just another Mamiya 7 vs. Hasselblad (round 3)

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meandihagee

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hello,

as much as I want to get a Mamiya 7, I still love the way the Hasselblad draws...

Mamiya is bound to produce very accurate, pin-point, details while the Hassy really adds something to a portrait (love that creamy stuff).

However, I do prefer a rangefinder style.

What are your thoughts on this? Anyone uses them side by side?
 
Apples and oranges, one is not the other but both are good at what they do. I have both and use both for different types of photography. If you like Rangefinder focusing and you like the Mamiya 7II then I would choose that one, save a few bucks more and get the Hassy at a later date. It's always more fun with more cameras 😉

Todd
 
I once owned them both at the same time. Shooting them both at the same time would have required some sort of dolly to tote them around 🙂

Like you, I prefer the 'blad Planar to whatever my Mamiya had on it for that subtle (or not so subtle) difference in IQ, but my Rolleiflex w/ Planar kicked them both in the dirt. Light camera too if you get one of the E models. After a while that become too much to lug around also, so I went to MF folders and never looked back. You can find a folder that will equal both the 'blad and the Mamiya, but that 'flex Planar was in a class all it's own, at least the one I owned. The Mamiya lenses are certainly sharp, but I found them a bit harsh and too contrasty for my work.
 
Todd.Hanz said:
Apples and oranges
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agreed. ive tried them both, and have stuck with the mamiya, considering it to be the ne plus ultra for landscape work. that said, the hassy is ultimately a more flexible all-round system, allowing you to shoot portraits, macro, etc. indeed, if you want to shoot portaits, as suggested in the initial message, than its pretty much the only way to go.
 
KenR said:
To PMCC - Wow! Thanks for the link to the lens test. Who woulda thunk it?
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No worries. It's been online for ages and is often linked. I see that he's revised it since I first read it, to correct for a process error in his testing. I think his assessment is as relevant as it was when first uploaded.
 
I have a 500c/m and a Fuji GW690III (and a lot of other cameras). Nothing else yet has given me the pleasure, in use, and in results, that the Hassy has. It's a Zen experience, IMO.
 
mathomas said:
I have a 500c/m and a Fuji GW690III (and a lot of other cameras). Nothing else yet has given me the pleasure, in use, and in results, that the Hassy has. It's a Zen experience, IMO.
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There's a 2.8F sitting on a shelf in my room because of the GW690iii. Really really great lens and camera.
 
Steve M. said:
I once owned them both at the same time. Shooting them both at the same time would have required some sort of dolly to tote them around 🙂

Like you, I prefer the 'blad Planar to whatever my Mamiya had on it for that subtle (or not so subtle) difference in IQ, but my Rolleiflex w/ Planar kicked them both in the dirt. Light camera too if you get one of the E models. After a while that become too much to lug around also, so I went to MF folders and never looked back. You can find a folder that will equal both the 'blad and the Mamiya, but that 'flex Planar was in a class all it's own, at least the one I owned. The Mamiya lenses are certainly sharp, but I found them a bit harsh and too contrasty for my work.
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I definitely want a reliable, modern MF folder, any recommendation on a special one? I've been eyeballing the Fuji GS645, but everybody says it's kinda fragile and prone to bellows failure. the GF670 is freaking great, but I don't want spend all money in one place (and just on a 80mm lens).

i had my hands on a isolette III, but no rf coupling doesn't really work for me. so I tried a Zeiss Ikonta, but the viewfinder and the whole focusing experience are not what I expected (the camera was really battered, maybe a newer one would be better).
 
If you want creamy files in a Rangefinder package think about a Makina 67 or 670.
It has a nikor 2,8 lens which renders beautiful, especially wide open.
Unless you are mainly into landscapes Hasselblad rules!
Mamiya and Makina are too limited for portraiture in my opinion. I also find the Mamiya lenses despite their ultra sharpness and technical perfection a bit without character ......
Hasselblad gives you a lot of lens options ......
 
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The Mamiya is a big (and competes against) Leica. The Hassy has system breadth & flexibility.

I'd have a Leica & Hassy or a Mamiya 7 & Hassy.

.
 
Of course you can get into the Rollei 6000 system if you want to. Zeiss/Schneider lens awesome with full automation. I just bought a brand new body to augment the older one that I own.
 
What about the mamiya 6 ?
I have found it's 50 and 75 lens to be better than the 7's lenses (had the 80 and 65). Of course totally subjective as I didn't have the opportunity to shoot them side by side.
Anyone else have the 6 ?
 
Well, I am sure we have quite some Mamiya 6 users here around. Being one of them, here is my short opinion:

The lenses are GREAT. Sharp from wide open, all of them. The collapsible mount saves lot of space in the camera bag. The handling is fine, RF easy enough to use (focusing 150 wide open close is on the edge, but probably very comparable to 7). Light metering is for me a weak point - it averages over very wide are (nearly the whole view of 50mm lens) and is VERY sensitive to the bight light from the top (like sky) and can easily yield to underexposure if not used accordingly. My solution - I use handhold meter nearly exclusively. Mamiya 7 is supposed to have much smaller metering spot (read about this on site of Ken Rockwell - one of his better articles). KR also found the rangefinder of 6 more robust (less prone to go out of calibration) than the one on 7.

The 80mm lens of Mamiya 7 is supposed to have smoother OOF areas in close range shots than the 75mm of Mamiya 6. I would just say that while the 75mm Mamiya 6 lens has OK bokeh, my Rolleiflex T was a lot better in this regard. So it depends what you want.

I got the 6 because it was cheaper and more compact. Otherwise I would go for 7 (the wide lenses are $$$). The 50mm on 6x6 is not that wide, but mostly enough. If you are wide junkie go for Mamiya 7.

6 may habve troubles with film transport if not used with care - I bough mine from RFF member and he had it replaced some 3 years ago. Works fine, I just try to avoid fast rewind. Once this breaks it is supposed to be nearly irreparable, as Mamiya does not produce parts for the 6 anymore. 7 is still in production, so no problem there.

Just browse around - the 6 is quite popular 🙂
 
thanks everybody for your thoughts.

...but for me it's not about the format really, i'm ok with 6x6, 6x7 and maybe with 6x4,5 too. i want a rf with a nice character. too bad the mamiya are so surgical sharp.

maybe the makinas are the way to go, but, uh, i really don't know... a lot of cash on something very hard to service.
 
Have a look at the Fuji GF670 (aka Bessa III) folder. It has RF similar to the Bessa R2A/R3A, is a folder and the lens is Heliar 80/3.5 (though many point out that it is not a true heliar design) which based on the images I have seen has a very nice rendering - check out the flickr.

The are not so rare on the used marked (though not as plentiful as X100 😛).

However - the camera is not as small as one might wish - when folded it is full 6.5cm thick (that is just 1cm less than Mamiya 6 with the 75 lens collapsed) The body is 18cm long and 11cm tall.
 
Gary Briggs said:
What about the mamiya 6 ?
I have found it's 50 and 75 lens to be better than the 7's lenses (had the 80 and 65). Of course totally subjective as I didn't have the opportunity to shoot them side by side.
Anyone else have the 6 ?
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Another 6 user here. I own two Mamiya 6's and love them like children. I had a 7 once and while it was a great camera the 6x7 format was just not for me. The 6 is square. The OP is looking for something cool and unique, a square RF, how cool is that?! Yes the lenses are super sharp though. If your looking for something less sharp I'd look at a Makina or the Fuji RF's like the 6x7, 6x8 and 6x9 beasts, while sharp, aren't as sharp as the Mamiya's lenses.
 
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