I absolutely love your content! Unlike so many of the film youtubers out there you seem to actually completely know what you're talking about lol really refreshing to hear from someone who's not just pumping out videos on the hype train
I researched 6x7 camera’s for over a year. Watched tons of online videos and read just about everything there is on the internet. I really wanted to get the most practical, best bang for your buck medium format camera money could buy. I’m glad I settled on the pro sd. I think that camera is sooo underrated because of the hype from Mamiya 7/RZ67 nowadays. CZcams photographers completely skyrocketed the prices and in the end, it does exactly what the Pro SD can do. I’m glad someone finally knows what the hell they’re talking about. No offense to certain names out there but they’re not really the people you should be getting information from. Big subscribe from me ! Keep it going 😊
Thanks Kenneth! To be honest I definitely use my Pro SD more than anything else these days too, the darkslide storage port on the back is so nifty too I really miss it now that that back is jamming. Have never had an issue with the Pro SD body though so hopefully that continues haha, greatly looking forward to getting the back serviced and having everything running properly again! I also reckon that the K/L lenses are just as good as the RZ glass, at least from my limited comparisons!
Woof, woof, woof... Absolutely LOVE the talking about light leaks standing in a light leak bit... And the end of credit scenes in your last 2 videos are hysterical... 🤣💕👌
@@willysheepskin It’s cool to see how your style and confidence talking to the camera have progressed throughout your videos. I’ve been trying to start recording myself to build those skills, but it’s a big challenge!
@@sidmiller8840 I'm glad you reckon things are progressing! Still find it super awkward speaking to camera where there might be a stranger wandering by, but I hope I'll get over that at some point too haha!
I never seriously considered M7 cameras due to the RF focusing. Better for casual snapshots. I opted for Pentax 67 bodies and lenses. The added weight versus the Nikkormat of my youth has never proven to be an issue, and the optical VF provides exactingly precise focus. All my work - since digital versions became obligatory- is scanned on a flatbed. Quite successfully. Clearly an example of different preferences and methodologies resulting in differing conclusions. Cheers.
Thanks for such a wonderfully level headed take on the flatbeds Dennis! If only everyone could recognise the potential for different preferences and methodologies to result in differing conclusions haha! I think I might've come across as more dismissive of them than I intended, my main goal was just to point out that the biggest benefit of the Mam7 is its superior optics, but that those optics might not necessarily shine unless scanned very well. I personally used a flatbed to digitize work for a number of years, and it really is a super easy and accessible way to get ones work out there. I'm actually super curious to try do a thorough comparison of both the scanners and the lenses on the "titan" 6x7 cameras to deeply examine what sort of true difference there is now! Cheers!
Glad the sincerity comes across! The parallax still trips me up sometimes too its such a bummer, the plus sides have got me holding onto it for now but shall have to see how I feel about it in the future!
The dogs barking at the end 😂 you should try having 2 kids at home all day everyday because the schools are closed. Can’t get any filming done! Solid, truthful review man. Your sincerity always comes through and that’s the best way to be imo. Speaking truths about scans too. I mainly DSLR scan at home but you can’t beat drum scans.
Oh boy I can only imagine! These dogs have been slowly drilling into my subconscious for like the last year I’m on my last legs hahaha. Drum scans are for sure best, I mean I’m not advocating for drum scanning everything it’s just if someone’s interested in a camera with a lens like this being able to actually make use of its abilities is key I reckon!
I purchased a 7II before the price went up. At the time, I also had a Leica M3 & M6 and an Arca-Swiss modular 4x5/8x10. During a course with a photographer that I have a lot of respect for, he said "Of the cameras you have, don't ever sell the Mamiya" :)
Always nice to see a new video from you. I have the little brother Mamiya 6 MF and they are great cameras but as prices go up it gets harder and harder to just throw it in my bag and go out with it. I am definitely a bigger fan of 6 x 7 format as well.
For real! I get so nervous sometime's using mine now. The 6 is super cool too though for sure, it's lens is collapsible right? That would be such a sick feature for the 7 to have had. I am addicted to the 6x7 aspect ratio though and would probably only go 6x6 for a very nice Hassy setup haha!
@@willysheepskin it’s so similar to the mamiya 7 but at the same time it’s completely different. You can fold it down and fit it in such a small bag. It would be the perfect travel camera if it wasn’t so expensive. I’m going to take it with me next time I go to Japan for sure.
@@willysheepskin I would recommend it as a trip. If you can go alone , it is a amazing country to travel alone. Do you have IG ? I can't find a link on your page.
Ah man. Those dogs would annoy me too. Great review / insights man! So refreshing to see honest opinions instead of le olde hype. And man I am excited for that night video - I have been meaning to shoot some Ektar at night cause I’ve never done that. I look forward to your Velvia Video 👍
Thanks dude! The Ektar sounds like a plan! I’ve had some decent results shooting that at night, if you don’t have reciprocity+ or some other reciprocity app I reckon using that alongside is a good idea to try avoid some casts!
This video was great and just what I needed to hear. I've been offered a great condition 7ii at a ridiculously good price. But, I know deep down I wouldn't get the most out of it 😂 I can't be arsed with scanning etc so I'll save my pennies and hopefully one day I'll get a Fuji gfx haha.
Great video! Having owned a Mamiya 7ii w/ 43mm for a short period of time, I can agree with pretty much every point you made. No questions asked, these are some of the sharpest lenses out there. I ultimately moved mine on as I do a lot of portrait work and chase my kids around. If I was doing more still life stuff, I never would have sold it (for much less than they are bringing today...). The Pentax 67 is a much better fit for me. Over hyped? Yes. Worth it? Yes, for very specific use cases.
