About MF 6

[shevek]

hello, i am a new member of forum, studying photography in Turkey.

i want to buy mamiya 6 mf but i live in İstanbul. So have no chance to touch the camera. i have some questions.

- i want to use it mostly for panoramic frames. So is it works well with adopter?
and in viewfinder does it shows the panoramic frame.

- what are the differences between m6, m6 mf , and m7 II ?

thanks..carry on my questions later..

 

[jan normandale]

If you want to shoot panoramas these cameras may not be your best option due to the cost of the camera and bodies. Still the M6 / 50mm lens can do a pano shot. The M7II has a slightly wider field of view however it costs even more than an M6. (M6f is just a M6 with a mask to change the shot from 6x6 to 6x4.5)

I would look for a straight ahead panorama feature on a 35mm camera
here is a useful link to get you up to speed before making a purchase.

http://www.pauck.de/marco/photo/panorama/horizon202/horizon202.html

 

[sf]

Panoramics

Panoramics

I would buy a used Xpan, but the Horizon, Noblex, etc are all alot lower cost and produce very useable results. The Mamiya cameras don't make sense to buy unless you want the MF frame for shooting 120. For panoramics, you'd want a wide angle lens, and will spend $$$$ to get it, while a used Xpan would be closer to half the cost (or less) and will be alot easier to use. Though the lenses are similarly expensive, the overall kit will cost you less - and the camera build is miles ahead in terms of quality and ergonomics.

 

[sf]

Hey, look at this :

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hasselblad-Xpan...568408556QQcategoryZ15234QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

there is a great panoramic camera for a fraction of the cost of the Mamiya 6 with a similarly wide angle lens and panoramic adapter. And the Xpan is a much better camera.

and they say that the Xpan actually give a wider image than the 6x7 does - amazing. If the Xpan wasn't about $500 more than the Bronica RF645 used, I'd have bought that.

 

[shevek]

thanks for your help...
i didnt know that for panoroma at mf6 i have to use 50mm lens. if ı have to use 50mm it will cost a lot..
So to buy xpan I with 45mm will be better.

 

[hydet]

Well, Shutterlower didn't caress all the details. Don't buy the xPan I, for starters, buy the xpan II. Secondly, either Xpan is a LOT more expensive than the Mamiya 6. You can get the Mamiya 6 with the 50 and the 75 on eBay for less than 1300 or 1400 bucks. You can't begin to touch an xpan for that. She's also wrong about build quility, ergonomics and ease of use. She is right that the xpan is better if you are only going to shoot panoramics--and it's a beautiful tool for that, but the Mamiya 6 is oh-so much more versatile and the chromes are touched with magic. I have both and wouldn't part with either.

 

[PaulW]

Shevek, just so it's clear, if you want to use the panoramic adaptor, you need to get the Mamiya 6MF. The camera will say "6MF" on the front whereas teh older version just says "6". The panoramic adaptor will work with the 6MF but not the older "6" version.

If you can afford it, I think a Mamiya 7 with 43mm lens would produce much better panoramics. Or, as the others have mentioned, if you only want to shoot panoramics, a Hasselblad Xpan would be great.

 

[Doug]

and they say that the Xpan actually give a wider image than the 6x7 does - amazing.

Actually, the Xpan frame (at 66mm?) is a few mm narrower than the width of a 6x7 (about 70mm), though the exact frame size varies a little with different brands of 6x7 cameras. The frame width on 6x6 cameras varies a bit too, generally around 56mm, so the Xpan is notably wider than that.

The Mamiya 6 or 7 are both useful for pano shots simply by cropping the image later, and this is a very versatile use. The pano adaptor is good primarily I think when you want to use a film available in 35mm but not in 120. The Xpan is a great tool when you want to dedicate yourself more thoroughly to pano shooting, and offers that lovely 30mm super-wide lens.

 

[Finder]

Using the Mamiya 6MF for panoramas is kind of a compromise. The viewfinder frame lines are not that great. If you want to do mostly 6x6 and some panorama, then the 6MF is a good choice. But I would not use it a purely a panoramic camera.

But if you get any medium format camera, you can simply crop the negative to a panoramic format. This gives you a couple of advantages. One, you can choose the aspect ratio - I perfer a 2:1 rather than a 2.75:1 ratio. Second, you can also have a virtual rise and fall by keeping the camera back parallel to the subject plane and then cropping to the top or bottom of the image.

If you would like a panoramic camera, then the Xpan/XpanII (Hasselblad) or TX1/TX2 (Fuji) is a good choice. Other 35mm panoramic cameras, Noblex, Horizon, Widelux, are swing lens cameras and I would look at the results before getting one as they can appear strange to some. They are also more limited. While the affect of a curved film plane is neat, it is difficult to get good pictures beyond the neat factor especially images that look different - kind of a one trick pony.

BTW, the designations for formats, 6x6, 6x7, etc, are simply apect ratios and not actual image size. A 6x6 image is approximately 56x56mm and 6x7 is 56x68mm. This gets tricky with 6x12 and 6x17 panoramic formats as there are non-standard film gates used.

 

[shevek]

i decided to buy xpan..generally i want shoot panoramas so xpan is a better choice...
now, i want to ask whats the differences between xpan-xpanII?
thanks..