6x6 recommendations; Mamiya 6?

[james.liam]

Late to the MF party, have followed the rapid rise in prices of Hasselblad, Rollei and Mamiya.

I've decided in favor of the square and the Hasselblad 500 series, Mamiya 6 and Rollei 6008 might be the best options. Not big on meter-less cameras so I'd likely add a prism VF to a Hasselblad. Repair, lens and available parts become an issue for these aging bodies. The Rollei is unexpectedly looking more attractive.

Wondering if y'all can opine on these very different machines.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I have used Rolleis, Hasselblads, and the Mamiya 6. The Mamiya was my favorite. Like a giant 6x6 Leica; easy to handhold, SHARP lenses. I deeply regret that I had to sell mine.

Rolleis are nice, reliable, handholdable, sharp lenses; but limited since lenses are not interchangeable.

Hasselblads are heavy. Really heavy. I sold mine and bought the Mamiya 6 because I just couldn't carry around the weight of the camera and the three lenses I had for it. Hard to handhold. Focusing is slow; the finder is not great. These are really studio cameras for tripod use.

I think the Mamiya 6, Hasselblads, and Rolleis have equally good lenses. The Mamiya and Hasselblad have interchangeable lenses, which makes tem much more useful. The Mamiya is easy to handhold and makes a great street photo system.

 

[aizan]

The Rolleiflex 6008 would be my pick. The grip makes it very ergonomic with 90-degree finders. You won't even need a prism since metering is built-in. I got one for my brother, and he loves it.

Do you use long lenses? The 500cm with a metered 45-degree finder is balanced, but I'm not a fan of it with the 90-degree finder. It's fine with short lenses, but less great with long ones, and there are no right hand grips for the 500cm. The flash bracket and pistol grip are less than ideal. However, there's a right handed motor drive for the 503cw. I'd recommend that for 90-degree finders with long lenses. Also, look at the Pentacon/Exakta 66 for metered, eye-level use.

The Mamiya lenses are nice, but I didn't like the shutter button and overall design and feel of the 7, so I lost interest. That kind of thing isn't important on a practical level, though. 😉 Overall durability and availability of repair services are good, so no worries there.

 

[DennisM]

Mamiya 6

Mamiya 6

I purchased a Mamiya 6 with the two shorter lenses a year or so ago. It's a wonderful camera; fairly light and easy to handle. I'm comfortable with the square image; have exposed only B&W film which I've processed myself. I believe it has a fairly positive reputation re: reliability; lenses are reputed to be superb. Medium format photography is more deliberate than 35mm at least to me, so if handled reasonably carefully, and in good condition when purchased, a Mamiya 6 ought to be a fine tool.

 

[Deleted member 65559]

James, if you're Leica RF aficionado, you'd love the Mamiya 6. I concur with Chris, it's utterly portable. I had one and used it for a number of years. I liked/preferred the collapsible lens mount of the 6. I never bonded with the 7. Somehow it seemed unwieldy. It's handling is so different from the Hasselblad /Rolleiflex that you'll have to decide which suits your shooting style more.
https://www.adamjahiel.com/PHOTOGRAPHS/The-Last-Cowboy/1/thumbs-caption.... uses the Mamiya 6.
No question that the Hasselblad/Rolleiflex are more versatile.....but they are also more of a handful, especially with the prism.
The 75 & especially the 50 on the Mamiya 6 are fine lenses. I had the 150 but i almost never used it. Yes, the body is electronic....which was the reason i sold mine... but in retrospect...i'd just buy a few spares or parts donors.

 

[Pál_K]

Although the 6008 is an example of wonderful engineering and design, I chose Hasselblad for its all-mechanical nature. Even so, if the 6008’s have proven reliable and if there are a few good places to handle repair of any issues, I wouldn’t hesitate to get one. I like its features and no-nonsense cleverness.

I have Hasselblads with waist-level, 45-degree, and 90-degree finders. The 45-degree finder lets me concentrate more on composition. A PME metered finder doesn’t add too much weight.

