Mamiya 6 : Medium Format Film Camera for Travel

I love medium format, but medium format cameras and travel are not generally a good combination.  The cameras and lenses are large and heavy.  About a year ago, I determined that I was giving up on taking my Mamiya 645 Pro TL on long trips.  The system is modular and breaks down nicely,  but each lens adds about a pound of weight.  I took it with me to San Francisco, limiting myself only to the 80mm lens, but for trips to the Caribbean where small planes and weight limitations are common, it has to be left behind.  The good thing is that I have a compact alternative for shooting medium format film that is perfect for travel, the Mamiya 6.

As a bit of warning, this is not a technical review. If you’re looking for all the itty bitty details, there are plenty of sites to obtain that information, like Film Shooters Collective. I write this from the perspective of someone who travels and likes to experiment with my cameras while traveling, but whose body is beginning to feel its age, and pretty much every extra ounce I pack. I will talk about how I use the camera and features I like.

Mamiya had two cameras it called the Mamiya 6 (or Mamiya Six). The older model was a folding camera dating back to the 1940’s and 50’s.  The “new” Mamiya 6 was released in 1989.  It is not a folding camera. Instead, the lens collapses somewhat into the body making it extremely portable. You push a small button on the bottom left of the camera and pull out the lens to extend it for use. Here is the camera with the 50mm lens, retracted and extended:

And with the 75mm lens retracted and extended. The 75mm lens is the most compact.

The Mamiya 6 came with only three lenses, the standard 75mm f/3.5, the 50mm f/4, and the 150mm f/4.5.  The best of the bunch, in my opinion, is the 50mm f/4.  It was the last of the three lenses I purchased, and the most expensive, but I’m glad I kept up the search to find one. The minimum focusing distance on the 50mm and 75mm lenses is 1 meter (over 3 feet). On the 150mm lens, it’s 1.8 meters (nearly 6 feet). Filter size on the 50mm and 75mm is 58mm, and on the 150mm, it’s 67mm.

The camera is not small, but is easy to hold in the hand. All three lenses have electronic leaf shutters, which are so quiet, when I first started shooting this camera, I wasn’t sure if it had fired.

The camera uses 120 film and produces twelve 6x6cm (2-1/4″) square images. If you still have some rolls of 220 lying around, you can use those too, flipping the pressure plate inside the camera’s rear door. Film is easily loaded, similar to what you do when you load 35mm.

You can shoot in manual or in two aperture-priority modes, AE (automatic exposure – red dot in a circle on the dial) or AEL (AE Lock – red square in a square outline on the dial). In AE, you select the aperture by turning the lens barrel, and the camera automatically sets the shutter speed. In AEL, the camera memorizes the settings when the shutter release button is touched lightly so that even when the position of the subject or camera changes, a picture can be taken with the initial aperture setting and is not affected by changes in light. It holds the settings until the shutter is triggered or you release the button and press again. I tend to shoot in AEL mode. The light meter has not failed me yet.

The viewfinder is nice and clear. When you put on different lenses, you see the outline of what is in the field of view. When the 150mm lens is on, the image in view is pretty small and difficult to see, particularly with my aging eyes. Luckily, you can get a diopter correction lens to pop into the viewfinder (found them on eBay) to make it much easier to see that you have secured focus.

One feature I appreciate is the built-in darkslide, which prevents you from doing something stupid like trying to change a lens with film loaded. You will not be able to remove a lens with the darkslide, called a light shield curtain, open. There’s a release on the bottom of the camera which closes the curtain and allows you to change the lens. You then release the switch and you’re ready to shoot again.

The best feature of this camera is that it is compact, the perfect medium format camera for travel. With the 50mm or 75mm lens attached, it easily fits in the front pocket of my Billingham Large Hadley with room to spare for rolls of film. It measures 6 inches long by 4.5 inches wide, with a depth varying based upon the lens attached. With the 75mm lens attached, the depth is only 3 inches, and with the 50mm lens is just one-half inch more.

This was my very first rangefinder, and I have to admit that when I first purchased it, I didn’t like it. I initially had a hard time focusing, and missed a lot of shots. It didn’t help that one of my very first outings with the camera was a trip to New Orleans and things move pretty fast there! Upon returning from that trip, I was convinced that I was going to sell the camera. Thankfully, I did not give up. After I got the hang of it, this soon became one of my favorite cameras, perfect for an aperture priority shooter, and a perfect medium format camera for travel.

For more images with this camera, browse this gallery, and click these links for more images shot with the 50mm lens and 75mm lens.

If you’re a Mamiya 6 user, I would love to hear your thoughts!