Thanks for the input Chase, I'm glad what I said rings true! I might give the Pentax 67 a go again at some point soon, it scared me off initially cus it felt too familiar but simultaneously clunky with regards to it's shape, but maybe things seem different next time haha!
Lots of great points here. Poor scanning will wipe out the quality of most of these special cameras, and really and truly they IQ is wasted unless you're regularly printing large. Plus for the price they're very brittle. I used to have a Mamiya 7 but moved to a Plaubel Makina. They're not exactly bulletproof themselves, but being fully mechanical seems like a better bet than something that's electronic. I was getting some really annoying problems with my Mamiya where the shutter lock would come on all the time, really took a lot of the fun away from using the camera.
Thanks for the insight Azza! I have on occasion considered switching to a Plaubel because electronic cameras do make me nervous, but I’ll probably need more issues to pop up with this camera before I pull the trigger haha!
Damn, if you had a link to that original tumblr post or at least that photographers work that first introduced you to the Mamiya 7 that would be great.
Just sold this camera, although mine was just a regular mamiya 7. It was the sharpest camera I’ve ever used, but I couldn’t justify owning it while I have an RZ67. I’m downsizing to a contax g2 for some more functionality in a mobile camera.
Haha I just put out a review of the G2! I reckon that’s a solid choice though, I’ve used my rb67 90% of the time lately and the Mamiya 7 for the rest but the G2 is my favorite 35mm camera
@@willysheepskin that’s actually how I got here! Was doing my research before I put down for an entire kit and man does it look really tempting. Just been going through this journey the past year of rotating through cameras until one sticks. Bronica etrsi, bronica sq-ai, mamiya 7, and the whole time my RZ has stayed put. I guess it helps that it’s superb for night photography and portraits. But I digress, I just couldn’t justify owning a mamiya 7 as a broke college student, so I think I’m gonna reinvest some money back in to 35mm and keep medium format to more purposeful work. Also just subscribed and followed on insta! Film photographers gotta stuck together, yaknow? Much love from the US
Great Video man, i love the randomness of the clips 😂 Quick question. Let’s say I’ll buy a mamiya to take with me on my travels around the world; how should I deal with the film rolls and the x-ray at any airport? Should I scan the film everytime before taking a plane so that the negative are safe or what’s the usual procedure for a film photographer? I’ve been only a digital one so far Thanks for you time 🖤
I back that man! For some really good color inversion tips look up Alex Burke here, he's got a couple of videos that should be really useful on getting good color out of negs!
Haha unfortunately I love the thing too much to sell it, but the thought does occur at times! It’s not mint in box anymore though so prooobably not quite 10k haha ;)
Thank you once again bro for the insightful video. I'm not gonna lie the hype around this camera really had me ready to sell a kidney for it. Thank you for clearing things up for me. it really doesn't make sense for a hobbiest film photographer like me to spend so much on a camera only to scan the negatives on a canoscan 😂
I'm glad you found it useful man! To be honest the negs would always be there... so they could be scanned better at a later date... haha! But the hope for most people would be to buy the cam and use it to make sick stuff and progress their career and that unfortunately would involve having the sick scans too
Love your videos bro, always great content. I was wondering if you could make a video explaining the differences between high quality DSLR scanning and low quality, you always talk about it but I really don't understand what could be improved in DSLR scanning to make it which quality. Thanks and keep doing what you do
Thanks Diego! I’ll look into making a video a like that, but I’m not personally super savvy when it comes to the dslr setups besides knowing that there are good and bad ways to do it - will reach out to some homies sometime though!
Great content! I've got a genuine question. Why have two cameras (rb67 + mamiya 7) that produce the same 67 neg? I understand the different shooting experiences and possibilities each camera can give but are they both worth the differences considering the prices and same neg size?
Hi Theodore! Great question, I actually should have tried to comment on this in the video! I personally use the Mam7 when I know I'm going to be making photographs that aren't focused on fashion/people and then switch to the RB67 when I know I'm going to be making more close up, people focused, images. To be honest, the RB67 is more versatile really since it can do spectacular landscapes as well as super close up stuff. It's lenses are grand too, especially the K/L ones, but not as transcendent as the Mamiya 7 glass because they had stronger computer aided design to make use of when they were putting together the Mamiya 7 lenses. Technically one could very easily just use the RB67 for everything, and I've found myself doing that more often as the prices have risen on the Mamiya 7 and I become scared to take it out, but if one can afford the luxury of owning both switching between them can be very convenient. (Especially for things like hiking, I went on a hike with my RB over the weekend and it was tough ahah!) The biggest difference will be in optical quality, but it wouldn't be super noticeable unless you were printing things big, and even then it would be the difference between like 95% quality and 98% haha. At this point the Mamiya 7 is mainly just a luxury, and the RB will do everything it can and more just with much less convenience.
Mamiya 7/6 are rangefinder cameras will all the limitations / strengths of any rangefinder camera. This means limited lens choices, no ability to “see” what the lens on camera is seeing to be put on film. Rangefinder cameras work best with wide angle to normal focal length lenses, telephoto or longer than normal focal length lenses are not gonna work. Polarizing filters another issue, with no ability to what the lens sees proper adjustment of the polarizer is not possible. At best, rangefinder cameras are fancy point and shoot cameras best at decisive moment images. There are huge differences in scanned image quality indeed, what has been lost and forgotten is high quality optical projected (enlarged) prints. There was a time when the ability and creative expression of the photographer and related gear was highly revealed instantly by high quality optical-darkroom prints. That has been replaced with image processing software and jet printers via data under the guise of better prints than optical darkroom prints… which is not completely true.
