Mamiya C330 f

I started with a £99 Mamiya C2 with 105mm f/3.5 lens, and over the following months added a 180mm f/4.5 Super, 80mm f/2.8 and 65mm f/3.5 lens and pentaprism finder. All components are optically exceptional and the images produced with the 6x6cm negatives are of much higher quality than 35mm (I have been a life-long Pentax Spotmatic and K-1000 user, cameras I still love but use far less since the Mamiya). The camera is not ergonomically well-designed, though - lots of knobs in awkward positions, so it will take a little time to adapt to its ungainliness. Using the camera does demand a brain - completely manual, no meter, manually-cocked shutter on the C2, and with a series of steps needed to swap lenses, for example. However, those steps are quickly remembered and using the camera soon becomes second nature. All medium-format cameras demand a bit less speed, but this produces a peaceful and orderly space for composition. I take 1/3 of the pictures I used to with 35mm, but I'm happy with a larger fraction of them...

The Mamiya C330 f is excellent value-for-money. Central shutter: syncronize X and FP on all the shutter scale. Good quality of optics, due also to the relatively free design (no movable mirror) of the lens. Very good quality in 65 mm wideangle, 80/2,8 and D180/4,5 (a little masterpiece). Versatility. Very good and long incorporated bellows, good for reproductions and macrophoto. Intelligent system to control parallax at short distances (an accessory named Paramender, that translate the camera putting the objective of the camera in the exact position of the objective of the viewfinder... sorry, not easy to find in second-hand market). Not heavy if you consider a set with a body and three-four optics. Good graphical depth-of-field scale on a side of the camera. Refined and reliable mechanics, with many smart devices to avoid mistakes (the lens doesn't dismount if you forget to close the inner volet, the camera doesn't shoot if you forget to open the volet, the camera doesn't shoot twice on the same frame if you don't unlock a device - but you can do - if you want - double or multiple exposures... ecc ecc)... a great camera for the expert that has time to shoot quietly and with brain. Remembre to boy a C330 Pro-F or Pro-S: the price is quite the same but those are the best as versatility and perfectioned mechanics.

Body alone with 80/2,8 very heavy and big in front of Rolleiflex T/F or Rolleicord or Yashica Mat 124G and similar; the shortest wideangle is only a 55 mm, something less wide than a 28 mm on the 35 mm film... not good for fast use. Earliet models (C2, C3, C22, C33) less affordable: better to avoid them.

A great historical camera, based on the idea of the twin-lens reflex like Rolleiflex, completed and adapted with interchangeable lens and in-built leather bellow; an excellent film camera to begin to work like a professional photographer, ready for general use (but expecially useful to shoot images of archaeology, cultural heritage, art, landscape, commercial photographies and cerimony). Actually, the "ecological space" of C330 Pro-... still survive on the market, but only for amateurs or expert photographer able to sell analogic images; however, the less-expert client search only for digital shoots. If you want to begin to do still-life and general studio shoots, this is the best school-camera that you could think. And with a good scanner like Epson perfection 750V you can digitalize your dias and negatives obtaining big and sharp files...

I picked this camera up for only ~150 pounds(R1500) second hand (they are not manufactured anymore)

It was still packed in the box with plastic& Polistyrene - perfect condition.

This is definitely the best way to enter Medium Format. The 80mm

black lens is of very high quality and delivers wonderful results.

Coming from the automated world of high-tech 35mm cameras, it

takes a bit of getting used to the abscence of metering and

motordrive, bbut it forces you to be more carefull and deliberate.

(You actually feel like you've actually done something after the shutter

has been released)

The build quality is great and the camera feels very solid. In

fact it is quite heavy and becomes a bit of a burden if it's

around your neck for too long.

The shutter is quiet (no moving mirror) and precise and the 80mm

delivers sharp pictures (even sharper than many of the modern day

Medium format SLR's - this is probably due to the compromises

in optimal lens-film distance due to the mirror). & Lenses are interchangeable!

This is one of the very few TLR's with such a feature.

One problem with the TLR's is the severe parralax problems.

When focusing closer than 1 metre the difference between the

picture as viewed and the picture photographed becomes significant.

Although there are various ingenious features built into the camera to

correct the probblem, it affects the speed of handling for close-ups

adversely.

I'm having so much fun with this camera, and the larger negative

just blows my mind - a great way to move into medium format!