Quest for 6x7

jbielikowski said:
Thank you all for your response. Mamiya 7 was my holy grail, but its somehow lenses are too perfect. Older, less sharp but with more "character" its what I'm looking for.
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Then what about an older folder like the Super Isolette? Most 6x7 camera systems are technically excellent, the Pentax/Mamiya/Bronica/Makina crowd really don't do "character."

I really think you'll be happiest with the Pentax or Mamiya 7 though. The specialness with the 67 is that 105/2.4, but I still love my Mamiya and haven't really heard of anyone not.
 
The MLU was added to the Pentax 6x7 sometime in the 1970s. It's hard to find a working body without MLU. That said, my first body was a pre-MLU many eons ago. My photos didn't suffer from not having MLU. My current body has MLU. Nice to have but not required.
Just as I thought. A Pentax body with meter (again, nice but not required) and 45mm lens costs less than just a 43mm lens & finder for the Mamiya 7.
 
jbielikowski said:
I dont like cropping square, and printing them is such a waste of paper :) Virtually I can do everything with Rolleiflex, but they are situations that look better in rectangle.

I bought Rolleiflex for portraits, with Rolleinar 2 its perfect and lightweight combo.
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I've been getting the same feeling with my Autocord (I have the Rolleinar 2 as well). That, and the fixed focal length. I love the TLR, but I have more fun with the OM1.
 
And I was just getting comfortable cropping 35mm and 6x7 and even 4x5 square if that's what made a decent photo. I try to get the image right in the viewfinder. I don't like to crop. However, if cropping is required, I do it.
 
Mamiya 7

Mamiya 7

As already mentioned the Mamiya 7 is really such a great choice it's hard to bother with anything else.

The 80, while fantastic, is actually the least (!) sharp of the 6 lenses. The others post better test results, according to Popular Photography tests, and elsewhere. the 50mm is the sharpest by their results (with 43mm close 2nd). Don't worry about them being too "perfect" (whatever that means). Shoot them wide open and there's plenty of character to be had.

-Ed
 
Could one of you post some examples from a Mamiya 7? What's the close-up focusing distance like? Especially with the 150mm. I do like getting close up to things, but it's tricky with rangefinders.
 
Here are some of mine from the first roll. It doesnt focus very close, min focus is about 1m, I think the 150mm is 1.5m. They are all very sharp though :) These are with the 65mm

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Darkhorse said:
Could one of you post some examples from a Mamiya 7? What's the close-up focusing distance like? Especially with the 150mm. I do like getting close up to things, but it's tricky with rangefinders.
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Torso and head shot with 150mm is the closest with the Mamiya 7. It isn't useful for close head shots.
 
All with Mamiya 7 (first gen)

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I think it was with 150mm that I rented for dirt cheap for a weekend. This is pre-focused quick grab, pushed to 1600. Wet print.

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Another 150mm, pre-focused, hipshot, pushed to 1600.

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Last of 150mm shots, pushed to 1600. Wet print.

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80mm, pushed to 1600, wet print.

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80mm, wet print.


Mamiya 7 makes me smile every time I print in darkroom.
 
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Darkhorse said:
Could one of you post some examples from a Mamiya 7? What's the close-up focusing distance like? Especially with the 150mm. I do like getting close up to things, but it's tricky with rangefinders.
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I think the focusing distance with the 150 is such that the magnification isn't much different than with the 80mm. MFD is definitely my main (only?) complaint, and only thing that I would prefer about a 67 and 105/2.4

65/4 + Reala


 
Mamiya 7 is fantastic, but bit too expensive.

Or maybe Naumoski is right, I dont really need (ok, its GAS and I want not need) 6x7 and I can crop on focusing screen, 1/5 of image is small loss. But Pentax 67 with 165/2.8 look so awesome for portraits... :)
 
I find the Bronica GS-1 very nice to handle with WLF. I have used the 100mm, 110mm Macro and the 150mm lenses. They all draw very beautifully. There are two wides available for the GS-1: 65mm (72mm filter size) and 50mm (95mm filter size). The Bronica systems are really cheap and offer great IQ.
 
If you don't need/can't afford interchangeable lens capability, I 2nd the recommendation of the fixed lens Fuji RFs (I have the GW670III, which has the 90/3.5). Very good lens (though w/modern look so maybe "too perfect"), solid build quality. My understanding is that the shutter actually isn't that loud & the noise is from the frame counter "odometer" mechanism; I've read that it can be disabled by a technician, but don't know what's involved.

I also occasionally wonder why I didn't get the GW690III (the cameras are the same size & functionally identical, only the 6x7 version has a cropped film gate), but it's not a big deal.

Sample shots:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/furcafe/tags/fujiphotofilmgw670iiic199295/

f16sunshine said:
. . . Now I have the fuji GSW67iii. It's big buy not heavy. The lens is perfect for the mostly Portrait work I use it for. The camera is inexpensive and a perfect way to try 67. The fuji is not an elegant solution to be honest. The ****ter is not quiet like your Rollei. The results achieved however are really very nice. My only regret is that I did not get the 6x9 version instead. 67 does not often feel right and many times I'm cropping down to 66 anyway.
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$100 (give or take a few dollars) will buy you a nice Rapid Omega 100 with one of the best 90mm lenses of all time. You will save enough money to buy film for a long time.
 
Yes the Mamiya 7II is a wonderful RF. Very quite and not hard to carry around half the day. Images are incredible especially with the 50mm. Since getting the 50mm I haven't taken it off.
 
I bought Mamiya RZ67 ProII [with Hasselblad 501CM] as my first ever film cameras, i ended up with Mamiya 7II and found it is not working for some reasons i don't know and can't sent it overseas [Japan] for repair now, but i was planning to travel by October with my Mam7II, Mamiya 7 didn't work properly and i canceled the trip, but i will never give up this camera, it will be my travel film MF camera and i can imagine or even smell it will not be less than RZ or Hassy, even i prefer it over GSW690III which i really love so far.
 
In the end I bought Mamiya Super 23, it arrived today and... rangefinder is stuck. coupling is all right, frames move to compensate parallax, but the small mirror wont budge. also shutter got some grease on it, and its bit sticky. I hope CLA will do the job.

Damn...
 
Sorry for the problems. I hope you got it cheap enough to cover the cost of CLA for the lens and RF. I have never had that problem with the RF. My 65mm needs a CLA, and the 100mm is approaching that need. I may or may not try it myself when the time comes. For now it is OK.

When it is working right, you are going to love it! The more you use it, the more you are going to want other lenses, backs, and other accessories. But you can do so much with just the basic camera, lens and back. I did for years and loved it then too.
 
I'll add a vote for the GS-1. I do not have one but have tried it and a reall great camera. Using an ETRS, I find there is no need for the AE prism finder. Less weight with the WLF and a hand held meter. The Bronicas are an amazingly flexible system camera and the prices are dirt cheap, especially considering just how good the glass is and that each lens has its own shutter.
 
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