Nice video sir! I own an rb67 (but want to sell it because it's tooooo heavy) , and want to buy a Hasselblad 501c with 80mm. But after seeing the Mamiya 7, my mind has slightly changed. I'm a landscape shooter and only a little of my photos (shoot in digital) are cropped into a square format. Therefore I'm not sure that a 6X6 Hasselblad will suit me. Besides, my digital camera and lenses are very heavy (one body and two lenses, 4kg). So I want something lighter that I can carry it with my daily backpack and can be handheld nicely. After watching this video, I think now I'm going for a Mamiya 7, which is slightly more expensive than a Hasselblad. Btw, I don't like how pentax67 looks, sadly :(
Thank you! I reckon if your main subject matter is landscapes the Mamiya 7 will be a joy to use, super lightweight for hikes and such and the lens will really shine at the higher apertures! The Hasselblad would definitely be a strong candidate too, but the 6x6 is absolutely worth being concerned about, the square format suits some people but I personally found it limited my composition somewhat. I went on a hike recently with RB67 gear and regretted it so much haha, the Mamiya 7 weighs nothing comparatively and the lenses are significantly better (at least better than the sekor c lenses, I haven’t done much testing of the K/L lenses) I’m sure that if you end up going for the Mamiya 7 you’ll absolutely love it!
Nice review, hats of to you! But when you are showing the comparison screen (V850 vs. Flextight) what exactly do you mean? For my eyes you are comparing a well scanned picture with a very badly scanned one in regards of their colors and white balance. The details look the same on my screen. Is this your point? Because then I'd encourage you to try your Epson V850 with #NegativeLabPro. Or are you making an argument for the Flextights ability to resolve more details than a V850? In this case your argument could be said about any medium format camera and a lot of 35mm cameras as well.
Hi Jaroslaw! The Epson and Imacon scans were both simply balanced to the black point of the frame. The colors are thus what the scanner determined to be correct - and are as a result fairly objective and based on the scanning software. I could easily have balanced things to match in post, but that wouldn't have been representative of what the scanner gave me. I earn a living as a high end scanning technician and retoucher and can tell you with absolute certainty that the Imacon is in a different realm of quality to any Epson. I might put together a proper video comparing the Imacon and an Epson, but the examples in this video were not meant to be an in depth examination of differences in quality between the scanners, rather a filler for the section where I discuss the quality of the lenses and actually getting your moneys worth out of them. The Imacon will absolutely resolve more detail from any negative from any camera, but as I state in the video, specifically for those looking to own a Mamiya 7 for the lens quality, you aren't going to get the best results out of the lens if you aren't scanning them properly - which in the case of the Mam7 would require something beyond a flatbed to render detail beyond what one would expect from any other camera.
@@willysheepskin Hi William! Thanks for the clarification regarding the colors and scanners. No doubt the Imacons are in a different league, quality and price wise and make pictures "shine" in a special way. Since scanning 35mm with an Imacon (occasionally) its hard to go back or not to be disappointed by some other scanners. Thats why I am still not that convinced about your argument because in my experience the Imacons turned a lot of "good" cameras into stellar ones. But maybe thats just nerd talk and in regard of your fantastic video not important at all! A comparison with the Epson would be a bit unfair and not very interesting, don't you think? I'd personally be very interested (especially from your point of a pro scanning technician) what the results of a high res dslr scanning rig would look like compared to a Imacon, as I heard that Hasselblad is slowly stopping the servicing of Imacons and dslr scanning seems like a more practical way of scanning. What do you think?
@@jarequemetabolski That's a brilliant idea actually! You're correct that Hasselblad is phasing out the Imacon services, I think at this point they'll only take in the newer models which is unfortunate. I myself am very curious to compare a good DSLR scanning setup to an Imacon, I'll have to see if I can sort that out sometime! I've seen some really great results online from people who have taken the time to suss it out, and at this point it seems like DSLR scans are going to end up being used as a replacement when all the scanners die, so would be fun to see what its all about for sure! Thanks for the suggestion!
Exactly, it's up to the scanner. I had a Mamiya 6, the previous version of thd 7. It was a great camera. Great lenses. Great images. But anytime I had to get it scanned, my images were only scanned by labs at max. 5 MB. So the details where all lost and I didn't want to buy a super expensive scanner. As you say, as a hobby it probably makes no longer sense...
The Mamiya 6 optics are sublime for sure! I had the chance to scan a photographers work for a show and it was all made with the Mamiya 6, super sharp all the way up to A0 haha!
@@willysheepskin Indeed they are. Only the tele lens get a very slight vignette (almost undetectable) but all in all are great stuff. And the retractable bellow type lens structure makes it even more portable in your Barbour jacket pocket... LOL... Great camera anyway. Somehow I missed it since I sold it a couple of years ago for the same money I spent 8 years before! But as hobbyist didn't make sense any longer. Shooting 2 or 3 rolls a year? Nah...
Yo I’ve been waiting for someone to recognise them haha! CL is a homie from high school I spent a lot of time with him when I was in London and filmed a couple of his older music videos. Lord Apex I just hung out with a couple times through CL haha!
@@willysheepskin No way thats dope, yeah man Im from London and I listen to them both regularly, I used to shoot for High focus records not sure if you know them, funny im actually watching your underwater vs video as we speak haha. SA looks so beaut man.
Hi William, Is it worth buying the Mamiya 7 II + 80mm f/4 £3500-£3800? User says it is immaculate. Is it too risky to buy as they are old. User says he bought it new in 2003.
