The Mamiya Six

A while ago Mike Eckman lent me the Mamiya Six folder. I’ll be honest, I’ve had a really hard time focusing on photography and cameras lately. This is mostly due to the pure exhaustion that comes with being a new mom. However, just as I was wanting to give up on all of this, I started researching the history of the Mamiya Six, and all of my passion for cameras came rushing back. The rich history of Mamiya, Olympus, and Seiko sucked me in and they’re all intertwined together in this one camera.

*Video Link is down at the bottom if you prefer to watch this review

History of the Mamiya Six

Seiichi Mamiya was an inventor like his father and a mechanical engineer who took interest in photography as a teenager. He created his own company called Mamiya Optical Works in 1940 and the Mamiya Six was the first camera he put out. The 6×6 folder went through a lot of growing pains through the years with many variations released until its end in 1958.

Mamiya, always the inventor, came up with a focusing design that moved the film plane rather than the lens. This made his folder stand out from the many others that were out at that time.

By December 7, 1941, WWII started for America with the attack on Pearl Harbor. Not surprisingly, Japan was highly regulating film prices, and restricting camera use to military purposes only, selling mostly to soldiers. This put a strain on the Japanese camera market taking down many companies. This also made it difficult to supply the shutters and lenses needed for Mamiya’s cameras. By 1944, Japan put an even harder crunch on the remaining major companies, forcing them by law to cooperate with the government for things like propaganda.

After the war, Japan needed a way to get their economy back up and running and their photographic companies like Nikon and Olympus along with Mamiya, were a great source of income for the country. However, they were still restricted and could only sell to allied forces, not the general public. Under these strict rules, the big names were forced to work together.

In 1946 Mamiya began to use Olympus’ Zuiko lenses for their cameras. The shutter was produced by Seikosha, or better known as Seiko, the maker of the watch on my wrist right now. Basically, Mamiya had to take what he could get. That is why there is now countless variations of this camera that exist, all with different combinations of lenses and shutters.

The Mamiya Six

Some specs of this great folder:

• Lens is an Olympus 75mm f3.5 D. Zuiko (D = 4 elements in the lens)
• The camera focuses by moving the film plane not the lens, which is why it uses a pressure plate to press the film firmly against the camera
• My Model is an Automat, so it has a frame counter and a red window
• Cold Shoe
• Widest aperture f3.5 and Smallest f22
• Shutter Speeds of 1 second up to 1/500th and Bulb
• Rangefinder

My Experience

I’m always looking for a medium format camera that I can bring around town with me that is not heavy, but also has quality glass, and that’s not the easiest combo to find. I have a Pentax 67, which I love, but it’s a really big SLR. Even heavier is the Mamiya RB67.

Then Mike decided to lend me this Mamiya folder, I was excited to get my hands on a compact medium format camera for all the reasons I just mentioned.

I took a test roll at home and missed focus a few times, but when I got it right, the sharpness amazed me.

Next, I decided to try some color film when we went into town. Again, I am amazed by the sharpness of the lens. There’s no vignetting in the corners.

I had an incident at the very start of this outing. You’re not supposed to cock the shutter before setting the shutter speed. In my rush to set up the camera, I forgot this and trying to force the wheel to turn to 1/500th, I sliced my thumb right open. At first I didnt realize it and stood there watching the blood gush. Then I grabbed Kelseys attention “uhh babe… help.” I was a little queasy at the sight of all the blood, but Kelsey bandaged me up and encouraged me to continue.

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I’m glad we stayed, because the weather was beautiful and we got to watch the sun set.

Cons

One con for me would be how close together the wheels are set on the lens for shutter speed and aperture. This made it especially difficult sometimes to set the aperture.

Secondly, loading the film is a little bit difficult if you don’t remember the steps. In my rush, I didn’t make sure the frame counter window was red and my film ended up overlapping. At first I didn’t realize this and thought something was wrong with the camera. Then after watching a video on how to properly load it, I did another test roll and the spacing was perfect.

Lastly, if you lose the pressure plate for the film, the camera becomes pretty much unusable.

Final Thoughts

I really like this camera. In my experience with the many different types of cameras I have used, this one was ahead of its time. It has so many convenient features for being a folder. It’s compact, light, easy to focus and ergonomic, if you can get past the close set wheels.

The lens is sharp and it’s a mechanical camera that won’t die out on you. I definitely recommend this camera to anyone looking for an affordable medium format camera or maybe looking for one to travel with. Let me know what you think down in the comments. As always, stay motivated and keep shooting.

If this article was helpful to you or you just enjoyed it, please consider buying me a roll of film or picking up my zine with the link below.

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Check out Mike Eckmans Article

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