I got to use a Mamiya 7, not a 6, and it was wonderful. Both the 6’s and 7’s have a clear, contrasty finder and a rangefinder patch which, in my opinion, beats anything made by Leica. I thought my M6 viewfinder and rangefinder patch was the best in the world until I used the Mamiya 7. Like one poster said, if you like using Leica, you’ll love the Mamiya.

 

[Rayt]

Before getting into Leica I shot with the Mamiya 6 with 50mm and 75mm lenses. Prices have gone through the roof. Even though I have replaced 135 film format with Leica digital I still prefer medium format due to the tonality whether scanned or printed. Today the best value has to be the Hasselblad 500 series for an modular system. I prefer the Rolleiflex 2.8 or 3.5 because I only use one lens now anyway. Prices for Rolleiflex are still reasonable especially for E or E2 and they are essentially the same camera as the much more expensive F.

 

[Majki]

6x6 recommendations; Mamiya 6?

Mamiya 6 give almost digital quality.
Nothing romantic, a little boring, perfect lens.

It is my opinion, of course I like this camera, but still- too sterile.

 

[Deleted member 65559]

Mamiya 6 give almost digital quality.
Nothing romantic, a little boring, perfect lens.

It is my opinion, of course I like this camera, but still- too sterile.

Thanks for your comment. I used the camera and lenses for 5 years and never quite saw it this way. In my opinion, & just a guess, it would depend on other elements like how you're printing. I always used classic films like FP4 & Tri-X and printed on fibre based paper. I also saw a show of Adam Jahiel's prints, in sizes up to 24" square both silver gelatin and platinum. My mind never isolated this characteristic from them. I imagine you could find a combination of film/developer/digital output print that would underline it.
Maybe you could comment on which medium format lens quality you prefer? I also really liked the camera in use compared with most of the others....handles like a dream.

 

[Takkun]

Former Bronica owner, current 6008, Mamiya C33, and GX680 owner. Obviously the latter is out of the question for your purposes!

Yeah, MF has exploded in price seemingly, though I got the Fuji for nearly nothing. I'm also a big fan of 6x6; 645 is too close to 35 for me, and 6x7 is a bit big in gear size, plus, I just like working with the square format.

The Rolleiflex is really quite nice. Motor drive, builtin average/spot/multi-spot metering and P/S/A/M modes. Definitely pared down controls for them, compared to a late-model 35mm or 645, but it's nice and simple to use. As was pointed out, no need for a metered finder. Huge plus there.

I rolled-my-own battery cell replacement and built a charger from scratch, and I've only had to charge it once since September.

Lenses are the same stellar Zeiss optics as the Hasselblad, but a bit harder to come by and seemingly a bit pricier. I lucked out finding a 50 and 150 for cheap (and insurance paid for them). Schneider lenses go for a prettier penny. The lenses for the older SLX are a bit cheaper, but you lose open-aperture metering.

It's a BIG camera for a 6x6. Almost as tall as my Mamiya, and heavier, and certainly noisy with the motor drive. The action grip is useful and I'll street-shoot without a strap easily.

It was a surprisingly wide range series with a lot of accessories that are pretty hard to come by, at least in the US—shutter controllers for using lenses on a technical camera, digital backs, interval timers, etc.

It is sort-of officially supported in the US still under Rolleiflex USA. If you're seriously looking at it, take a look here for a model comparison, or shoot Eric Hiss at Rolleiflex an email, or feel free to ask me, after I did an embarrassing amount of research on it. There's an impressive number of models in the 6000 series, from the older bare-bones 6002 to the 6008AF.

The whole setup was a replacement for a Bronica SQ that was stolen this summer; prices for that series have jumped a bit as well, but I'd still recommend it too. Very light for what it is, and felt solidly built—its no RB67 but no toy either. Honestly I felt like it was lighter than my old Nikon setup. For some purposes, I certainly miss the non-instant-return mirror and winding the film by hand.

Some old published reviews felt their later PS series lenses were sharper and a little higher contrast than the Zeiss contemporaries. Metering and aperture-priority auto with a number of different prisms.

But as for the Mamiya 6: if you like RFs, get it. That's more of an SLR-versus-RF argument hashed over many times, but as I said, if you want an SLR for things like macro, or TTL flash purposes, nominally the Rolleiflex offers that but you'd be hard pressed finding the accessories.

