lens for a Mamiya 645 Pro?

[mark4583]

Im looking to pickup a 645pro and was wanting some opinions on a Portrait lens and a Landscape lens, thx

[William W]

IMO it is quite dangerous and restrictive thinking to plan a lens kit based upon defining lenses by a specific application (e.g. ‘a Landscape Lens’ a ‘Portrait Lens’).

My main field is and has been Portraiture: I have used lenses from Fish-eye to Super-telephoto to make Portraits; I dabble in Landscape Photography, I most often used somewhere between a Wide Angle to Short Telephoto, but, with some practice I am now using an Ultra Wide Angle almost always - "almost always" is because it is a bloody hard discipline to learn and mastering techniques takes a lot of time practicing.

A range of Focal Lengths can be effectively used for a range of applications: much depends upon what it is that the Photographer wants to create. And if the Photographer does not yet know want they want to create, then: LESS IS MORE.

***

My Mamiya 645 kit comprises: 2 x 645 1000s; 55/2.8; 80/2.8; 80/2.8 Leaf Shutter; 150/4 and 210/4 (plus some odds and ends).

All those lenses were used to make Portraits.

I mostly use (used) the 80/2.8 Leaf Shutter for Portraiture; the main reason being that I tended to always use Flash as Fill, outdoors.

If I had the 150/3.8 Leaf Shutter, then, I think that I would have used the 150mm Focal Length much more often for Portraiture than I did.

Having said that I always moved to the 150mm for Half Shots rather than using the 210mm.

On the other hand for Half Shots using 135 Format I tend to use a 135mm rather than 100~105mm, that was up until I recently bought a 105mmSTF for my (Digital) 135 Format Camera Kit. This is another example showing that (for me) a lens's unique peculiarity (my examples being - Smooth Trans Focus or Leaf Shutter) is relevant in my choice of what lens I will use.

Generally, I think that the ASPECT RATIO of 645 (4:3) lends itself to using 150mm for many Portraiture Half Shots, rather than using the longer 210 or 300mm Lenses – and the ASPECT RATIO of 135 Format (3:2) lends itself to 135mm, rather than the 80~85~100~105mm lenses.

My colleague (Paul) ran Mamy 645 gear for his W&P Studio: he used a 150/3.5, this lens was an incredibly beautiful lens, sharp as a tack and crystal contrast. It is worth a look if you choose to buy a 150mm lens.

My 55/2.8, 80/2.8 and 150/4 all were useful for Landscape work. I most probably used the 210mm also, but I can't remember specifics. If I were specializing, or even if I were more interested in making Landscape Photos with my 645 gear, I would want to add a wider lens to my kit.

I think that 45mm is ‘neither me bum nor me elbow’ - as do I think that 28mm in 135 format is generally a waste of time. I think more useful is a pair of Wide Angle Lenses, 35mm and 55mm (for 645) would be a good pair for me. My pair of 24 and 35 for (135 Format) is a glorious set of W/A Lenses (for me).

What you could have a look at is the 50mm Shift. I have used the 50/2.8 Shift and it is a cracker lens, and depending upon what type of Landscape genre you are into, or want to explore, then it is worth a look as the Shift Functionality could be useful for you.

Nonetheless, I reckon, with time, if you really get into using a 645 Kit that you’ll crave a tad wider lens, no necessarily exclusively for Landscape work.

My advice is that you think a bit long term and choose now whether or not the idea of a “pair” of Wide Angle Lenses is applicable to your situation and if a pair of W/A appeals to you, then do NOT buy the 45mm as an "all in one solution" for your Wide Angle Lens. As alluded above a 50mm or 55mm would be (and was) my first choice for a W/A lens.

The “N” Series lenses are newer than their “C” Series counter-parts and probably not much more expensive, (I don’t know current supply and demand and prices).

As a general comment I wouldn’t be too concerned about the older “C” Series Lenses, so long as you check that they are smooth when using the Focus Turret; the oil in the older models tended to dry out – then again if you’re adept at minor lens repair it is not a big job to repair stiff focusing in the helicoids.

Always be alert to fungus in any old lens.

I would steer away from the Zoom Lenses: my logic is that if you’re delving into ancient history, then keep it ancient and, although the Zooms were very good in their time, the Zoom Lenses are not in the same league as the Primes.

***

In summary:

> I think that one of the Mamiya-Sekor 80mm lenses would be an excellent and potentially inexpensive purchase for 99% of Photographers using a 645 Format.

