My take on the Mamiya 150mm. What’s yours?

[macmx]

It seems to me that the 150mm lens for the Mamiya 7 is quite unloved by many. I have had this lens for about eight years now and it has produced some exceptional results. The 80mm plus the 150mm is my go to combination, and the 150mm is really the only option for the M7 if you don’t want a medium or wide angle lens - even the 80mm is quite wide in practice IMO. Sometimes, I even bring just the 150mm and not other lens on longer trips.

There seem to be three main complaints about this lens:

1. A maximum aperture of 4.5, it’s too slow.
2. It’s difficult to focus.
3. Closest focus is only 1.8m not allowing you to “get close enough”.

My experience with these things is:

1. It’s only a third of a stop slower than many other MF lenses with similar focal length and the leaf shutter on the M7 more than makes up for that in terms of handheld shooting. On my Hasselblad, I would not shoot the 120mm or 150mm at anything lower than 1/125 sec, but on the M7 I can easily shoot it at 1/60 handheld.

2. I have not found the lens difficult to focus, but maybe I am just lucky with my lens and body. I also had them calibrated. The calculated depth of field at the closest focus is 7.3cm. The rough equivalent 35mm focal length would be a 75mm. A 75mm Leica Summarit at maximum aperture of 2.4 has a depth of field of 8cm at the same distance (1.8m) - and few would probably say that that lens is “impossible to focus”. I realize that a Leica perhaps has a more accurate rangefinder, better base length etc., but still worth considering.

3. People sometimes write that they choose the 80mm because the 150 “only focuses to 1.8m”. However, if you calculate the magnification ratio of the 80mm at 1m, it’s 0.08. The 150mm at 1.8m is 0.0833 - so roughly the same. I will say that the parallax compensation of the M7 with the 150mm at that distance is not very good.

On a different note, I personally think the 150mm and M7 together is not a very handsome camera and has a face only a mother could love, but that’s okay!

I would be very interested to hear from other long term 150mm user what your experience and perspectives on this lens are.

Thanks.

 

[38Deardorff]

I rarely used the 150 on my Mamiya 6. I don't like to stand that far back to take a portrait. 4.5 is not slow for landscape photos. The 50/75 was my combo. When i had a Mamiya 7 for a short while i didn't even consider buying the 150.

 

[Leon C]

Whilst not directed at this lens, since my return to Photography I've seen lots of 'Complaints' about Cameras and Lenses that weren't moaned about when they were originally released, especially with older gear, what I've concluded is, I take any 'Complaint' with a pinch of salt and a lot of times it's down to using the wrong tool for the job and some peoples lack of research before buying gear or just copy/paste nonsense from others who are using the wrong tool.....etc.

I also think that some compare Medium Format gear with 35mm gear and think it should perform the same and obviously I don't know about every Lens available but there aren't many 'Fast' 150mm MF Lenses for a reason, I would have thought, cost, weight, size, small market....

Just my observations in recent times, if I want to try something and it doesn't meet my needs it's not the equipments fault as they are just made that way and I certainly wouldn't complain about whatever it was because it didn't work for me, I saw only yesterday a Video with some 'Photographer' saying the Pentax 6x7 was garbage and as several pointed out in the comments, it was user error that made the experience bad as they didn't know how to use it properly as it can be a quirky camera to use with it's own common faults, 15 mins online would have shown all about the camera and its foibles.

 

[jaredangle]

For landscapes, it’s an excellent lens. Certain types of landscape photography, especially high alpine, are ideal for telephoto lenses. The telephoto compression with the 150mm allows for very dramatic images with multiple layers of mountains to frame the main subject from behind, and the tight perspective also allows you to focus on fine details.

 

[dtcls100]

I have the 150 f4.5 for my Mamiya 6 bodies, along with the 50 f4 and 75 f3.5. I have only taken a handful of photos with the 150 in over fifteen years, but it yielded very sharp images. Always preferred the 50 and 75 on the Mamiya 6 that I used often, but not much also within the past 8 years or so. Each of the three lenses available for the Mamiya 6 are outstanding performers with amazing sharpness and tonality. However, I typically reach for my digital cameras or 35mm film cameras these days for their quicker and more dynamic shooting these days.

 

[Steve Goldstein]

While I don't often use my 150mm - I'd guess my usage is about 85% 80mm, about 15% 150mm, and occasionally 50mm - I'm very glad to have it and the 50/80/150 are the lenses I've generally carried. The 150mm is just as good optically as any of the others in my experience. Yes, the 150mm is a bit ungainly on the body, but I can live with that.

At the risk of spinning this thread away from the original question, there are two things I never understood about the Mamiya 7 system:

1) Why are there so many wide-angle lenses (43/50/65/80) and then such a large gap to the 150mm? I've often wished they'd made a 110mm as I often find the 80mm a bit wide. I photograph a lot outdoors and frequently don't have the ability to get closer to my subject with the 80mm (and the 150mm is too long), which often forces me to crop when printing. Fortunately this rarely leads to print quality issues thanks to the large negative and excellent lens quality.

2) Why didn't they standardize on 67mm filters and hoods for all lenses? Yes, it would have made the 65mm and 80mm (and 210mm) slightly larger, but it would allow one to carry a single set of filters and still use the factory lens shades. I keep a 58-67 step-up on my 80mm so its bespoke shade stay home.

We'll never get definitive answers to my two questions, but despite those niggles I really love my Mamiya 7 system and it's the camera I've used the most over the quarter century since I got it after several decades of 35mm use.

 

[macmx]

I completely agree, I would have loved a 100, 110 or 120mm for the Mamiya. There are SO many wides. Even the 80mm is a medium wide, and then it jumps all the way up to 150mm. It would be like a 35mm system having a 40mm and a 75mm and nothing in between.

 

[pgh]

Can’t comment, but following. After a long time off I’ve reacquired a 7 with the 150 (and 65, 80). I only expect to use it about 5-10% of the time, just like I do longer lenses with my other kits.

That said, yes, Mamiya should have absolutely made a 105ish lens. Pentax did it, and it was a great lens. Ah well.

 

[jaredangle]

Can’t comment, but following. After a long time off I’ve reacquired a 7 with the 150 (and 65, 80). I only expect to use it about 5-10% of the time, just like I do longer lenses with my other kits.

That said, yes, Mamiya should have absolutely made a 105ish lens. Pentax did it, and it was a great lens. Ah well.

A fast 105mm or 110mm on 6x7 RF would be amazing. I use the 110mm f/2.8 for the RZ67 all the time. If they had made an RF version of the same lens, even with typical medium format RF limitations such as a 1m or 1.5m MFD, the Mamiya 7’s usefulness for street, portraiture, and other styles would be even better than it already is. The 80mm f/2.8 on the Makina 67 is fantastic and arguably more versatile, but having a 50mm f/1.4 equivalent on a 6x7 frame provides such nice subject separation IMO.