first attemps with The Blue Dot !

[pb908]

Mamiya 80mm Blue Dot f2.8 + C330, scanned at 2400dpi with vuescan + HP G4050, JPG directly from scanner with "auto-color" added in CS5 to balance WB issue. resize to 25%, usm 4(0,1) applied.

the blue dot lens clearly overcome my expectation !

complete set is here :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55106400@N07/sets/72157631379467200/

 

[oftheherd]

Nice photos. I once thought about purchasing a Mamiya C330, but ended up with a Super Press 23 instead. How do you like it?

 

[jwicaksana]

Nice pak.. Glad it works out nicely for you.

 

[pb908]

on the positive side :
- the lens is great ! i wish i can adapt/move it to smaller TLR body.
- you can change the lens with other focal length, there is a cover mechanism which will block the film area during lens changing.
- the paralax indikator is a benefit over C220, but on my case i forget to set the lens for it so i ended up with pictures with cropped head.
- you can do MACRO ! be aware of paralax issue
- built quality, superb !
- leaf shutter, not as quiet as my yashicamat but more than a leica
- ergonomically, i like the shutter slider on the right side, it is the confort place to rest my thumb, but if the lens is extended to far, then lower shutter button is the best.

so far i've try to work it out without strap, i can nailed 1/8s on several occation but some 1/15s results are shaky, so a strap and a good handholding technique is a must.
after 2hour walking at the mall carying this camera, i feel my left arm is burdened too much, in other word, it is HEAVY (without a strap) ! (and big)

The focusing screen on the finder is great but i believe newer focusing screen will be better. i missfocus sometimes with normal indoor nigh light at home.

bottom line, i can compromise it's big/weight factor for it's quality.
at this moment i am waiting an autocord coming, so if autocord can outperform the mamiya, i'll let mine go for good.

 

[KenR]

It's also heavy with a strap. I had one in the past, got great results with it, but it was a burden to hike with. The wide angle lens (55mm?) was terrific as well.

 

[taylan]

I have also same combination plus 55mm. Yes, whole system has a perfect quality and yes it is too heavy. I wish, I can carry it to everywhere with me 🙁

 

[graywolf]

I had a C33 with the side grip once upon a time. The side grip makes it much easier to carry. Still they are heavy cameras. Liked my Universal Press more, even though it was heavier than the TLR. A Polaroid camera with a 100mm f/2.8 lens was fun. Actually, I think the MUP was my favorite camera of all time.

 

[pb908]

It's also heavy with a strap. I had one in the past, got great results with it, but it was a burden to hike with. The wide angle lens (55mm?) was terrific as well.

i just grab a New original Mamiya strap for my C330. i feel the setup is lighter than before, maybe because now it is not on my hand, but on my neck.. will test this setup along with the 55mm lens which will come on the same day as the autocord. I wish i can hack the mamiya lens on smaller tlr body !!

how good is 55mm lens in term of sharpness, color saturation & flare issue?

in the past i use kodak ektacolor 160 with C-Heliar on Bessa II, Opton Tessar on 523/16, C-Skopar on perker IIIe, i found a lot of problem with negative color scan from my HP scanner. most of the time i scan as DNG and convert it to BW. but with Mamiya, event a jpeg directly from scanner is colorfull to my eyes. i really can't understand why.