That Focal Length will suffice (with the Photographer’s skills) to make both excellent Portraiture and Landscape Photographs.

There are a few choices of the 80mm Focal Length: Fast at F/1.9; Common and probably least expensive at F/2.8; Special Application of the Leaf Shutter F/2.8; and a Macro 80mm F/4 – and all can be used as a simple 80mm lens.

> With respect to Telephoto Lenses, I think that as we develop in The Craft, it is generally easier and more prudent to establish with some certainty that we require a longer lens, rather than buy a longer lens at the outset and miss all the photos that we might have made with a shorter telephoto lens: if you only have one telephoto, short as a first choice is usually better - it is generally easy to Crop, latter.

> With respect to Wide Angle Lenses the same logic as above MAY apply. Generally I’d opt for a wider lens to begin: but beware – if choosing too wide a lens as the first choice, then cropping often requires a lot of waste.

For example - I suggest that you do NOT buy a 35mm Lens – UNLESS you are very confident that you will use that FL often.

It is a big hop from 35mm to 80mm (assuming that you do buy an 80mm lens). If you want a W/A Lens and you are unsure exactly what you will use at the wide, then as a FIRST purchase I think a 55mm lens would most often, be more prudent.

Additionally, a 55mm Lens is a very useful tool for: Street; Family & Group; and Environmental Portraiture.



WW

Image © AJ Group Pty Ltd Aust 1996~2019 WMW 1965~1996

[rpcrowe]

Years ago I found a used Hasselblad with a 150mm f/4 CF Zeiss Sonnar T lens at an amazing price. This was a nice lens for portraiture (head and shoulders especially), however since that was the only lens that I owned for the Hasselblad, it was quite restrictive. I was never able to afford another Hasselblad lens and finally ended up selling the camera and lens and going over to 35mm SLR gear...

[pendennis]

I started out with the 80mm f/2.8 for my 500 C/M. I added a 50mm for landscape work, and a 150mm for portraits. The 150mm lens is just about 2x, which is "ideal" for a head and shoulders portrait, as Richard well notes above. For a full-length portrait, the 80mm f/2.8 will work perfectly. When I was doing professional work until the late 90's, folks really liked square portraits as a change from the "standard" rectangular formats.

I opted for the 50mm for landscape, since it gives around the same view as a 28mm in FX or 35mm format.

My images are all scanned with an Epson V850, and I edit the files with Affinity or Photoshop Elements.

But back to your original post. I use a 45mm f/2.8 as a landscape lens for my 645 Pro TL. For portraits, I use the 150mm f/3.5. These are about the same FL's as for my Hasselblad. At 6x6 or 6x4.5 there's little difference.

[mark4583]

thx for the info, I use to have the RB67pro Sd but was stolen about 10 yrs ago and with digital being the thing I kinda let the MF go. If I remember I had the 90mm and the 150sf , I was looking at some family portraits I did and still love the results, I was just wanting to go to a smaller lighter camera and I thought the 645 would be the one

[William W]

I'd be interested to know what you choose. Where are you located? Out of curiosity I just had a look at B&H Used Lenses, oddly there were fewer Mamy 645 Lenses than what I expected.

WW

[mark4583]

im in springfield Il. yea B&H doesn't seem to carry much MF film stuff as they used to. I know I bought some of my RB stuff there, KEH and I think it was Midwest photo, Even KEH doesn't have a lot, most of my choices will have to come off ebay unless some one know another dealer.

[pendennis]

im in springfield Il. yea B&H doesn't seem to carry much MF film stuff as they used to. I know I bought some of my RB stuff there, KEH and I think it was Midwest photo, Even KEH doesn't have a lot, most of my choices will have to come off ebay unless some one know another dealer.

Re: eBay. Don't hesitate to look at the Japanese sellers. They have superb deals and great quality. I bought a M645 Pro TL kit from a Japanese dealer, and the camera looked as though it had just been unboxed. Their "good" condition translates to "mint" from a lot of US dealers. They're more conservative than KEH. There's supposedly a limit of $800 on used camera equipment before customs duty is applied, but I've yet to be assessed the first penny Now, their prices have increased a bit with increased interest in medium format here in the U.S., but they still have some very good deals.

When they ship, it generally takes around a week to arrive. Their postal service is very efficient, and generally they ship expedited.

They are very customer-oriented, and they'll include small touches such as a nice piece of origame and green tea mixes.