Mamiya 7 - 50mm or 80mm?

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Markus

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Hello,

I am thinking of buying the Mamiya 7 / 7II, but i am not sure which leneses I should get. The 43mm has fantastic riviews and i think i am going to get this lens first. But I am not sure which lens i should add after the 43mm. From a technical view, all lenses for this system are excelent and thats why im not sure wether i should take the 50mm or the 80mm lens. I like the look of the pictures taken with these lenses - both of them. On the one hand, since there is no mirror the 50mm lens will be an excellent wideangle lens, but its focal length is also very close to the 43mm lens. On the other hand the 80mm lens is like a 40mm lens on a SLR and something like a "normal lens" for the Mamiya 7.
I usually prefer wideangle lenses, but on my DSLR i use a 40mm lens which is also fantatstic.

So i am not sure which of both lenses to add as second lens.

Has anyone some experiences wit this three lensens?
 
It is a matter of taste, but I I were to have M7 + 43, then as my next lens I would consider either the 65 or 80.

50 and 43 is like 25 and 21 in small format.
 
I want both. I currently only have the 80mm, and am browsing for a clean 50mm. I think the 43mm is just too wide for my preference and would be a bit of a novelty lens (to me).
 
From what i know about 35mm lensens on 35mm film is that i don't like them. There are a lot of people who can live with just a 65mm (35mm) lens, but i am defnitely not one of them. For me, a 35mm lens isn't short enough to be a wideangle nor is it long enough to be a normal lenght lens.

If I would buy the 50mm, I worry that I would miss a 80mm lens and the other way around I would miss the 50mm lens.

At the moment, I would go for the 50mm lens, because in some cases i could use the low distortion of the 50mm lens to create a similar look like the 80mm lens. I know that a 50mm lens is never a 80mm lens, but from what I've seen on flickr it is sometimes hard to guess which lens was taken for a shot.
From what I am used to with SLR-lenses, they usually have a lot of distortion which makes it easy to see this wideangle-effect. For me, the Mamiya 7 lenses are more similiar to largeformat lenses and can create this "special" look.

For me 43mm (21mm) or 90° are simply perfect. Thats why I have chosen the 43mm as the first lens.
 
Markus: it is all about the field of view that works with your style. Forget any worries about optical performance with the Mamiya 7 lenses as they all are excellent.

I am confused though as you say when using a 35mm camera that a 40mm lens is your normal but you don't get along with 35mm lenses in that situation? That certainly is a tiny difference in FOV.

If you think you want a 43mm lens for your Mamiya 7, I suggest you shoot with a 21mm lens on your 35mm camera and make sure you get along with that FOV before you drop the big bucks on the Mamiya 7 equivalent.

FWIW, I have had the 80, 65 and 50mm lenses for my Mamiya 7 for about 5-6 years. I don't think the 65mm lens has been off the camera in the last several years. I would not consider the 43mm lens because that is simply too wide for me.
 
35mm/40mm lenses exist in nearly every system and 24mm (25mm)/28mm lenses exist in nearly every system. Although they only differ by a few mm in focal length, but the perspective they create is different.

There is a gap between the 43mm and the 80mm that makes the 65mm lens a good compromise, but before i would spend my money for this lens i would take the 50mm (or 80mm?) - because I know that i cant get along with it.

On my DSLR i have a wideangle zoomlens and mostly i use it as 17,18 or 21mm lens. So im very familiar with this focal length and i like it. Since my camera manufacturer is not in a position to produce a good lens in this focal length im looking for an alternative. from what I've heard the 43mm is fantastic, so I think this lens is perfect for me.
 
I had the 50mm first, then added the 80mm. To me it would not have made much sense to add the 43mm in place of the 80mm, the angle of view is just not different enough.

That's my opinion however. Yours may be different. But if you say you mostly shoot wide-angle, maybe it would be a nice challenge and/or add a whole different style to your photography by going for the 80mm. Think about it that way, too.
 
65!!!!


I've the 43 and the 65. I use the 65mm 80% of the time. So I'm going to sell the 43 next year. But it's still a perfect pair for me.

50 is much too close to the 43 IMO
 
If I was getting the 43mm, I would not even consider a 50mm, the difference is so small. A 43mm and 80mm sounds like a great combo to me.
 
Perhaps the 80mm is a better choice...

It is true that the 50mm and 43mm are very similar and that is great plus for the 80mm. And I could also use its shallow depth of field (well f4...)
 
I have the 43mm, 65mm and 150mm lenses with my M7. It was a tough call between the 65mm and 80mm but the 65mm won a I really like the FOV (but, then again, I really like the 35mm lens on a 35mm camera). For me, the 43mm and 50mm are too close to one another to tie up that amount of cash.
 
Ok, the 65mm looks more interesting than the 80mm. Now its da decision between the 50mm and 65mm... :D
But first I want to thank you for your help!
 
Hi Markus, I don't know what type of photography you do, but if you shoot landscape mainly, 50mm or 43mm would be a better choice. Otherwise, 65mm should be more practical choice. It is extremely versatile and used by many documentary / art photographers as a primary lens for Mamiya 7.
 
Thank you for your reply. I mainly want to shoot landscapes with the Mamiya 7. In the last days i searched for pictures taken with these three lenses on the internet and of course here in the forum. I have seen a large number of great shots. From my DSLR i'm used to the fact, that the lens is a determining factor how a picture will look like: With a wideangle you create a wideangle picture...
With the Mamiya 7 it seems to be that the photographer decides, how the picture will look - no matter if a wideangle lens or a longer lens was used. I have seen good landscape pictures taken with a 65/80mm lens and pictures which i thought they were taken with a longer lens, but they were taken with a 43/50mm lens.

So either Mamiya 7 II + 43mm and 50mm or 43mm and 65mm.
 
I first bought the 65mm, then the 43mm, then the 150mm.
And the amount I use them is also in that order. All terrific. With these focal lengths, I don't think I will need the 50mm or the 80mm.
 
My personal experience with the equivalents in 35mm format is that while the difference between 35mm and 40mm doesn't seem like a lot, they do perform quite differently. Of course that could be due to the 35mm lenses I've used (SLR-based, not RF) not being totally distortion-free, but I don't think so. The 40/42mm lenses I've used, albeit RF-based, seem much more like 50s, but with just enough extra FOV to allow for more relaxed framing.

I'm not sure that makes sense, but if it were me I would get the 80 next. Even for landscape it would be quite useful, and I would think really well-suited to casual portraiture. YMMV.
 
I think i will add the 50mm first and than the 80mm. As it was mentioned before, there is a difference between a 35mm and 40mm lens on 35mm and i like the 40mm and even the best 35mm lens (think of Leica's 1.4 asph.) is wasted if it is given to me. Perhaps instead of the 80mm the 150mm (70mm) could also be interesting for landscapes
 
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