I traded my Hasselblad for a Mamiya 7!

[sper]

I had a decent Hasselblad kit with 1 lens and various accesories and I recenlty traded it for a mamiya 7 and a 150mm lens with the parallax finder. I owned the Hassy for a while and was basically ready to try something new, and since I love my Bessa I figured I would love the Mamiya 7.

I wish it would have come with the 80mm, but I'll try the 150mm for a while until I have the money to trade up.

Can anyone recommend the 65mm over the 80 for any reason?

 

[Gumby]

Interesting change. I can understand, sort of. I'd get an 80 rather than anything wider, but that's just me.

 

[Steve M.]

I hope it works out for you. I actually went the other way. The Hassey is heavy, and has it's peculiarities. I must have locked it up every way that you could until I figured out how it worked. But it balances perfectly in my hand, I put in a bright screen that makes even the prism bright, and as far as the image quality, I really can't complain 🙂 That 80 Planar is a sweet lens. Now, if only my ancient Bessa RF w/ Heliar didn't kick it's behind in IQ I'd be satisfied. People love the Mamiya glass, but like all Japanese lenses I've used the bokeh was a little harsh for my tastes. Only the Rokkors seem to have that figured out.

 

[sper]

My thinking was bigger negative, no mirror shake, smaller camera, seriously arguably better lenses on the Mamiya. I gave up close focusing and a 2.8 80mm. I LOVE the Hasselblad system, but rangefinders suit my style at the moment.

The 50/43 are spectacular as I've heard but I need a normal range lens to start. I prefer the 80mm focal length, but if the 60 is much sharper I'll go with that. The 60mm distagon outshined the 80mm planar by a fair degree in my opinion.

 

[degruyl]

I'd certainly recommend the 65 over the 80. I own both and rarely use the 80mm lens. I also own the 150 and use it rarely. Slightly more often than the 80mm, but only for portraits.

I do not own the wider lenses. Mostly because of the external finder and the cost. Plus, I generally don't go that wide even in systems where I do own lenses that wide.

 

[Turtle]

The 65 and 80 are effectively identical in performance though I would give the edge to the 80mm at the far corners wide open. I far prefer the 65 though and it spends 90% of its time on the camera.

The 50 and 43 are amazing, but for my money, my favourite set up is in fact the most closely spaced: 65 (on camera) with 50mm and 80mm in reserve. as great as the 43mm is, I find the 50mm more useful.

 

[CK Dexter Haven]

People love the Mamiya glass, but like all Japanese lenses I've used the bokeh was a little harsh for my tastes. Only the Rokkors seem to have that figured out.

I've always thought the Mamiya (RZ, RB, 7, 645, 645AF) lenses had the smoothest, most natural bokeh. Except for the Mamiya 6's 75mm. But, the 7's 80mm is nice in just about every image i've ever seen.

 

[newsgrunt]

If you think you're going to go 43 (lens without equal imo) at some point, or 50, then I'd suggest an 80. If not, 65.

 

[jplomley]

43/65 has been a perfect combination for me for years. Essentially mirrors the 21/35 combo on my Leica M's.

 

[rpsawin]

I use the 65 more than the 80 but would miss the 80 if I did not have it. I would get the 65 first and then add the 80 as soon as I could.

Of course once you try the 43 you will be selling blood to generate $$$ to get one...😀 It really is a tremendous lens.

You havebought into a great system...enjoy & show us some pics.

Best regards,

Bob

 

[dazedgonebye]

Have the Mamiya w/43mm & 80mm lenses. Love the system.
Still, went and bought a Bronica SQ with 40/80/150mm lenses. More versatile with slr focusing, faster normal lens and interchangeable backs.
It's just a matter of what I'm going to go shoot. The Bronica is coming with me to yellowstone for no holds bared work.
The Mamiya comes with me whenever I want to walk around with something light and handy.

Both types are excellent.

 

[EdSawyer]

Great choice

Great choice

Good call going for the Mamiya 7. It's really the best system out there, I think, all things considered.

You can't really go wrong with any of the lenses. I think specs-wise the 65 actually edges out the 80 in the tests that Pop Photo did a few years ago (which I have posted at www.edsawyer.com/lenstests/ ) As mentioned the wides are simply fantastic. The 150 is a great lens too, so you did well to get that - it's worth having, no question.