I don't see many of the 6s out there—a lot more of the 7s around, but I feel like the 6 was a better camera in many aspects. Right after I built out my Rollei kit, a full Mamiya 6 kit showed up at a local shop and I can't say I didn't have a few regrets.

For me, I prefer RFs in general, but I shoot a lot of architectural work on MF and a ground glass took precedence.

 

[Lids]

A couple of things I haven’t seen mentioned about the Hasselblad: the mirror slap is loud. It is not a discreet camera. On the plus side, you can focus closer and it’s great to be able to change film backs. As others have said, the Mamiya is easier to carry, faster to focus and quiet, but you can’t get very close. Caveat: my experience is with the 7ii.

If you do predominantly street-type work or are tripod-averse that would suggest the Mamiya. If you lean toward more deliberate work go with the Hassy.

 

[Godfrey]

Late to the MF party, have followed the rapid rise in prices of Hasselblad, Rollei and Mamiya.

I've decided in favor of the square and the Hasselblad 500 series, Mamiya 6 and Rollei 6008 might be the best options. Not big on meter-less cameras so I'd likely add a prism VF to a Hasselblad. Repair, lens and available parts become an issue for these aging bodies. The Rollei is unexpectedly looking more attractive.

Wondering if y'all can opine on these very different machines.

The Mamiya 6 is a lovely camera, if you're looking for basically an eye-level camera that you can hand hold easily and carry easily. I have been told that the film advance mechanism is a bit fragile, something to be aware of when considering them. I always also found them somewhat pricey.

The Hasselblad 500 series (I have two 500CMs) is a standard in the format. Fitted with Planar 80 lens and A12 film back, waist level finder, they're not that heavy but they are bulky. Add one or two other lenses, and a prism finder, and you have a pretty heavy (and bulky!) kit to lug around. I do walk around with mine, fitted with the 80mm lens and WL finder quite often, however. Once you get into the camera and system, it's hard to find much fault with it. (BTW, The quality of the viewfinder is absolutely dependent upon what focusing screen you fit. I have several focusing screens; the latest screen designed for the CFV-50c back with markings to suit is the best one I have by far and provides snappy, easy, consistent focusing for both film and digital.) The Hasselblad 500 series has a HUGE range of lenses and available accessories, and good service and support is available both through Hasselblad and through independent service shops. Parts are getting scarce for older lenses/shutters, and such, but I've had three or four parts of my ancient Hasselblad gear serviced within the past year or three and there's not yet been a single problem getting service and parts. And Hasselblad V system prices can be very reasonable, given that much of the same gear is interchangeable on models dating as far back as 1960 and going all the way up to 2010 or so. These are some of the reasons I have a Hasselblad V system camera and continue to use and even expand it.

The Rollei 6008 is at least as large and heavy as a Hasselblad 500 series, and is a much more complex camera. Lenses and accessories are available but pricey. I don't know what the service and parts outlook for the 6008 is like either. Beautiful camera, but don't think of it as any more portable then the Hasselblad and beware that you know what you're getting into with respect to service and accessories.

My choice for a compact 6x6 eye level camera is the 1952 or so Voigtländer Perkeo II. It's a classic folder, has a beautiful Color Skopar f/3.5 lens (coated), and is about the size of a Leica CL film camera body when folded. It fits in my jacket pocket and make superb photographs. I bought mine for $100 and had it completely overhauled, cleaned, and adjusted for about $160 additional. It never fails to make superb photographs. Of course, it has none of the modern conveniences ... no rangefinder or TTL viewing, no meter in the body, and is a little slow in operation. But it works brilliantly and fits in a pocket, and proves to be pretty inexpensive.

Beyond that, I use a Fuji GS645S Wide 60 professional for 6x4.5 format, and the Hasselblad system. The Fuji is another great pick (and it does have both a rangefinder and a meter) but you said you wanted 6x6.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

G

 

[das]

I have a Mamiya 6 that I don't use often enough. A. I can't get my brain around square photos. B. Instagram has basically ruined square photos for me anyway. C. I need to figure out how 6x6 can effectively produce cropped rectangular photos - which is what pros have always done. And D. Its lenses are absolutely fantastic.