I look at owning a Mamiya 7 the same way as owning a Contax T2, being that the current prices cannot be justified rationally. I bought a T2 years ago before they were a :thing:, paying about one-third of current prices. I use it a little, but in a crunch over which would give me a better negative, my Rollei 35SE would go and T2 would stay. For comparison to the Mamiya 7, I own several Pentax 67 bodies and a bunch of lenses. One of my bodies could be more than 50 years old, although they are all in mint physical condition. I've never had a failure, except for one I caused myself. They went to the shop for a full preventive CLA about 20 years ago. That's it. Mamiya has never been a top tier camera makers, going all the way back to the 1950s. They cut corners in design and build quality. Although I could afford them, I wouldn't ever pay more than average cost compared to other makers. Overall, I just wouldn't own one.
What would you classify as a very good DSLR scanning setup? Feel like this needs a vid in itself, since Imacon isn't really reasonable for us mere mortals.
Probably like a firmly fixed medium format dslr with strobes backlighting the negs and using a trichromatic process for color/stitching the get bigger sizes out of things. I'm no expert on that front though, I just know what I've heard from other folks using setups like that and the results they can provide can be really nice. The downside with DSLR stuff is that the way digi sensors interpret color is different to how a dedicated film scanner is programmed in terms of the RA4 spectrum. Or so I've heard from scanning folks haha, it explains why colors can be so tricky to dial in with DSLR setups though. Shall for sure look into making a video on that stuff sometime though, cheers David!
@@willysheepskin That’s what I suspected. I guess it all boils down to what one values the most in terms of process, price and scan quality (when printed big). I use a V550 and I’m almost always, unsurprisingly, disappointed no matter how I end up using the images. Which is why I wanted to look inte DSLR (or digital rangefinder) scanning. Also the Plustek 120 Pro looks interesting, and disgustingly expensive. Keep up the great work, William!
William Sheepskin single-handedly curbing our craving for film cameras. Hope you get famous enough to drive the prices down haha
Ahah if I managed to drive prices down that’d be dreamy!
Who knew timothee chalamet had such extensive camera knowledge
ahahah I like that 8-)
I absolutely love your content! Unlike so many of the film youtubers out there you seem to actually completely know what you're talking about lol really refreshing to hear from someone who's not just pumping out videos on the hype train
Thanks so much Heather, I'm glad things come across that way!
I love the different location you use in the same long monolog.
Thanks Francis! It’s super fun trying to come up with different spots to switch to haha!
I researched 6x7 camera’s for over a year. Watched tons of online videos and read just about everything there is on the internet. I really wanted to get the most practical, best bang for your buck medium format camera money could buy. I’m glad I settled on the pro sd. I think that camera is sooo underrated because of the hype from Mamiya 7/RZ67 nowadays. CZcams photographers completely skyrocketed the prices and in the end, it does exactly what the Pro SD can do. I’m glad someone finally knows what the hell they’re talking about. No offense to certain names out there but they’re not really the people you should be getting information from. Big subscribe from me ! Keep it going 😊
Thanks Kenneth!
To be honest I definitely use my Pro SD more than anything else these days too, the darkslide storage port on the back is so nifty too I really miss it now that that back is jamming.
Have never had an issue with the Pro SD body though so hopefully that continues haha, greatly looking forward to getting the back serviced and having everything running properly again!
I also reckon that the K/L lenses are just as good as the RZ glass, at least from my limited comparisons!
Nice video mate. I totally agree with your comments around having a scanner that can realise the full detail from the mamiya 7 system.
Thanks Thomas! It really blew my mind how much one could get out of a Mam7 neg when I started having them scanned decently haha
Woof, woof, woof... Absolutely LOVE the talking about light leaks standing in a light leak bit... And the end of credit scenes in your last 2 videos are hysterical... 🤣💕👌
Haha I'll try to keep the little end bits going where I can! Glad you liked my light streak strategy!
Such a dreamy camera!
For real! Just need to keep an eye for them going cheap and they're totally worth having and cherishing!
Excellent review. The honesty is refreshing and appreciated.
Thank you kindly!
For some reason, these reviews feel so much more valuable than regular reviews
Ah that's so lovely to hear Zak, thanks so much!
@@willysheepskin Truly, you are a genre of camera reviews in your own right.
Really enjoying your videos! Love your way of mixing up “talking head” shots by recording in different locations and keeping the video dynamic.
Thanks Sid! It's a bit more labor intensive but really fun seeing how it turns out haha!
@@willysheepskin It’s cool to see how your style and confidence talking to the camera have progressed throughout your videos. I’ve been trying to start recording myself to build those skills, but it’s a big challenge!
@@sidmiller8840 I'm glad you reckon things are progressing! Still find it super awkward speaking to camera where there might be a stranger wandering by, but I hope I'll get over that at some point too haha!
@@sidmiller8840.. Go for it 👌😊
I liked when you were in the garage with the light coming through, talking about a light leak
Glad you noticed and liked that!
okay 2:54 is absolute gold
Ahaha didn't want to come across as an elitist Mam7 guy so figured the bath would be a good spot to say some things!
I spat my coffee when you appeared in your bathtub 😆Nice balanced review. Much appreciated!
Some of my favourite shots you've snapped have come from this. Keep bringing us the beauty!!
Thanks homie! Hope all is well your ends!
I watched few videos from your channel and start feeling it will increase subs in no time like a rocket. Great photos, editing, and contents.
Ah thank you so much! Having loads of fun doing things so will be fun to keep at it and see how it turns out!
Woof - love the varying creative headshots of you talking- keeping it really visually entertaining as well as audibly!
