Mamiya with adaptor or xpan

[Zack]

In everyones humble opinion, would it be better to buy a mamiya 7 with 35mm panorama adaptor or an xpan. xpans seem to be pretty high priced and now that hasselblad no longer makes film stuff they will probably go up. i was curious to see if anyone has experiece with the mamiya and if they were pleased with the results.


Zack

 

[david b]

I've owned both. I sold the Mamiya 7 to keep the xpan.

The xpan is a wonderful and unique camera that produces amazing high quality shots. Even the Leica guys love it.

 

[Zack]

is the xpan so much better that its worth the extra $500, could you post 2 similar images one with the adapter and one with the xpan?

Thanks

 

[david b]

Keep in mind that the Xpan is basically two cameras in one. And in my honest opinion, it is worth the extra money. They have been selling for about $1200 on ebay for the Xpan I and about $1800 for the Xpan II.

It is a great camera. Take a look at the gallery here on RFF.

 

[wlewisiii]

One other thing you might ponder trying is homebrewing an adaptor for your Fuji. Certainly be an interesting experiance if nothing else... :angel:

Pondering doing something similar with an old 6x9 folder someday.

William

 

[Zack]

Keep in mind the mamiya is like 3 cameras in doing 35, pano, and 6x7, im kinda scared to modify the fuji, i dont have alot of knowledge about that kinda stuff if i could find someone to do it id definatly consider it. my dad made a pano back for his super wide, but because of the interchangeable backs it was easy to switch back and forth.

 

[Doug]

The 24x36 framing feature of the XPan is a rather poor attempt to bring it into "normalcy" I think. Few lens choices, and slow... But it's a great pano camera, so it's my view that the owner should expect to dedicate the camera to pano shots, and that's a sizable monetary committment. I'd be more tempted by one myself, except...

...I already have a 6x7 camera and a 45mm f/4 lens (and a bunch of others). Ignoring the lack of a 30mm lens, all I need to do to emulate an XPan is crop some off the top or bottom or both. I can change proportions at will. And that's actually a rather nice extra flexibility, but only if you're content with using 120/220 film. The XPan is smaller, quieter, and if using 35mm film is important that's a plus too.

Running 35mm in a 120 camera, conversion or not, takes some dedication as well. The camera needs to be unloaded in the dark...

 

[snowy]

Running 35mm in a 120 camera, conversion or not, takes some dedication as well. The camera needs to be unloaded in the dark...

Not on the Mamiya 7 it doesn't! The 35mm adaptor kit lets you rewind the film while in the camera without any problem. It's a bit fiddly to put together, but it does all work, and you have a bigger selection of lenses to use than with the xpan.

I do have both an xpan and a mamiya 7 with the 35mm pano adaptor, and expected to sell one or the other when I'd decided which I preferred. The fact that I haven't is because the decision isn't all that easy. The xpan is definitely a lovely camera but the lens range is limited. The Mamiya is bigger and less easy to manage, but gives more possibilities with the different lenses. They both have their strong points, so if you already own a Mamiya 7 I wouldn't hesitate in trying out the pano kit.

snowy

 

[Doug]

Not on the Mamiya 7 it doesn't! The 35mm adaptor kit lets you rewind the film while in the camera without any problem. It's a bit fiddly to put together, but it does all work, and you have a bigger selection of lenses to use than with the xpan.

Wow, thanks for the correction; that sounds pretty trick, and makes it much more usable I'm sure.

 

[smudwhisk]

In everyones humble opinion, would it be better to buy a mamiya 7 with 35mm panorama adaptor or an xpan. xpans seem to be pretty high priced and now that hasselblad no longer makes film stuff they will probably go up. i was curious to see if anyone has experiece with the mamiya and if they were pleased with the results.


Zack

OK, slightly off topic but similarly I've been mulling over whether to try and save up for an XPan (which are at least £950/$1600 used over here) or simply buy a 135W back for my Bronica ETR. With the XPan being discontinued and not being able to justify the purchase price of one, I've chosen the ETR back instead since I can get one from the US for a lot less than they sell for here on the rare occasion that dealers/ebay have them. I've seen mixed reviews about the backs but have decided for the price involved and the fact I have a 40mm lens, it was worth a try.

 

[aterlecki]

If you're mostly going to shoot 24x36mm with the odd pano then I'd say get the Mamiya and use a separate rangefinder camera for the 24x36mm stuff. I wouldn't even bother with the pano adapter for the Mamiya, just shoot 120 and crop your image. I don't own the Mamiya adapter but it looks fiddly switching back and forth (certainly not something I'd want to do in the field) and also looks more difficult to get accurate framing in the viewfinder. Best of all with the Mamiya is that you've always got the option to use all of that neg if the situation begged for it.

 

[wdenies]

Because I love squares and pano's, I have both in my bag
I never used the 24x36 mode of the Xpan

 

[Finder]

If your primary reason for the camera is panoramic photographs, then get the Xpan. The frame lines in the Mamiya are not that good. If you want a medium format camera and do a few panoramics from time to time, the Mamiya is better.

I have a Mamiya 6MF and two panoramic cameras - Widelux and Horseman SW612. The Mamiya I have only used a few times for panoramics. The frame lines (dots) are not very good. I mainly carry the panoramic adapter so if I run out of roll film, I can shoot 35mm as a backup.

A dedicated panoramic camera is much easier to use. There is a limit to lens choice, but that does not really affect panoramic photography that much. In the long term, panoramic cameras make you work harder because it is hard to break out of the usual "panoramic" mode - horizontal scenics. I would have a look at "Chaos" by Koudelka. He can used the panoramic format very creatively. This is one reason I went to the SW612. The frame is more "cinematic" than "panoramic." (The two others were a 6x17 camera requires a 5x7 enlarger and the Xpan bulb limit was too short for my taste.)

BTW, using a panoramic camera and cropping a frame from a regular camera to a "panoramic" format are not the same. If panoramic photography is what you are after, a panoramic camera is a much better tool.

 

[wdenies]

Instead of cropping, try this one: (only for digital pixelroom workers)
Shoot mosaics with the Mamiya and stitch them with for example PTAssembler.
Result:incredible!, in the field this gives large format quality

Wim

P.S. I even shoot mosaics with the XPAN