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Mamiya 7II and Ilford PANF

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Very nice! One of my favorite film cameras of all time. Was that the 43?

Just a thought, but maybe straighten it a bit (center tree and stream seem tilted left to me) and add a bit of burn on the upper left to keep the eyes from running off that corner?
 

viablex1

Active member
I think it was the 50 I tanked my 43 in an abandoned asylum, thanks for the suggestion, I see what you mean now!!!!

and I need to PM you about large format photography coming soon!!!!

matto
 

woodyspedden

New member
Josef

I can relate to your conundrum since I also have the Mamiya, Hasselblad H, Hasselblad 500, Nikon DSLR's and Leica DSLR's (film and digital). I keep kidding myself saying that I have the proper camera for different shooting needs but the real truth is that I love precision devices and I just love having them around! Sick

Woody
 

helenhill

Senior Member
Truly Lovely Tones & Contrast...matto

Has me Inspired...Thanks
just ordered some PanF 50 & Efke 50...waiting for it to arrive w/the Rodinal

Best to You- H:)
 

viablex1

Active member
thanks a lot, I love that stuff, I have it converted to positive and shoot it at 25iso, I also love efke 50 shot at 200 really killer!!!!

I will have to post a shot of efke
 

bensonga

Well-known member
I have a half dozen rolls of Pan F in the frig. On Monday, I'll have a Mamiya 7II with the 80mm lens. I hope to post some photos here with that combination soon. :D

I've read so much about the Mamiya 7 here on GetDPI over the past few years. For whatever reason, I've never been a fan of 35mm rangefinder cameras, but when I looked thru the finder of a friend's Mamiya 6 a couple weeks ago.....wow, this was a whole different rangefinder....easy to focus. Then, while digging a little deeper on the web, I came across Stuart's blog post about the Mamiya 7....that clinched it for me. Question is....how long will I be able to resist the call of that 43mm lens? :eek:

http://www.stuartrichardson.com/mamiya7ii.htm

So before I've even finished my comparision tests of the Pentax 67II and my recently acquired RZ67 Pro II.....now I've got to add a third 6x7 to the mix. What a shame....life is good. :)

Gary
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Hi Gary,
Funny that you found that comparison! I made it years ago now...it hasn't been listed on my website for ages. In any case, I hope you love the Mamiya 7II...I think it is really one of the best of the best...to expand on the article, while the lenses are truly excellent, I now think the design of the body really has a huge impact as well. Compared to other medium format cameras (particularly 6x7), or even cameras in general, the M7II has exceedingly low mechanical vibration. The only moving part during exposure is a very small electronically controlled leaf shutter in the midpart of the lens. The shutter release is electronic, and the advance is manual, so the only moving mass during the exposure is the featherweight leaf shutter. If you use a tripod and the self-timer, this means there is hardly any vibration at all. I think we underestimate how much of an impact vibration has on image quality. Since getting the S2, this has been obvious to me -- the mirror pre-release makes a huge difference on that camera, and anyone who has used the S2 knows how well-damped it feels already!

The second thing that I think is critical is the superior film path in the M7II. In a camera like a hasselblad, the film has a convoluted path through the magazine -- the film is curled in two directions, and if it spends too long in the magazine between shots, it will develop a kink which inhibits maximum sharpness. You also have a situation where the film plane is in the magazine, rather than the camera, so the coupling needs to be perfect to have the right film plane. In the M7II, the film has a straight path from one side to the other and has a big pressure plate keeping it flat against the film plane, which is built into the magnesium chassis of the camera at the factory -- it is immoveable and consistent.
When you combine these two things with the superb lenses, the results seem to be a lot more consistently great than with a lot of other cameras.
 
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