Mamyia 6 ? Should I?

One advantage of the 6 over the 7 is the collapsible lens mount. The camera is very small to carry because of it - the 7 is kind of a brick.
 
Definitely get the mamiya 6. If worried about parts, just pick up a couple of bodies, even old ragged ones. The sixes are great for landscape and documentary-style shooting. I have two now and adore them. They travel exceptionally well.

After using the mamiya 6 for a couple of years, I am less interested in a 7 or 7ii except maybe for that ultrawide lens, but I would definitely like to find a gsw690. 'Til I get one I am satisfying my pano ambitions with a 612 rollfilm back on an old crown graphic!

The 6 is a camera which has a value that will only go up.
 
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I'm very happy with my Mamiya 6MF with 75/3.5. Recently I've made huge analogue prints 100x70cm and the were extremly sharp. It is a great camera with scary sharp lens. Only cons is - no close up focus. Great camera, I should buy 50mm lens. You can see some of Mamiya shots on my flick gallery.
Cheers


 
I did the opposite and sold my Mamiya 6 for a Leica M4-P.

I feel like even though the Mamiya is small for a medium format, it's still too big for street. It's also a little too slow to use and the limited depth of field of the format makes it much more difficult to do quick street photography. Also I don't really like the 6 x 6 format for street photos. It feels too formal. Yes, I know many pros have done it, it just doesn't feel right to me.

However the camera itself is great and at least the 75 that I had are super sharp.

As an all around camera it sounds like it meets your needs but I think there are too many comprimises for dedicated street photography. But then I really think grain is good.
 
Took the plunge and got myself a 6 with 75mm lens; should complement my Leica M6's nicely. Only foreseeable problem: am going to "need" the 50mm lens before long...

Vincent
 
I agree that 6x6 is too formal than 3x2, but MF can be cropped. For street photos i use Kiev 4a or Fed3 both with Jupiter8. Next thing - Leica M?
 
Go for it, you won't regret it. The dumbest thing I ever did, photographically speaking, was selling my Fuji GA645. While not a rangefinder, it filled the same niche that the Mamiya rangefinders do. I may have to look for another one myself.
 
Although the 50mm lens is significantly bigger than the 75mm lens, I found the former more suited for street photography with the increased field-of-view and depth-of-field. The rangefinder is very bright and easy to focus, and the lenses generally have a very short throw, without any focussing difficulties.

Clarence
 
vincentbenoit said:
Took the plunge and got myself a 6 with 75mm lens; should complement my Leica M6's nicely. Only foreseeable problem: am going to "need" the 50mm lens before long...

Vincent
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Vincent, the 75 is a "go to lens" the 50 is definitely great in tight quarters but a good 2/3rds of my shooting is with that 75. The 50 is a pricey lens but it's worth it if you decide to go for it. It's just as sharp and sometimes I think it might be a little sharper in some situations.. just an opinion, not based on actual comparison tests.
 
Regarding the 50 and crops, I have done 1/2 frame crops (smaller than 645) from shots with the 50 that enlarge substantially better than 35mm. I didn't realize how good the 50 was until I picked up a 50mm for my rb67, and -whoa!- the RF50 kicks the butt of the RB50!

Another thing, you may encounter negative comments about the 150, e.g. that it's hard to focus. I disagree with that. If your RF is well adjusted and your basic RF focusing technique is good, you can get magnificently sharp results. The 150 is also the least expensive of the mammie 6 lenses. I think it is a must-have.
 
I finally got around to uploading some Mamiya 6 shots to my gallery. Some more to come, there's a limit of 5 pics a day...
 
Buy it. It's getting rarer every minute and can always be sold at a good price if you dont use it. It has a higher resale prices now than the 7.

I personally use the M7II because I have some issues with the square format, it makes me think square in a faux art way. You might argue that the 6 is more handy and have a slighty better build quility, but my experience is that you always carry some kind of bag so I don't think the bige body on the 7 is a problem at all.

I'm not sure if it's a great streetcamera, it depends what you shoot really. If it moves fast, forget it.
 
I have a Mam6 with all 3 lenses that I'm thinking of selling.
Around how much would I be looking at getting in UK £?
 
Ikonta said:
I have a Mam6 with all 3 lenses that I'm thinking of selling.
Around how much would I be looking at getting in UK £?
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Its difficult to give a clear answer as they don't come up that often, especially full outfits.

From memory in the near past I have seen Dealers ask about £600 for the body & 75mm together. £350 - 450 for the 150mm and £450+ for the 50mm. Say £1400 - 1500 for an outfit? The 150mm is the easiest item to find and therefore probably hardest to sell. You could probably get 50 - 60% of those prices direct from a good dealer who thinks he can sell this stuff. Someone like Aperture, Misfuds or Ffords. Or most will sell on a commission basis for you for 10 - 20%.

A private sale or E-Bay auction might get you even more if the demand is there? Of course you could try the classifieds here, where the are likely to be potential buyers.
 
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Jim Watts said:
Its difficult to give a clear answer as they don't come up that often, especially full outfits.

From memory in the near past I have seen Dealers ask about £600 for the body & 75mm together. £350 - 450 for the 150mm and £450+ for the 50mm. Say £1400 - 1500 for an outfit? The 150mm is the easiest item to find and therefore probably hardest to sell. You could probably get 50 - 60% of those prices direct from a good dealer who thinks he can sell this stuff. Someone like Aperture, Misfuds or Ffords. Or most will sell on a commission basis for you for 10 - 20%.

A private sale or E-Bay auction might get you even more if the demand is there? Of course you could try the classifieds here, where the are likely to be potential buyers.
Click to expand...

Thanks, much appreciated Jim :)
 
yes!!

yes!!

yes!!

it's a very compact and very versatile camera. a huge rangefinder patch make focusing a breeze in any light, a decent meter - once you learn it's quirks and "just enough" interchangeable lenses. 'tho while i'm wishing...maybe a 60mm and a 38/40mm...wake up, wake up. :) the lens are all slow in comparison to 35mm low light speed demons. if you've been satisfied with the results of push processed 35mm films, i think you will like the results with medium format film.

i've had mine for over ten years and just got another body...now i need the 50mm for it...had one years ago and sold it and the mamiya6 mf it was on to ....pay bills. aaarrrggghhh!!!

too (lazy) busy to figure out how to attach images in this posting from my rff gallery. please take a look. there are also images from the contax g2 (i had), a leica cl w/40mm f1.4 and a leica m6 w/35mm f2 version 2 or 3 - not sure. the mamiya images are square. i compose and print square...99.9% of them.

enjoy!!

kenneth
 
A long time ago my travel kit was two Mamiya 6's with 50mm and 75mm on them. I would say switching to Leica was a down grade and more expensive too!
 
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