Mamiya C220 or C330

In a nutshell, the C330 will automatically cock the shutter as you advance the film and has a parallax compensating mechanism built into the viewfinder. With the C220, you have to manually cock the shutter after you wind the film, and you compensate for parallax by looking at some lines that are etched into the viewing screen.

The C330 is also substantially larger and heavier than the C220. I opted for the C220 mainly because of the weight issue (over one pound lighter).

Jim B.
 
I have a C2 (the predecessor to the C220) and a C330. I find the automated features of the C330 -- automatic shutter cocking, parallax indicator, and interchangeable focusing screens -- to be small but much appreciated improvements over the C220. As noted above, the 220 is a bit lighter and simpler, and of course equally high image quality.
 
I had a C220 back in 1970 and considered the C330 to be the more professional version of the C220. The C220 is definitely a lightweight, but as they both use the same lenses with the built in shutter, the pictures made would be identical.
 
I have a C330 and a C220f -- and do so much prefer the C220f that I'm about to sell the C330.

But I'm comparing apples and oranges here: the C220f is the latest and much refined version and should be compared to a C330s, not to an earlier C330 or C330f. (Confusingly, there was no C220s.)

If you can, get either a C330s (quite rare and expensive, though) or a C220f (probably even rarer, but I got mine for 200€ with a 'blue dot' standard lens). The latest versions of the lenses, with a blue dot on the shutter lever, are supposed to be better (coated) than the earlier versions.

I do not think, by the way, that the C220 is so much lighter than the C330 that it make an important difference (but I use them on a monopad anyway). Your mileage may wary.

All in all great cameras and fun to use.
 
I got both.

The c330 is heavier but you do not have to cock the shutter separately, which is good if you are on a job like a wedding shoot and pressed for time and the camera is on a tripod anyways.

The c220 was my fun hobby camera, lighter to carry and it was slower to use , which is a good thing as you concentrate on your viewfinder composition more and do not burn through 12 exposure of 120 film (I never use 220 film) with nothing to show for it later on.
 
I've heard the rumors that the shutter cocking is a weak point of the 330, I've had one since 1982. It's had hundreds rolls through it, but not thousands like would be the case in professional use. Shutter cocking and frame spacing is still great. The 220 is a simpler design, and it's lighter. Can't complain too much about either of those attributes. With the 220 you're a little more likely to get the occasional double exposure unless you're strict with yourself about following procedures. With a 330, double exposure is usually associated with a lens change. In my experience at least.
 
i got a prob...i always miss a frame...out of 12..one will be wasted..not too sure if its de first or the last...but always when it shoot pass frame 11....it will not stop at frame 12, it just finish it off...not too sure wats wrong...
 
Back from the dead! (The thread, that is.)

I was having similar issues with my C330 - the winding mechanism would no longer lock the wind lever after travelling 360 degrees after I took 11th shot of the roll.

I didn't have it serviced since the only thing I needed to do was to keep in mind that I had to brake the wind lever myself for the last shot. That wouldn't be a problem, but since then some additional issues popped up - uneven spacing (I'm currently getting 9 pictures a roll), and the wind lever interlock is acting randomly even in the middle of the roll.

I'm going to have it serviced sometime next month, but I'm keeping an eye out for spare bodies in the meantime :p
 
Let's be honest, they are both slow to use and the self cocking mechanism, although reliable is a point of failure.
The Mamiya C220f is by far my favourite.
 
Got a 220 and 330 and since I got the 330 the 220 hasn't been used anymore. Lenses are the same but the ease of not having to search or forget the effing lever to cock the shutter is worth the extra weight. Easier to use lever for the transport as well.

Everything breaks down sooner or later, get over it. Those bodies are build to last, if they haven't been abused by a pro shooting hunderd rolls each weekend they'll outlast you. They are already older than many users. And so cheap that if they break you can replace them without having to pawn an arm and a leg. Invest in their lenses, not the bodies.
 
I got both, I prefer the 330 for tripod work but prefer the 220 on a strap for carrying around.

I originally bought the 330 as a back-up camera to my Hasselblad when shooting weddings in the 1980s, then I added the 220 as a carry-around hobby camera.



Note: I am kind of amazed at my self for repeating a reply almost four years after, without realizing it at first.
 
I have owned all of these Mamiya models. Believe it or not, my favorite was the venerable Mamiya C2. Lots of fun to use. The further embellishments are nice if you are in a hurry but not without their faults.
 
I have both a C330f and a C220f (and a battered old Mamiyaflex). I had the C330f first and got used to its features, so I still favor it. I normally shoot all of my TLRs on a rather heavy Bogen/Manfrotto tripod, anyway, so the difference in weight between these two cameras doesn't mean much to me.

Among my lenses, I have an older 135mm lens in the earlier chrome version. It won't work on the C330f, as the shutter cocking lever is located differently than on the later black lenses and it interferes with the shutter cocking mechanism on this camera. This lens works fine on the C220f, however.

- Murray
 
I also have the C220 and also a C3 and C33 , it is the glass for these things that makes them great in my eyes and the C220 without all the bells and whistles is by far the most realiable camera body to put this glass on , both my other bodies I have had to disassemble to sort the film transport and spacing probelms and will admit the self cocking on the C33 is nice to have but it is the C220 that I give the most use.
 
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