hook up a PC cord, check that it's on X sync and not M, and then when you do bounce flash you get a facefull of flash. Well, it came down to a couple of things: 1) I wanted a light meter so I wouldn't have to always carry my Sekonic L28C2 with me and 2) I wanted a flash shoe since I take so many of my pictures indoors. I already owned a 2 1/4 camera, a Rolleicord Vb with a 75mm lens, so one might wonder why I'd need a Mamiya with a 75. I bought the M6 new with the 50 and 75mm lenses in 1992 and, after settling down with the operating procedures, grew to use it as my primary camera for the next 6 or 7 years. This is more or less the crown jewel of my gear. Here's this equipment and what I think of it: I know, use and really like the Nikon FE/FM3A cameras, the Mamiya 6 and, to a lesser extent, the Contax G1/G2 cameras and a couple of other point and shoots.

I have used a limited selection of gear over the years and haven't avidly read photo magazines with all their heavy breathing over the newest equipment in about 20 years. I get emails asking me what I think of Canon EOS1Ds or Nikon D70s or specific lenses.

Mamiya 6 Serial Numbers