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Hi,

I've been wanting to do some medium format photography for a while and now the opportunity has come up that I can get a Mamiya RB67 kit. This would be to do landscape photography. The kit is quite extensive with multiple backs, polaroid back, view finder and 5 lenses (50mm, 65mm, 90mm, 127mm, 250mm) plus some extra accessories. Still in very good working conditions but obviously it is getting old. It has been well looked after but has various signs of wear through usage.

If I can get a good price for it, is it worth the investment or should I be looking at newer Mamiya gear?

Advice much appreciated from the medium-format filum enthusiasts out there

Cheers,

André

We don't have Mamiya, but I think these old kits generally last for ages, and, so if the price is right, I would be going for it.

The RB is great for the fact that you don't have to turn the camera to go for a profile shot (if that is what you were doing).

If you consider the price you pay for this kit (with a 50mm! equivalent to about 25mm or so) and if you were to get, say, a V700 Epson scanner, you would have the less convenient ability to shoot very high-res images which may compete with digital medium format capture.

I developed my first lot of 120 film on the weekend, and the size of the negs is great!

Andre,

If the price is good, and it's all still quite serviceable with no major flaws in the glass, sounds good.

Ballpark expected investment for you?

Thanks for the comments Patrick. As for the scanner, that's also what I was considering.

gstark wrote:Ballpark expected investment for you?

To be determined on this one. Pricing some of that gear on KEH, comes up to about $2K USD. That's pricing the bits individually. For me to be interested, it would have to be less then that. I'll keep you posted

Thanks,

André

Good Luck André, if you get it I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Depending on condition, you should be looking at $1-1.5k for that, particularly given the inclusion of the wide angles.

So, we will see you the 8th March?

Reschsmooth wrote:So, we will see you the 8th March?

I was planning to be at the film day but I can't make the 8th

This will be amazing!

Any news??

FWIW,

Leigh was at the camera fair in Ultimo yesterday, and was tempted to buy an RB kit for around 450. There were Bronny kits for about 100 less.

Reschsmooth wrote:Any news??

Not yet. I've got it in my hands, as we speak. Downloaded and read the manual to make sure I get all the bits attached properly.

gstark wrote:and was tempted to buy an RB kit for around 450

Gary, what is included in an RB kit?

thanks

André

Hi Andre ... I have experience with these cameras, mainly from the perspective of a camera technician. My only thoughts are that a Mamiya RB67 is a damned heavy and bulky bit of kit to be carrying about to do landscape work ... this camera is really designed for the studio. As a thought, have you given thought to buying a Pentax 67 ... these are far more popular for landscape work... easier to carry about, reasonable range of lenses and you might also find that they are more reliable. Cheers, Ants

Thanks for that Ants.

As you say, it is a very bulky/heavy beast. I guess that is one of the reasons I have been a bit slow at committing to buying it. I had looked at the Pentax before but at the time, I hadn't been able to find one that I was happy with. I will revisit that option and do some "hunting".

cheers,

André

Antsl wrote:a Mamiya RB67 is a damned heavy and bulky bit of kit to be carrying about to do landscape work ... this camera is really designed for the studio.

That was more or less the exact reason I didn't buy one yesterday.

That and my old TA friend from Uni told me that they're a bitch to get repaired in Sydney now that one of the leading repairers has died.

So wouldn't the Mamiya 7 II rangefinder be better for landscape work?

Incidentally I'm looking for a new RZ67...

The Mamiya 7 is a great camera but it is also still very desirable and therefore expensive. At the moment I know of several documentary photographers (Trent Parke being one of them) who prefers to use these cameras for street photography, effectively using the camera like the larger version of their usual range-finder cameras (Leica). On the down side with these cameras ... you get no real perception of the depth of field you will get like a DSLR and composing with this camera can also be a challenge as the viewfinder image is not always a convincing indication of what might be going on in the corner of the pictures. I sold my SWC last week and as much as I loved the camera the one thing I will not miss about it is trying to guess what is happening in the bottom of the picture, simply because the bottom half of the picture was invariably obscured by the lens. There is also the parallax factor to consider although this is not so much of a concern if you are shooting landscape images.

I was past Camera Lane in Melbourne yesterday and they had a Pentax 67II Kit in the window with lenses ranging from 55mm through to 500mm and they were after $3000 for the whole kit. Might be worth some homework .... they accept trade-ins!

Actually, can the RZ lenses be mounted on the RB? I know the RB lenses can go on the RZ though...