Not Woof, WOOF, they makin me crazy
The prof says this is your best video yet.. I agree. 😊. Really entertaining and informative. 👌👌👌
I’m honored to hear it!
Awesome videos! Gets me out of the house and go photograph.
Keep them coming!
I’m glad to hear it! New one out later today!
I never seriously considered M7 cameras due to the RF focusing. Better for casual snapshots.
I opted for Pentax 67 bodies and lenses. The added weight versus the Nikkormat of my youth has never proven to be an issue, and the optical VF provides exactingly precise focus.
All my work - since digital versions became obligatory- is scanned on a flatbed. Quite successfully.
Clearly an example of different preferences and methodologies resulting in differing conclusions. Cheers.
This is a really interesting alternative perspective. Have you ever scanned the same pictures on both types of scanner and compared results?
Thanks for such a wonderfully level headed take on the flatbeds Dennis! If only everyone could recognise the potential for different preferences and methodologies to result in differing conclusions haha!
I think I might've come across as more dismissive of them than I intended, my main goal was just to point out that the biggest benefit of the Mam7 is its superior optics, but that those optics might not necessarily shine unless scanned very well.
I personally used a flatbed to digitize work for a number of years, and it really is a super easy and accessible way to get ones work out there.
I'm actually super curious to try do a thorough comparison of both the scanners and the lenses on the "titan" 6x7 cameras to deeply examine what sort of true difference there is now!
Cheers!
Love the even handed and practical review, not just hyping it. I had one and the parallax issue led me to give it up.
Glad the sincerity comes across! The parallax still trips me up sometimes too its such a bummer, the plus sides have got me holding onto it for now but shall have to see how I feel about it in the future!
@@willysheepskin Would be curious to see a video from you on the best practices for dslr scanning.
That’s a fair and solid review. The dog at the end...😂😂😂
Cheers Justin! There’s two of the darn things and they egg each other on 😭😭
@@willysheepskin Dang! Maybe they just like you and are trying to talk. “Will, come on over and bring treats!” Or maybe not 🤷🏽♂️
The dogs barking at the end 😂 you should try having 2 kids at home all day everyday because the schools are closed. Can’t get any filming done!
Solid, truthful review man. Your sincerity always comes through and that’s the best way to be imo. Speaking truths about scans too. I mainly DSLR scan at home but you can’t beat drum scans.
Oh boy I can only imagine! These dogs have been slowly drilling into my subconscious for like the last year I’m on my last legs hahaha.
Drum scans are for sure best, I mean I’m not advocating for drum scanning everything it’s just if someone’s interested in a camera with a lens like this being able to actually make use of its abilities is key I reckon!
I purchased a 7II before the price went up. At the time, I also had a Leica M3 & M6 and an Arca-Swiss modular 4x5/8x10. During a course with a photographer that I have a lot of respect for, he said "Of the cameras you have, don't ever sell the Mamiya" :)
A very wise man! Although I’d kept that Arca Swiss for sure too it sounds dreamy haha!
If you could only use one, daily, would you go with the M6 or the 7ii?
@@Lancechingchong M3 :) For a daily camera, the M6 before the Mamiya, but that's just me.
@@roryonabike5863 thanks!
Great review. Also, really enjoyed your intro and stop motion editing in the intro.
Thank you! Gonna try do the stop motion maneuvers for all the gear stuff, it’s loads of fun!
I bought my Mamiya7ii one year ago just because i wanted a top notch medium format camera and i could afford it. I'm very happy with it!
Truly in a class of it’s own. Solid review that’ll surely drive the price up lol
Thank you! I hope it doesn’t haha!
Subscribed! You made some very good points here.
Cheers Louis!
Always nice to see a new video from you. I have the little brother Mamiya 6 MF and they are great cameras but as prices go up it gets harder and harder to just throw it in my bag and go out with it. I am definitely a bigger fan of 6 x 7 format as well.
For real! I get so nervous sometime's using mine now. The 6 is super cool too though for sure, it's lens is collapsible right? That would be such a sick feature for the 7 to have had. I am addicted to the 6x7 aspect ratio though and would probably only go 6x6 for a very nice Hassy setup haha!
@@willysheepskin it’s so similar to the mamiya 7 but at the same time it’s completely different. You can fold it down and fit it in such a small bag. It would be the perfect travel camera if it wasn’t so expensive. I’m going to take it with me next time I go to Japan for sure.
@@thespecialist6831 Take me with you next time you go to Japan ahahah! Definitely one of the top spots on my list of places to go
@@willysheepskin I would recommend it as a trip. If you can go alone , it is a amazing country to travel alone. Do you have IG ? I can't find a link on your page.
@@thespecialist6831 sweet dude I hope I have reason to go someday! My ig is @willysheepskin :)
Ah man. Those dogs would annoy me too. Great review / insights man! So refreshing to see honest opinions instead of le olde hype. And man I am excited for that night video - I have been meaning to shoot some Ektar at night cause I’ve never done that. I look forward to your Velvia Video 👍
Thanks dude! The Ektar sounds like a plan! I’ve had some decent results shooting that at night, if you don’t have reciprocity+ or some other reciprocity app I reckon using that alongside is a good idea to try avoid some casts!
so your the smart guy that spotted the cameras 4/5 years ago before price spike
Haha I’m always bargain hunting too! Got a lot of my stuff for ridiculously low prices
@@willysheepskin hope one day i will found one at a good price for travelling
man like Willy in the fancy tub
Wheeeew an acknowledgement from the tub connoisseur himself!
