UKH

Anyone interested in my immaculate Mamiya 7II with 43mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses. I'm open to offers - email via lakespanorama.co.uk

This is what Ken Rockwell wrote recently:

"The Mamiya 7 is the world's best camera.

If I only could have one camera for everything I do, it would be the Mamiya 7 and the 43mm, 80mm and 150mm lenses.

Why? Because the Mamiya 7 offers technical image quality unmatched by anything, film or digital, this side of 4x5" film, and it's still small enough to carry around my neck all day long and shoot hand-held. It's easy to shoot fast, too, and has lenses of optical quality far beyond any 35mm or zoom lens.

Since large-format cameras don't work well hand held, this crowns the Mamiya 7 as the world's highest technical quality hand-held camera, period. It's a complete class above Leicas, and DSLRs like the Nikon D3X, Canon 1Ds Mk III and 5D Mark II."

In reply to Ice Nine: He also says this about the Mamiya

The Mamiya 7 is an expensive camera with fantastic optics, but it's built with only second-rate mechanical quality. It can produce consistently spectacular images. I love it, but don't be disappointed when things start falling off your new $3,600 camera. Just look at the film you get back and you'll be ecstatic (happy).

In reply to Ice Nine:

You might get more interest if you post this as a Premier Post.

In reply to Ice Nine: How does a camera body help to produce great images? I can understand how lenses and film/DSLR sensors do it, but never understood why one SLR body was better than any other? Although I also appreciate that Mamiya cameras are held in very high regard.

In reply to andi turner: Partly because of the lenses you can attach to it. Mamiya lenses are good.

And partly ergonomics - when compared to other medium format cameras the 7/11 is convenient so you are more likely to actually use the thing. If you don't use the camera it will never produce images, great or otherwise! Big negatives from a camera you can hold like an SLR compared to my big Bronica which feels like a brick around my neck after 10 minutes.

In reply to icnoble: I've had a Mamiya 7 for 15 years. The quality and clarity of the images I get from it are fantastic, especially on Fuji slide film.

Ken Rockwell is being over cautious for the American market when he says "but it's built with only second-rate mechanical quality.". I treat my cameras with care, and I've never had any problems with the build quality or working mechanisms of this camera.

These are great cameras in my opinion.

Ian

In reply to:

My Mamiya 645s have never missed a beat, always rock solid reliability. Not for nothing that Martin Hartley called them 'the landrover of cameras'.

Andi, you obviously haven't used many bodies! The body is what gets the shot, the lens sensor/ film only really matter for pixel peeping.

Never got on with rangefinders myself, but I'd agree that the Mamiya 7's combination of resolution and portability is unmatched.