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Mamiya 645 + S


johnloumiles

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Does anyone here shoot the Mamiya -Sekor lenses on the S camera? There's barely a mention of them on the forum and nothing online to speak of. Obviously there is no comparison to the S lenses but I'd love to hear some experiences and see some photos if it's not too much trouble. I know the 80mm 1.9 is a standout from the film photos I've seen online, incredibly beautiful wide open. Also like that the adapter is so thin keeping the camera profile compact.

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Hi John,

I shoot the 200mm and 300mm Apo on the S, both nice lenses and they do very well.  The 200mm compares well to the 180mm S lens in center and is close in the field but not the edges, the 180mm is an amazing lens and the Mamiya is also excellent.  The 300mm is also excellent, sharp however the colors of these lenses are somewhat dull compared to Leica and Zeiss.  Many years ago I tested the Mamiya lenses in the 45mm and 55mm range against Contax 645 optics on a P30+ back (cropped sensor).  The Mamiya lenses were as sharp (cropped sensor didn't allow the edges performance to be viewed) as the Zeiss but again the colors were not as pleasing, a certain dullness that was later post processed in photoshop to match the Zeiss colors very closely.

As you mention the Mamiya lens adapter is compact and the lenses have more of a 35mm size and feel making the camera/lens combination handling similar to full frame Nikon and Canons.       

Edited by darylgo
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Thanks Daryl

 

I find the fact that they can hold their own in the center of the frame most important. I considered the fact that the major weakness of those lenses was going to be at the edges, but that it wouldn't matter as much with the crop factor. I was wondering, with the crop factor would the film lenses basically be equivelent to their actual length. Since a 70 S lens is about a 50 mm field of view against the medium format sensor, take a 80mm Mamiya - medium format sensor + crop factor = 70-80mm FOV?

 

Thanks again for your insight, really appreciate it.

 

Hi John,

I shoot the 200mm and 300mm Apo on the S, both nice lenses and they do very well. The 200mm compares well to the 180mm S lens in center and is close in the field but not the edges, the 180mm is an amazing lens and the Mamiya is also excellent. The 300mm is also excellent, sharp however the colors of these lenses are somewhat dull compared to Leica and Zeiss. Many years ago I tested the Mamiya lenses in the 45mm and 55mm range against Contax 645 optics on a P30+ back (cropped sensor). The Mamiya lenses were as sharp (cropped sensor didn't allow the edges performance to be viewed) as the Zeiss but again the colors were not as pleasing, a certain dullness that was later post processed in photoshop to match the Zeiss colors very closely.

As you mention the Mamiya lens adapter is compact and the lenses have more of a 35mm size and feel making the camera/lens combination handling similar to full frame Nikon and Canons.

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+1 surprised the Mamiya lenses were that good, and they can be purchased very reasonably.  My current 45 and 55mm iirc were purchased for $150-200.

 

The Leica S crop factor is 20% when compared to 35mm.  80mm -20% = 64mm.  So, the 80mm Mamiya would be a 64mm on the Leica S, the 70mm Leica S lens is 56mm (equivalent 35mm).  56mm is slight telephoto (normal is 43.x) but in traditional 35mm terms lenses up to 58mm were considered normal, such as the 58mm/f1.2 Minolta and iirc Nikkor 58mm/1.2.  

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I have the Mamiya 200 APO and like it very much. Leica 180 may be sharper, but Mamiya with a bit of processing is pretty close. Rendering is different and in some cases more preferable to Leica.

 

I also tried the Mamiya zooms 55-110 and 105-210. The former did not do much for me. 105-210 was OK, nothing special but certainly convenient compared to carrying several lenses. At under $100 it is a no risk proposition.