New tune dropping soon... 😜
thursdays are becoming my fav day 😍 sick work bruv
Ah thanks dude! Thursday's the new Friday ahah!
This video was great and just what I needed to hear. I've been offered a great condition 7ii at a ridiculously good price. But, I know deep down I wouldn't get the most out of it 😂 I can't be arsed with scanning etc so I'll save my pennies and hopefully one day I'll get a Fuji gfx haha.
Great video! Having owned a Mamiya 7ii w/ 43mm for a short period of time, I can agree with pretty much every point you made. No questions asked, these are some of the sharpest lenses out there. I ultimately moved mine on as I do a lot of portrait work and chase my kids around. If I was doing more still life stuff, I never would have sold it (for much less than they are bringing today...). The Pentax 67 is a much better fit for me. Over hyped? Yes. Worth it? Yes, for very specific use cases.
Thanks for the input Chase, I'm glad what I said rings true! I might give the Pentax 67 a go again at some point soon, it scared me off initially cus it felt too familiar but simultaneously clunky with regards to it's shape, but maybe things seem different next time haha!
Lots of great points here. Poor scanning will wipe out the quality of most of these special cameras, and really and truly they IQ is wasted unless you're regularly printing large. Plus for the price they're very brittle. I used to have a Mamiya 7 but moved to a Plaubel Makina. They're not exactly bulletproof themselves, but being fully mechanical seems like a better bet than something that's electronic. I was getting some really annoying problems with my Mamiya where the shutter lock would come on all the time, really took a lot of the fun away from using the camera.
Thanks for the insight Azza! I have on occasion considered switching to a Plaubel because electronic cameras do make me nervous, but I’ll probably need more issues to pop up with this camera before I pull the trigger haha!
great video! ooooor enlarging
That’s true I can’t believe I forgot to mention that, I have some 20x24 color darkroom prints of negs from this camera and they are SHARP haha!
Damn, if you had a link to that original tumblr post or at least that photographers work that first introduced you to the Mamiya 7 that would be great.
I thought that as well! Will have to try see if I can track it down sometime, although it's very very unlikely I'll actually manage haha
Just sold this camera, although mine was just a regular mamiya 7. It was the sharpest camera I’ve ever used, but I couldn’t justify owning it while I have an RZ67. I’m downsizing to a contax g2 for some more functionality in a mobile camera.
Haha I just put out a review of the G2! I reckon that’s a solid choice though, I’ve used my rb67 90% of the time lately and the Mamiya 7 for the rest but the G2 is my favorite 35mm camera
@@willysheepskin that’s actually how I got here! Was doing my research before I put down for an entire kit and man does it look really tempting. Just been going through this journey the past year of rotating through cameras until one sticks. Bronica etrsi, bronica sq-ai, mamiya 7, and the whole time my RZ has stayed put. I guess it helps that it’s superb for night photography and portraits. But I digress, I just couldn’t justify owning a mamiya 7 as a broke college student, so I think I’m gonna reinvest some money back in to 35mm and keep medium format to more purposeful work.
Also just subscribed and followed on insta! Film photographers gotta stuck together, yaknow? Much love from the US
Great Video man, i love the randomness of the clips 😂
Quick question. Let’s say I’ll buy a mamiya to take with me on my travels around the world; how should I deal with the film rolls and the x-ray at any airport? Should I scan the film everytime before taking a plane so that the negative are safe or what’s the usual procedure for a film photographer?
I’ve been only a digital one so far
Thanks for you time 🖤
Amazing video!
Glad you enjoyed this too!
I've just cancelled my flatscaner order after watching the video :) Might as well just get a better macro lens.
I back that man! For some really good color inversion tips look up Alex Burke here, he's got a couple of videos that should be really useful on getting good color out of negs!
As you told me - you have full set even the original catalog. Right now you can sell it for 10k :D
Haha unfortunately I love the thing too much to sell it, but the thought does occur at times! It’s not mint in box anymore though so prooobably not quite 10k haha ;)
For someone like myself who's always been itchy about buying a MF camera, these videos are GOLD!
Just putting it out there.... we’ve gotta be friends one day.
Always keen on making new friends!
The cut to the bath shot 🤣👌🦆
Thank you once again bro for the insightful video. I'm not gonna lie the hype around this camera really had me ready to sell a kidney for it. Thank you for clearing things up for me. it really doesn't make sense for a hobbiest film photographer like me to spend so much on a camera only to scan the negatives on a canoscan 😂
I'm glad you found it useful man! To be honest the negs would always be there... so they could be scanned better at a later date... haha! But the hope for most people would be to buy the cam and use it to make sick stuff and progress their career and that unfortunately would involve having the sick scans too
🤙🏼🤙🏼🤙🏼
where do you get yours serviced?
A technician in Cape Town called Tony Tavener!
Love your videos bro, always great content. I was wondering if you could make a video explaining the differences between high quality DSLR scanning and low quality, you always talk about it but I really don't understand what could be improved in DSLR scanning to make it which quality. Thanks and keep doing what you do
Thanks Diego! I’ll look into making a video a like that, but I’m not personally super savvy when it comes to the dslr setups besides knowing that there are good and bad ways to do it - will reach out to some homies sometime though!
Great content!
I've got a genuine question.
Why have two cameras (rb67 + mamiya 7) that produce the same 67 neg?
I understand the different shooting experiences and possibilities each camera can give but are they both worth the differences considering the prices and same neg size?
Hi Theodore! Great question, I actually should have tried to comment on this in the video! I personally use the Mam7 when I know I'm going to be making photographs that aren't focused on fashion/people and then switch to the RB67 when I know I'm going to be making more close up, people focused, images.
