Mamiya 7II lens question

R

rickruss

Guest
I have decided to purchase a Mamiya 7II and will definitely include the 50mm lens with my purchase. My quandry is whether I should purchase the 80mm or the 150mm lens also. I intend to use the new camera and lenses for landscape work primarily. Any insights and opinions would be appreciated.
 
If you are currently using a 35mm - or another MF camera - simply pay attention to what focal lengths most of your 'successful' photos are taken at - and try to get the M7 lenses that fits your style of shooting.

I can understand you getting the 50. It has a great reputation.
 
Rickruss, I'll bet you end up with all three in fairly short order! They ALL have very useful fields of view. It's useful (and fairly accurate) to consider the equivalent fields of view in the 35mm format as having half the focal length of 6x7...

The 50mm Mamiya corresponds to a 25mm on my Minolta CLE; this Voigtlander lens was my most used one on a recent trip to Spain and Morocco, especially in narrow urban streets.

The 80mm is like the slightly wide normal 40mm f/2 on my CLE. This 40 seems to be perfect for most shooting, a remarkably useful field of view. And the slightly wider 35 Summicron has been my most-used Leica lens for many years, as I understand it is also for other users. In recognition of this I just got a 75mm for my 6x7 camera. I think you'd love the 80.

And the Mamiya 150mm gives about the same look as a 75mm for the small format. I don't have this focal length in 35mm, but I like 85mm in my SLR, though 90 seems too long on the Minolta and Leica. I'm tempted to get a 75 f/2.5 Color Heliar, as I think this might work out better. If you agree, I bet you'll want the 150mm!

While each of the three will be useful for landscape work, I'd say it's most important not to miss having the 80mm, as it is so very broadly useful. Have fun!
 
I would buy the 80mm and the 150 mm for lanscape work and leave the 50mm for later. Instead of the 50mm you may want the 43mm. Try to find a camera store that will let you rent lenses. Best way to find out what you need is to use different lenses.
 
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