The 80 is the best for portraits if you want a tight (relatively speaking) head-and-shoulders shot. 65 is great for environmental portraits however.

I wish the 210 was somehow rangefinder coupled, but we can't have everything I suppose.

I too have a 6x7 SLR system (RZ67) for the times when the Mamiya 7 won't do the job (macro, close-tight portraits, long-distance shots) but the Mamiya 7 is definitely always my first choice if it's feasible to use it.

enjoy,

-Ed

 

[Turtle]

I also feel the bokeh is very smooth on the Mamiya 7 lenses. I have used a lot of cameras and lenses and they are right up there with some of the best IMHO. We all have a different idea of good bokeh, but I cannot see how they are any worse than my Zeiss lenses, or Leicas really. Mostly smooth an unobjectionable and rather like larger ZM lenses with slightly lower contrast (but still very healthy levels).

 

[akremer]

that 80 is heaven. If I can make enough from the sale of my older mamiya system gear I'm dedicating my life to 7+80+400nc.

 

[Mark A. Fisher]

I just got a 7II about 2 months ago, with the 43. The lens is amazing, but I'm still getting used to using the external viewfinder. I'm seriously considering getting the 65 so I can just use the camera's finder and skip the external VF altogether. But the coverage on that 43 is pretty amazing!

Mark

 

[sper]

I think I'm going to go with the 80mm. It's what I had for the Hassy and they both focus to the same distance, and they're both f4. I think I would miss getting tighter shots when doing portraiture. An 80/50 combo might be just about perfect.

It sucks that this 150mm, good as it is, only fetches about $400 dollar resale value. I can't really see using this focal length, and I can't afford the 80mm if I don't sell it. So I'm going to sell it for $400 to a guy to finance the purchase of an 80mm from KEH.

Another thing I really like about the Mamiya 7 is how it perfectly couples with 4x5. If you're in a situation where you can't for whatever reason shoot large format on a project that is primarily 4x5, the M7 is a totally viable option. I hated cropping my Hassy negatives. I've always thought 645 wasn't large enough to justify and 6x6 was just about getting there. 35mm film has gotten so good that you need a bigger negative to really show the difference. 35mm E100G gives me nearly grainless 13x19s when scanned with my Nikon Coolscan 9000. I hope my Epson V700 can do the same with 6x7.

 

[sper]

I also like calling it an M7, because I feel like it will annoy Leicaphiles.

 

[EdSawyer]

various thoughts

various thoughts

If you hold out, the 150 can and will fetch more like $500-575 on ebay and elsewhere. I've had 2 extras of those I sold for I think in the $525-550 range. You can sell the viewfinder separately for at least $150, I've done that once or twice too. But really it's a great lens, and worth keeping. I'd recommend hanging on to it if you can.

If you shop around you can find the 80 for under $400. Sometimes $300 or lower. The best way to build a lens collection for this system is to not buy lenses individually if you can avoid it, but rather buy systems that are somewhat under-priced, keep the lens(es) you want, and re-sell the rest. Doing it that way you can get all the lenses for less than the going rate, usually.

The 43/50 are the real reason for this system to exist, IMHO. If you don't at least try those someday (particularly the 43) you are missing out. Those lenses, esp. the 43, have no peer in medium format from anyone. Even large format only has a few lenses that might come close, but of course lack the inherent convenience of the M7 system.

I think the coolscan 9000 can do medium format negs? If so, I'd use that rather than the V700. but the best is to do or get some optical prints made though, they would surpass any scans, I think, short of drumscan/lightjet, and even then it would be a toss-up.

-Ed

 

[Mark A. Fisher]

After reading this thread and several others, I went ahead and ordered the 65mm for my M7II. It should be hear in about a month! 'Til then, I'll have a wonderful time with the 43, still trying to get used to the external VF.

Mark

 

[sper]

I ordered the 80mm from KEH. They gave me more back on the 150mm. Sharper though the 65 may be, if at all, I think the length suits my style more.

I'm planning on getting the holder that lets you scan under the glass from betterscanning. I want to be able to get film boarders on 4x5. My feeling with the V700 is that it makes excellent 13x19s from medium format up, and if I go larger than that in a rare instance I'll have Dugall make a real print and call it a day. Or at the very least have it drum scanned.