To be honest, the RB67 is more versatile really since it can do spectacular landscapes as well as super close up stuff. It's lenses are grand too, especially the K/L ones, but not as transcendent as the Mamiya 7 glass because they had stronger computer aided design to make use of when they were putting together the Mamiya 7 lenses.
Technically one could very easily just use the RB67 for everything, and I've found myself doing that more often as the prices have risen on the Mamiya 7 and I become scared to take it out, but if one can afford the luxury of owning both switching between them can be very convenient. (Especially for things like hiking, I went on a hike with my RB over the weekend and it was tough ahah!)
The biggest difference will be in optical quality, but it wouldn't be super noticeable unless you were printing things big, and even then it would be the difference between like 95% quality and 98% haha. At this point the Mamiya 7 is mainly just a luxury, and the RB will do everything it can and more just with much less convenience.
I got my Mamiya 7 one with the 80mm for 2100€ in 2020. I thought that was a good price ; )
Nice one dude! I hope it brings you much joy!
i paid 3000$ for the same combo and I thought that wasn't so bad lol
@@ucevrim That's a very solid price too! Glad to hear people are still getting them for not too much!
@@ucevrim super interesting to hear.
I wasn't paying attention to the video and was just listening. Pretty shocked when I looked back to find this as the visual 2:44
ahahah gotta switch the scenes up to keep it fresh!
Mamiya 7/6 are rangefinder cameras will all the limitations / strengths of any rangefinder camera. This means limited lens choices, no ability to “see” what the lens on camera is seeing to be put on film. Rangefinder cameras work best with wide angle to normal focal length lenses, telephoto or longer than normal focal length lenses are not gonna work. Polarizing filters another issue, with no ability to what the lens sees proper adjustment of the polarizer is not possible. At best, rangefinder cameras are fancy point and shoot cameras best at decisive moment images.
There are huge differences in scanned image quality indeed, what has been lost and forgotten is high quality optical projected (enlarged) prints. There was a time when the ability and creative expression of the photographer and related gear was highly revealed instantly by high quality optical-darkroom prints. That has been replaced with image processing software and jet printers via data under the guise of better prints than optical darkroom prints… which is not completely true.
Nice video sir! I own an rb67 (but want to sell it because it's tooooo heavy) , and want to buy a Hasselblad 501c with 80mm. But after seeing the Mamiya 7, my mind has slightly changed. I'm a landscape shooter and only a little of my photos (shoot in digital) are cropped into a square format. Therefore I'm not sure that a 6X6 Hasselblad will suit me. Besides, my digital camera and lenses are very heavy (one body and two lenses, 4kg). So I want something lighter that I can carry it with my daily backpack and can be handheld nicely. After watching this video, I think now I'm going for a Mamiya 7, which is slightly more expensive than a Hasselblad. Btw, I don't like how pentax67 looks, sadly :(
The only problem may be that it's electronic and fragile. I think I might ask the local camera shop whether they can fix a Mamiya 7 before buying one!
Thank you! I reckon if your main subject matter is landscapes the Mamiya 7 will be a joy to use, super lightweight for hikes and such and the lens will really shine at the higher apertures!
The Hasselblad would definitely be a strong candidate too, but the 6x6 is absolutely worth being concerned about, the square format suits some people but I personally found it limited my composition somewhat.
I went on a hike recently with RB67 gear and regretted it so much haha, the Mamiya 7 weighs nothing comparatively and the lenses are significantly better (at least better than the sekor c lenses, I haven’t done much testing of the K/L lenses)
I’m sure that if you end up going for the Mamiya 7 you’ll absolutely love it!
@@willysheepskin Thank you!
👍 Great camera shame about the Price! 🚀
Mamiya rb / Mamiya 7 panoramic mod please!
It shall be done!
Nice review, hats of to you! But when you are showing the comparison screen (V850 vs. Flextight) what exactly do you mean? For my eyes you are comparing a well scanned picture with a very badly scanned one in regards of their colors and white balance. The details look the same on my screen. Is this your point? Because then I'd encourage you to try your Epson V850 with #NegativeLabPro. Or are you making an argument for the Flextights ability to resolve more details than a V850? In this case your argument could be said about any medium format camera and a lot of 35mm cameras as well.
Hi Jaroslaw!
The Epson and Imacon scans were both simply balanced to the black point of the frame. The colors are thus what the scanner determined to be correct - and are as a result fairly objective and based on the scanning software. I could easily have balanced things to match in post, but that wouldn't have been representative of what the scanner gave me.
I earn a living as a high end scanning technician and retoucher and can tell you with absolute certainty that the Imacon is in a different realm of quality to any Epson. I might put together a proper video comparing the Imacon and an Epson, but the examples in this video were not meant to be an in depth examination of differences in quality between the scanners, rather a filler for the section where I discuss the quality of the lenses and actually getting your moneys worth out of them.
The Imacon will absolutely resolve more detail from any negative from any camera, but as I state in the video, specifically for those looking to own a Mamiya 7 for the lens quality, you aren't going to get the best results out of the lens if you aren't scanning them properly - which in the case of the Mam7 would require something beyond a flatbed to render detail beyond what one would expect from any other camera.
@@willysheepskin Hi William! Thanks for the clarification regarding the colors and scanners. No doubt the Imacons are in a different league, quality and price wise and make pictures "shine" in a special way. Since scanning 35mm with an Imacon (occasionally) its hard to go back or not to be disappointed by some other scanners. Thats why I am still not that convinced about your argument because in my experience the Imacons turned a lot of "good" cameras into stellar ones. But maybe thats just nerd talk and in regard of your fantastic video not important at all!