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They are so cheap I think I will get a Mamiya 645 to Leica S adapter from Metabones (they have good quality adapters) it only costs 299$. More than many Mamiya lenses cost themselves, I'm especially looking to get the 80/1,9 and 200/2,8 APO and maybe the 24mm Fisheye

Edited by jip
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They are so cheap I think I will get a Mamiya 645 to Leica S adapter from Metabones (they have good quality adapters) it only costs 299$. More than many Mamiya lenses cost themselves, I'm especially looking to get the 80/1,9 and 200/2,8 APO and maybe the 24mm Fisheye

Didn't know metabones made them, my Mamiya adapter is the Leica version and it has play in the mount where the lens bayonets, does the metabones do this?  

jip:  I had the Mamiya 24mm Fisheye only to sell it after disappointment with the images, though they are fun lenses to play with.  On the Leica S they are not as much fisheye as super wide.      

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Received the Metabones adapter yesterday, seems well made but doubtful it's better then the Leica version, I'll let you know how it fits when camera comes next week. Was wondering about the fisheye and if there's any curvature to the images even with the crop. As a wide lens I'd be interested but I'm not a fan of the fisheye look. Also I found some Chinese ebayers that are selling adapters for a Hasselblad C to S mount for $150. Really interested in that with all the great Ziess glass for the classic Hassy but didn't want to start off with questionable quality adapters.

 

Didn't know metabones made them, my Mamiya adapter is the Leica version and it has play in the mount where the lens bayonets, does the metabones do this?

jip: I had the Mamiya 24mm Fisheye only to sell it after disappointment with the images, though they are fun lenses to play with. On the Leica S they are not as much fisheye as super wide.

Edited by johnloumiles
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Received the lenses today (still waiting on the camera) and tried them out on the MB adapter. Sure enough there is about 1mm of play between it and the lens. I assume that's because older lenses production tolerances vary from copy to copy and they don't want people getting the adapter stuck. I know that's happened to me previously. As far as the lenses themselves; build quality is underwhelming to say the least. Plasticky would the adjective I would use. Really it's just aperture ring that's plastic but since that's such a heavily used component it fells like it extends to the whole lens. The aperture clicks are probably the most unappealing and inexact I have ever experienced, the tactile feedback pretty much sucks. The 150 is better then the 55 which is particularly awful in these regards. Really makes you appreciate M lenses. Focus is stiff at first and uneven but that's probably attributed to the lens age. All the glass looks stellar and is obviously the strongest part of the lens which in the end is all that matters. The old maxim is true, you get what you pay for and in this case you pay 90% of the price towards the glass.

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I've read that there are 3 types of lenses for the Mamiya system 645:

 

Mamiya 

Mamiya S

Mamiya N

 

The N being the latest addition usually lighter and smaller (more plastic) but optically most modern, coatings etc.

The S being the N optically but having the mechanical quality (more metal) of the 'regular' old Mamiya 645 lenses...

 

The regular lenses sometimes differ in optical formulae though compared to the later N and S models, making them less favourable usually lower contrast more dull.

Edited by jip
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I think there is an A as well? The 55 and150 I just got are N lenses...maybe they a more plasticy because they are the newest but they are also multi coated. The 80 I'm waiting for has the older writing around the rim so I know it's not an N but the box it comes in looks exactly like the lenses I just got and has the N on it. I'm confused. The guy I bought it from isn't a camera person so I don't know for sure.

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Okay so: 

plain = older coatings/optics more metal housing

S = newer coatings/optics more metal housing (like the plain)

N = newer coatings/optics and newer type housing (more plasticy?)

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 Was wondering about the fisheye and if there's any curvature to the images even with the crop. 

I looked for images but could not find them, iirc there was distortion in the wider dimension or horizontal axis in a landscape orientation, the distortion in the other direction was minimal.   

 

Received the lenses today (still waiting on the camera) and tried them out on the MB adapter. Sure enough there is about 1mm of play between it and the lens. 

That is a lot of play and about the same amount I am seeing with the Leica adapter.  I guess we can assume the bayonet tolerance of the lenses is a big factor.  I don't have a Mamiya body to try them.  They marketed their 645 offerings as the budget alternative to the well established European cameras.     

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