Mamiya America Corp. introduces a 210mm f/8

[MP Guy]

A little old but some may not know about it.

ELMSFORD, NY: Mamiya America Corp. introduces a 210mm f/8, lightweight and compact telephoto lens for Mamiya 7II and 7 cameras.
The new lens is ideal for distant landscape and aerial photography, and utilizes the latest Mamiya ECO (lead and arsenic free) and ULD (ultra-low dispersion) glass formula, which maximize performance for superb results in telephotography.

The compact 17 ounce, 4.9 inch lens is designed to meet the needs of Mamiya 7 owners who like to travel, back pack and want a light weight telephoto to capture distant landscapes. It's telephoto formula and f/8 aperture design allows use of 58mm filters and maintains the feel and handling of the other Mamiya 7 system lenses. The new 210mm f/8 lens includes a special 150mm/210mm parallax adjustable viewfinder, and nylon bayonet lens hood.

To additionally keep size and weight down in the tradition of the Mamiya 7 system concept, the new compact 210mm f/8 telephoto design lens is manually focused from infinity to 23 feet, and does not couple to the camera rangefinder, unlike the other Mamiya 7 lenses.

The 210mm f/8 lens further expands the Mamiya 7 lens system, which includes the rangefinder coupled 43mm f/4.5 ultra-wide, 50mm f/4.5 super ###

Specifications: Mamiya N 210mm f/8 L Lens for Mamiya 7 II & Mamiya 7

Optical construction: 7 elements, 5 groups
Angle of View: 240
Diaphragm: Automatic
Minimum Aperture: f/32
Minimum Focusing Distance from Film Plane: 23 ft. (7m)
Magnification Ratio at Minimum Focusing Distance: 0.032X
Area Covered at Minimum Focus: 5.75 x 7.13 ft. (175cm x 217.2cm)
Equivalent Focal Length in 35mm: 105mm
Filter size: 58mm
Lens Hood (supplied with lens): Bayonet
Dimensions: 4.9 x 2.8" (125 x 70mm)
Weight: 1 lb. 1 oz. (480g)

Optical View-Finder FV704 (supplied with lens): Parallax Correction & Diopter Adjustment

Model: Albada Viewfinder
Field of View: 80% at infinity
Magnification: 0.89x
Parallax Compensation: Manual Adjustment on Finder
Diopter Adjustment: Rotary Type 0.8 1 2 diopter
Weight: 4.1oz. (115g)
Dimensions: 1.8 x 2.1 x 2.3" {45.2 x 53.6 x 58.6mm}

Specifications and features are subject to change without notice.

 

[Doug]

Having heard about this one earlier, it strikes me as an odd lens to be introduced for this system. It gives about the same field of view and depth of field as a 105mm f/4 on a Leica, for instance (which wouldn't be unreasonable)... but with a 7m minimum distance it sure isn't a portrait lens.

Judging the rf has too short a baseline for accurate focus, they figure "focus by guess" is better and made the lens uncoupled? Wild. A long-baseline separate rangefinder might be a useful accessory. What is this lens's best use? Landscapes?

 

[Rich Silfver]

"The new lens is ideal for distant landscape and aerial photography"

 

[mfs]

I looked very carefully at this lens when it was announced. However, when the specs were made available, it was clear that this lens was not for me.

I could live with the f 8 maximum aperture, but the 23 feet closest (?) focus make this lens useless for anything but DISTANCE shooting. This lens cannot be coupled to the rangefinder since the rangefinder base is too short for this focal length.

Here, in the U.S., this lens was being offered at give away prices due to a large overstocked condition.

I think that the special pricing is over.

I don't think that this lens has been a commercial success.

Martin

 

[jdos2]

I wished for two things when I was heavily involved with the system:
First, a lens that was brighter than the squinty 4.0 they have on there as the standard. Even my lunky/heavy Universal has an excellent 2.8- which would have made travel photography easier (yes, one stop can mean a bunch- the difference between 1/30 and 1/60, or worse, 1/15 and 1/30...)
Second, a lens of decent focal length that could focus closely enough for a head-and-shoulder portrait, even at comprimised optical performance.

So I gave it up. Nice wides, I'm sure the 210mm will be awesome for its intended purpose.