One more un needed bid on e*ay, I should soon own a Minola 7

L

laurentvenet

Guest
Well, at first, I was into Russian Horizon and it ended up by a Minolta 7 (not 7ii) on ebay :bang:

I should think twice before bidding.

Now, I'm a bit scared by lens price, and as my first desire was panoramic, then I now hesitate between :

- 50 mm

or

- 43 mm

Where do you think I could get the cheapest prices ? I do not plan to buy several lens.

I read that Matsuya in HK was cheap, I've just droped them an email :
http://www.matsuyacamera.com.hk/

I've also seen cathay photo and Accphoto


Thank's, Laurent
 
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Hi Laurent

I would check KEH.com regularly their prices on Mamiya 6&7 glass are very good and their ratings are very credibile. Patience will bring you what you want. That said there is more 50 mm glass than 43 mm so keep that in mind in your pricing.

Don't forget there are Mamiya 7 owners here who might want to sell one of these lenses. If I understand your post you want the wide angle. Check the owners manual to get the difference between the FOV for the two lenses. Also check to see what other members think of the difference between the two.

Jan
 
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Hi Jan, thank's a lot, I'm gonna be patient and look carefully at keh, ebay, and maybe post a WTB thread.

In a way, when I see the price of Mamiya lens, ithe best way is to learn patience
🙂

I'm not yet sure on lens choice, I now look at the 80mm, as it's not as expensive as the 43mm and is similar to 39 mm for 24x36.

Again, it's not easy, my CV15 for my Bessa is very difficult to use and merging details within the small 24x36 format.

Maybe 65 would be ideal, anyway I have to begin a new thread and collect advices.

Kind regards,

Laurent
 
Mamiya 7 lenses

Mamiya 7 lenses

Hi Laurent,

If you are considering lenses for your Mamiya 7 consider the angle of view that you are accustomed to use in the 35mm format and which focal lengths that fit your needs and usage.

The Mamiya 7 65mm and 80mm lenses require no additional optical rangefinder for framing. Both use the in-camera frame sizes. Since you would normally think in terms of grams, I will provide weight information in grams. The 80mm lens has an approximate angle of view equivalent to a 39mm 35mm lens and weighs 290 grams. The 65mm lens has an approximate angle of view equivalent to a 32mm 35mm lens and weighs 380 grams.

As to the 43mm and the 50mm lenses the 43mm is smaller and lighter and proves to be a little more difficult to control. Both lenses have either the same or very similar lens design and both will perform very well. There may be a little more light fall off toward the corners of the 43mm lens because it has a wider angle of view. Both are very well corrected and have very high lens performance (some of the best ever designed for medium format wide angle lenses). Both will perform best on a tripod and should definitely be leveled out as much as possible to keep lines parallel and perpindicular. Both lenses require a supplemental optical rangefinder for framing.

The 50mm lens has the approximate angle of view equivalent to a 25mm (almost same as 24mm) 35mm lens and weighs 460grams. The 43mm lens has the approximate angle of view equivalent to a 21mm 35mm lens and weighs 390 grams.

I hope that this information helps and good luck finding the lenses that you want.

Rich

richard@nelridge.com
http://www.nelridge.com
 
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Hi Richard

First, I do thank you for your kind answer, after reading you, I went on your web site which is beautiful. You made me travel with all your wonderful landscape pictures. I guess I'd hardly so natural and huge landscapes in France.

I hope some of them were made with a Mamiya 7 (except the close ones due to the 1 meter small focus limitation).

With my Bessa R, I do shoot mostly with my Skopar 35/2.5. I also use a bit my CV 15/4.5, and though this was supposed to be the one I wanted, I realized 35mm was much easier to use. I understood later that with a 15mm, I had to be really close to the subject to give a meaning to my photos. I had many empty photos, with too much ground and then the subject, plus with weird faces due to distorsion. I know Mamiya Lens won't bring distorsion, but the way edges are often streched on wide wide angles makes me hesitate. With CV15 on 35mm, many details were merged within the film. I also have some jupiter 50mm but don't use it often.

I read that 65mm lens was protruding within viewfinder, I hope it's not disturbing too much.

For convenience and smaller price my desire would go for 65mm first, or maybe 50.

It would enable me to mainly use or need only one lens.

Does lens hood avoid a lot flares on photos ?

I'm now tracking some lens on ebay and also had some price estimation from some asiatic shops in KG and SG : catay photos, matuya, Leung, Dr Yao.

I now have my camera at home and do look forward to really use it 😀


Thank's again, kind regards

Laurent
 
Mamiya Lenses

Mamiya Lenses

Hi Laurent,

Thank you for the kind words about my website. 🙂 Unfortunatley, presently there are no photos on my website taken with my Mamiya 7II. 🙁 I hope to remidy that shortly. Most of the images on my website are taken with either my Leica R series SLRs or with my Linhof Technikardan 45S.

