Thoughts on the Mamiya RZ67

[Ronald M]

Nice studio camera. 180 is the portrait lens. 250 for tight head shots. 120 for half body.

180 SF if you like a softer image. I had the 150 SF and it was very nice. Stopped down it was almost sharp, just wat I wanted for portraits. Open a dreamy image nice for some things. It lived on my RB.

Unless you have a sherpa, it is a studio camera only.

Mine was the Pro S and had a bunch of interlocks so you could not screw up. You may need an instruction book to sort it out.

The big downside other than size and weight is separate shutter cocking and film advance.

 

[Wcarpenter]

PKR:


I think there's a 8x10, and I know there is a 4x5, in a closet back home that father used throughout college. I'll have to dig it out and give it a shot one when I'm back home at some point. I'm slowly but surely working my way up the film size scale. Next I'll have to get some big glasses so I can be as Avedon like as possible. Maybe developing some photographic skill would help on that front, too.

 

[goros]

You will be very happy with your purchase. Consider another back, just to make quicker and more convenient the roll changing.

I have been using a RZ67 for the last couple of years, usually with the 110 but also with a 55, for everything: travel, street, landscape, etc, sometimes with tripod but mostly without it. It is heavier than a Rollei or a Hasselblad, but nothing unbearable.

From my point of view, it is a very versatile camera, not limited to the studio or to landscapes. Lenses are fantastic as well.

Cheers

Alfonso

 

[Wcarpenter]

Hey, if Annie Leibovitz can do it, so can I!

 

[wlewisiii]

I think there's a 8x10, and I know there is a 4x5, in a closet back home that father used throughout college.

Now, I like the RZ67 but if I had an 8x10, I'd be burning many sheets of FP4+ & contact printing them. Seriously consider that option.

Or just send it to me on an "extended loan" :angel: I'd give it a very appreciative home 😎

William

 

[CK Dexter Haven]

It's a great camera, but it's huge. Although i used to use one 'in studio,' hand held most of the time, i would never consider taking one out for 'street use.' For such a purpose, i'd want 35mm, or a Hassy or Rolleiflex or something like a Contax 645 with waistlevel finder.

A Mamiya 6x7 Tri-X neg is a magnificent thing.

 

[ruby.monkey]

What a bunch of pansies!

An RZ67 with 110mm f/2.8 and WLF, hanging off a Y-strap, is a doddle to handle when out and about. It's not like one would be spending more than an hour or two between beer breaks anyway.

😀

 

[Jaakko]

It's not like one would be spending more than an hour or two between beer breaks anyway.

😀

Indeed!

It is a great camera. Very portable.

 

[swoop]

I've hauled around an RZ67 on the streets. It definitely gets looks, I had two people actually ask for portraits. Also, if you're not clumsy, it is very usable handheld. Just keep the shutter speed up.

 

[David R Munson]

+1 on the RZ/RB being fine cameras to walk around with. For a long time I used an RB67 with 127mm lens, prism, bellows shade, and grip for walking around every day.

 

[geordiefred]

I bought an RB Pro S, and as a result bought a used RZ for a bargain price here in the UK. For instruction book/manual look at Orphan Cameras on the web- run by M. Butkis, NJ. They can be downloaded by PDF whatever that is. Lenses from the RB series can be used on the RZ, but NOT VICE VERSA. You can use them, apparently, if you fit a spacer between the RB body and the RZ lenses. I have seen the spacer in a Mamiya brochure, but have never seen one for sale.

 

[thomob]

i have borrowed a friends RZ Pro II for over a week and shot a couple of rolls with it. Personally, i found it way to big for handheld, unless you have huge arms and you dont mind the weight, go for it. But I opted for the C33 (very similar to the 330) and i haven't regretted my choice at all. in fact i prefer it much more. I have been able to buy many accesories and a new lens and still saving money compared to the amount the RZ would of been..

 

[David R Munson]

Lenses from the RB series can be used on the RZ, but NOT VICE VERSA. You can use them, apparently, if you fit a spacer between the RB body and the RZ lenses. I have seen the spacer in a Mamiya brochure, but have never seen one for sale.

Some clarification here. RB lenses can be mounted/used on RZ bodies, but not the other way around as RB cameras lack any way to operate the electronically-controlled shutters in RZ lenses.

There is a ring that is found on the rear of KL-series RB lenses that is removed for Pro and Pro-S series RB cameras but needed to accommodate for the larger lens mount hole on the RB67 Pro-SD body.

The RZ67 camera system features a tilt/shift adapter that it intended to be used with a handful of "short-barrel" lenses. These come with a spacer that is removed when used with the tilt/shift adapter, allowing for infinity focus, but otherwise left in place.

The adapter rings and spacers can both be had used, though sometimes needing a bit of searching to be found.

 

[goros]

Lenses from the RB series can be used on the RZ, but NOT VICE VERSA. You can use them, apparently, if you fit a spacer between the RB body and the RZ lenses. I have seen the spacer in a Mamiya brochure, but have never seen one for sale.

The spacer is not really needed. The only thing you must remember is to extend the belows about 6 mm (in this very moment, I don't remember if that distance is 6 or 8 mm).

I use the 180 for RB with no problem.

Cheers

 

[Steve_F]

Just get the RZ. I bought my first around ten years ago. Sold it a few years later to fund my F5 and regretted it so much that I saved and purchased another RZ that I still have.
Last year I bought my first Rangefinder (Leica M6TTL) and thought about selling the RZ to buy a Mamiya 7II (6x7 RF) but decided that the benefits of the RZ far out-weigh those of the 7 II. You can get amazingly close with the RZ (frame filling portraits) and the results are superb.
I have two 'backs' for mine, depending on what I'm doing it may have black & white emulsion (100 in one back and 400 in the other) or colour transparency in one & black and white in the other. This is useful for when out about doing street stuff - handheld.
They're not as heavy as you would think and you get used to handling them easily enough. If I know I'll be shooting solely black and white I have screw-in mid-yellow filter that I leave on. For colour I use a lee filters 77mm ring with with hood and drop in filters (also their polyester colours set for b&w). It really comes into it's own in the studio. Awesome.

There are some amazing prices for them on ebay at present and the lenses too.

Steve.

 

[PKR]

The bellows in the Mamiya C330 and similar cameras, allowing for close focus, was a reason for Avedon and others using these cameras occasionally for portrait work rather than the usual Rollei.

 

[David R Munson]

The spacer is not really needed. The only thing you must remember is to extend the belows about 6 mm (in this very moment, I don't remember if that distance is 6 or 8 mm).

I use the 180 for RB with no problem.

Cheers

Hahaha yes completely true! +1 for the built-in bellows!

 

[Steve_F]

Hey, if Annie Leibovitz can do it, so can I!

So could I if I was prepared to say "F**k the lot of you " and run up $24,000,000 worth of debt. We all could really.
That's art I guess. 😉

Steve.

 

[Wcarpenter]

I guess thats right.

I was speaking more to her ability to hand hold the camera, not her ability to amass absurd amounts of debt.

On your other post: I did buy the camera and am really loving it. Its gigantic, but I've found it to be alright handheld -- though much better on a tripod where it usually lives.

 

[Ezzie]

That amount of debt is the bank´s problem