A comparison with the Epson would be a bit unfair and not very interesting, don't you think? I'd personally be very interested (especially from your point of a pro scanning technician) what the results of a high res dslr scanning rig would look like compared to a Imacon, as I heard that Hasselblad is slowly stopping the servicing of Imacons and dslr scanning seems like a more practical way of scanning. What do you think?
@@jarequemetabolski That's a brilliant idea actually! You're correct that Hasselblad is phasing out the Imacon services, I think at this point they'll only take in the newer models which is unfortunate. I myself am very curious to compare a good DSLR scanning setup to an Imacon, I'll have to see if I can sort that out sometime!
I've seen some really great results online from people who have taken the time to suss it out, and at this point it seems like DSLR scans are going to end up being used as a replacement when all the scanners die, so would be fun to see what its all about for sure! Thanks for the suggestion!
Exactly, it's up to the scanner. I had a Mamiya 6, the previous version of thd 7. It was a great camera. Great lenses. Great images. But anytime I had to get it scanned, my images were only scanned by labs at max. 5 MB. So the details where all lost and I didn't want to buy a super expensive scanner. As you say, as a hobby it probably makes no longer sense...
The Mamiya 6 optics are sublime for sure! I had the chance to scan a photographers work for a show and it was all made with the Mamiya 6, super sharp all the way up to A0 haha!
@@willysheepskin Indeed they are. Only the tele lens get a very slight vignette (almost undetectable) but all in all are great stuff. And the retractable bellow type lens structure makes it even more portable in your Barbour jacket pocket... LOL... Great camera anyway. Somehow I missed it since I sold it a couple of years ago for the same money I spent 8 years before! But as hobbyist didn't make sense any longer. Shooting 2 or 3 rolls a year? Nah...
Which medium format film do you recommend for Portrait and travel? Is Mamiya 7 ii best choice?
Saw some snaps of CLBRKS and Lord Apex in there I think.
Yo I’ve been waiting for someone to recognise them haha! CL is a homie from high school I spent a lot of time with him when I was in London and filmed a couple of his older music videos. Lord Apex I just hung out with a couple times through CL haha!
@@willysheepskin No way thats dope, yeah man Im from London and I listen to them both regularly, I used to shoot for High focus records not sure if you know them, funny im actually watching your underwater vs video as we speak haha. SA looks so beaut man.
Hi William, Is it worth buying the Mamiya 7 II + 80mm f/4 £3500-£3800? User says it is immaculate. Is it too risky to buy as they are old. User says he bought it new in 2003.
I look at owning a Mamiya 7 the same way as owning a Contax T2, being that the current prices cannot be justified rationally. I bought a T2 years ago before they were a :thing:, paying about one-third of current prices. I use it a little, but in a crunch over which would give me a better negative, my Rollei 35SE would go and T2 would stay. For comparison to the Mamiya 7, I own several Pentax 67 bodies and a bunch of lenses. One of my bodies could be more than 50 years old, although they are all in mint physical condition. I've never had a failure, except for one I caused myself. They went to the shop for a full preventive CLA about 20 years ago. That's it. Mamiya has never been a top tier camera makers, going all the way back to the 1950s. They cut corners in design and build quality. Although I could afford them, I wouldn't ever pay more than average cost compared to other makers. Overall, I just wouldn't own one.
For weddings is great (if you have the skills/guts)
Oh yeah it would be hey! Nice and portable with glorious results and not too much need for super close portraits haha!
Hi, i have the same light leak issue with my fuji gw690 with above 160 iso film. Can you please tell me how you manage this issue ? Thanks.
What would you classify as a very good DSLR scanning setup? Feel like this needs a vid in itself, since Imacon isn't really reasonable for us mere mortals.
Probably like a firmly fixed medium format dslr with strobes backlighting the negs and using a trichromatic process for color/stitching the get bigger sizes out of things. I'm no expert on that front though, I just know what I've heard from other folks using setups like that and the results they can provide can be really nice. The downside with DSLR stuff is that the way digi sensors interpret color is different to how a dedicated film scanner is programmed in terms of the RA4 spectrum. Or so I've heard from scanning folks haha, it explains why colors can be so tricky to dial in with DSLR setups though. Shall for sure look into making a video on that stuff sometime though, cheers David!
@@willysheepskin That’s what I suspected. I guess it all boils down to what one values the most in terms of process, price and scan quality (when printed big). I use a V550 and I’m almost always, unsurprisingly, disappointed no matter how I end up using the images. Which is why I wanted to look inte DSLR (or digital rangefinder) scanning. Also the Plustek 120 Pro looks interesting, and disgustingly expensive.
Keep up the great work, William!
What’s the name again of the camera shop in America that you said does the repairs?
Precision Camera Works I believe!
sublime piece of glASS --- how much were your repairs?
First two advance repairs were like £180 and the last one the technician felt bad that it had to bring it in again so he did it for like £40 I think!
@@willysheepskin thanks. I have a pentax 67ii and in 15 months cost £385 in repairs. Wondering about alternatives. May go gfx!
9:22 POL Easter egg
That was a fabulous video...
Dang dude I wanted to use some of that footy I totally blanked haha!
first comment!
Think this might even be the first time someone’s commented first comment around here! 😎
Challenge accepted...
@@willysheepskin what can i say, im a fan 🤪
WOoff wuf... WOOF..... WOoff woof..WOOF!
WOOF WOOF WOOF WROOF!!
Dig the channel , are you South African?
Thanks man! I am indeed!
I don't know who any of these people are
I smell a trust fund.