 

[newsgrunt]

have Hasselblad and Mamiya 6. Much will depend on how and what you photograph. Like closeups ? Skip the Mamiya. Like an easy to use camera for street/candids ? Pick Mamiya. The ONE downside to the Mamiya 6 is a huge Achilles heel. At some point, the film advance is going to go belly up, at which point, you have a brick. There are places that can repair them but no idea if they still have parts or not.

Love using both but if I had to choose one, Hasselblad, hands down.

 

[james.liam]

Looking around, Mamiya 6 are few and far between while the basic 503 cube is modestly priced. Add a bright screen, a lens, a back and a metered prism finder, cost skyrockets. The Schneider Rollei mount lenses are pricey, but the 6008 seems to come equipped with a lot and with a Zeiss lens, tallies up for less that a similar Hasselblad. Does seem big, though

 

[aizan]

Repair services for Rollei and Mamiya are stable...for now. 😉

Rolleiflex USA: https://rolleiflex.us/

Precision Camera Works: https://www.precisioncameraworks.com/mamiya

I chose to get a Hasselblad 500cm primarily to ensure the best chance of being able to get it repaired, but it ended up having some significant ergonomic drawbacks for my use (90-degree finder, 150mm and 250mm lenses, sometimes with A16 back). I should have planned out that purchase better!

 

[james.liam]

Repair services for Rollei and Mamiya are stable...for now. 😉

Rolleiflex USA: https://rolleiflex.us/

Precision Camera Works: https://www.precisioncameraworks.com/mamiya

I chose to get a Hasselblad 500cm primarily to ensure the best chance of being able to get it repaired, but it ended up having some significant ergonomic drawbacks for my use (90-degree finder, 150mm and 250mm lenses, sometimes with A16 back). I should have planned out that purchase better!

This is my concern. New to medium format and don't want to break the bank or end up with a clumsy beast best confined to a studio.

 

[Pál_K]

This is my concern. New to medium format and don't want to break the bank or end up with a clumsy beast best confined to a studio.

Too bad you’re not near me, because I’d let you borrow one of my Hasselblads and some lenses. I’d also let you try a Rolleiflex TLR and GW690III - though that’s 6x9 and the rangefinder patch on those aren’t the greatest.

But - are there any pro shops you could rent from?

 

[Rayt]

Mamiya 6 give almost digital quality.
Nothing romantic, a little boring, perfect lens.

It is my opinion, of course I like this camera, but still- too sterile.

Agree with the cold and sterile look of Mamiya 6 lenses. The Mamiya 7 is more so with typical Japanese high contrast. Fuji (Texas Leica) is similar. For MF rangefinder I recommend the Bronica RF645 for a more “romantic” look. Of course there are also the vintage folders like the Bessa and the Super Ikonta B which is great for b/W.

 

[Majki]

Thanks for your comment. I used the camera and lenses for 5 years and never quite saw it this way. In my opinion, & just a guess, it would depend on other elements like how you're printing. I always used classic films like FP4 & Tri-X and printed on fibre based paper. I also saw a show of Adam Jahiel's prints, in sizes up to 24" square both silver gelatin and platinum. My mind never isolated this characteristic from them. I imagine you could find a combination of film/developer/digital output print that would underline it.
Maybe you could comment on which medium format lens quality you prefer? I also really liked the camera in use compared with most of the others....handles like a dream.

Hello Deardorff38!

I love this camera. Small, handy, quiet, intuitive. Everything is great. But this camera was made in the decade when everything was supposed to be sharp and perfect. Almost like a digital camera. And that's how I understand this camera. As almost digital. I use it, but I'm looking for a character in an analog cameras. And mamiya 6 has only a little of it.
I don't know anything about this Rollei and Hasselblads, I have never used them, but Hassel takes beautiful pictures and has a lot of various lenses.

A little comparision:


Mamiya 6 F4


Rolleiflex 3.5F


Rolleiflex 3.5F


Mamiya 7II F4


Mamiya 6 F4


Mamiya 6 F4


Mamiya 6 F4


Mamiya 6 F4


Rolleiflex 3.5F


Rolleiflex 3.5F