I do not have enough experience with the lens hood on the 65mm Mamiya 7 lens to comment about lens flare. However in most instances it should certainly do an adequate job. For your purposes, this may be the ideal first lens to get for the camera. Many Mamiya 7 photographers chose this over the 80mm lens. Yes, the lens and the hood do protrude into the lower right of the viewfinder. This is a bit of a nuisance, but if you check the frame (and around the frame) of the area being photographed, you can deal with it. 🙁 Obviously, checking the frame will be easier if the camera is tripod mounted rather than being hand held. A Mamiya 7 with a 65mm lens should prove to be a light and rather potent film based package with such a large negative/transparency.

I would not really suggest the 43mm or the 50mm lens as the first and only lens for the camera unless you find that you use a 21mm or 24mm 35mm lens to such an extent that you feel the need to have such a wide angle lens as the first lens. Though, this is the realm of the Hasselblad SWC. However, either of these two lenses would make a very good second lens for wide angle photography or someone that specializes in wide angle photographs (much of my work relies on wide angle lenses; I probably use my 24mm Leica lens or my 90mm f6.8 Rodenstock Grandagon N [for 4"x 5"] lenses most often for my landscape photographs).

Additionally, as I noted the 43mm and the 50mm lenses will require the included optical rangefinder for framing that is not required of the 65mm lens. Also, as mentioned, you will probably find that when and if you try a 43mm lens on the camera it is a bit more difficult to control perspective than with the 50mm lens. Experience with 21mm and 24mm 35mm SLR lenses will prove invaluable to the understanding of the perspective effects that may not be observed in the optical rangefinders (must try to keep the camera level unless the desired effect warrants the results). Also, with such a wide angle lens, the foreground, taken with a 43mm lens, will loom large and there may appear to be a tremendous distance between foreground and the rear of the image.

For myself, with my Leica SLR cameras, I find that I carry my 24mm lens more than my 21mm lens (but this is partially attributed to the filter size differences [for carrying filters that fit other lenses or additional step-up rings]). However, for the Mamiya 7, if I am trying to save a little more weight and am contemplating even a wider angle of view, I would not hesitate to carry my 43mm lens Mamiya 7 lens as opposed to my 50mm Mamiya 7 lens. Also, both the 43mm and the 50mm Mamiya 7 lenses have a 67mm filter size.

Rich

richard@nelridge.com
http://www.nelridge.com
 
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Hello again Richard

I looked at Hassie SWC and it's really a gorgeous and pretty camera, but Mamiya lens are said to be excellent too and offer more possibilities with the wide choice of lens.

I too noticed with my 15mm on my Bessa R (so 24x36) that it was difficult to avoid converging lines and that for landscape, proportions were a bit different and less natural than with 35mm lens. Far away landscape are often flat.
And with the 15mm, I got used to the external viewfinder, the first week, it falled on the ground (I was walking and it slided from the camera hot shoe) and had to buy another one. So I know how tedious it is to mount it and remove it.

My first crush was for a Russian panoramic Horizon and it ended up with the Mamiya 7.
(But I won't be surprise to buy later on a Horizon S3...)

it looks a bit unusual for me to hold this big camera with no lens for now.


So, I'll listen to your wise words and begin with the 65mm.


Cheers, Laurent
 
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Mamiya 7 43mm & 50mm Lenses

Mamiya 7 43mm & 50mm Lenses

Hi Laurent,

I don' t think that you will be disapointed with the 65mm as your first lens. Additionally, when used together you will find it a nice compact system when used without the additional optical rangefinder.

When you are ready, you will be able to find a 43mm or the 50mm Mamiya 7 lenses. These are spectacular performing lenses. They are essentially the original 10 element design as the original 38mm Zeiss Biogon used on the Hasselblad SWC cameras. The Hasselblads have the advantage of being slightly smaller, and accepting interchangable backs, and better mechanically. Also, the Mamiya optical rangefinders lock down into the hotshoe with a locking ring.

As to performance of the Mamiya 7 43mm and 50mm lenses, over the years users and reviewers have indicated that the Mamiya lenses are everybit as good a performer and many have indicated that they are better performers than the 38mm Biogon.

You can also check this review by Ken Rockwell who makes comment regarding the lenses and the Hasselblad SWC and indicates that the new Zeiss Biogon has been changed to an 8 element and poorer performing lens. Here is the article:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/swc.htm

Hope that this provides more useful information.

Rich

richard@nelridge.com
http://www.nelridge.com
 
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