50mm Mamiya 7 lens

[TJV]

Hello,
anyone out there own the Mamiya 7 50mm lens? What's the story about using this with a flash seeing as it requires a viewfinder for accurate framing? Is it easy to attach some sort of bracket to mount the flash on?

More importantly, how do people find the lens? My current standard is probably the 65mm but could go wider from time to time. The 50mm is obviously one of the worlds best but I thought I'd ask for some user reports / examples.

Regards,
J

 

[joe r]

The 50mm Mamiya 7 lens is extremely sharp. I was blown away when I first looked at 6x7 chromes shot with this lens on the light table.

I primarily use the camera for long exposure night photography, so switching between the camera's viewfinder and shoe mounted finder isn't a big deal. The 50mm framelines in the shoe mounted finder are pretty close to using the entire area of the in-camera finder. I have done some daytime shooting in this manner, and wasn't disappointed with the framing. This would probably be your best option for flash usage.

A flash bracket that attaches to the tripod mount and positions the flash to the side of the camera may be another option, depending on what type of shooting you're doing.

Cheers,

JR

 

[TJV]

Thanks Joe. It's good to know that a few people still actually visit this part of the Forum! From what I've heard, your experiences with the lens are pretty standard - amazing sharpness and depth to your exposures.

I'm wondering if anyone out there uses it for doco and / or street work. Any examples and impressions?

In your experience, is the camera rangefinder cropped or wider than the FOV of the lens? if it's cropped I'm guessing it would be better for my style of work.

Cheers,
J