Rolleiflex 2.8 next to mamiyaflex
![rolleiflex 2.8 next to mamiyaflex rolleiflex 2.8 next to mamiyaflex](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/37/b4/89/37b4892291334e34972f4c0e51cc0ff6.jpg)
I cannot overstate how pleased I was to discover this, especially since the camera did require a CLA and some repair.īesides general clean-up and lubricating the shutter, this camera had a problem with the automatic frame spacing, specifically that it was failing to reset the counter. Rather than hiding all the screws the hold it together under the body covering, Mamiya put them through it, leaving the heads exposed and the camera very easy to disassemble without damaging the finish. I applaud Mamiya’s designers for doing something that most camera manufacturers neglect: making the camera easy to service. The Automat A, first produced in 1949 and continuing to the mid-1950s, is the most advanced model offered by Mamiya at the time the Automat B had some of the same features as the A, but with Sekor triplet lenses made in-house rather than the four-element Olympus pieces on the A, while the most basic Mamiyaflex used front gear focusing and required red window viewing for advancing the film. The viewing and taking lenses appear to be identical – both are coated Olympus Zuiko F.C. This brings me to the lenses, which are unusual: they are not made by Mamiya, but by Olympus! Apparently, Mamiya was only making triplets at this point and farmed out the four-element, three-group Tessar types to Olympus. Manufacturing quality of this unit seemed high as well.
Rolleiflex 2.8 next to mamiyaflex plus#
The shutter is a Compur-Rapid copy made by Seikosha, with the typical 1/500 to 1 sec plus B speeds available. All of the controls are surprisingly light, with the exception of the film advance, but given that the advance also charges the shutter, this is to be expected. The film advance and focus knobs are on the right side of the camera, as is the shutter release, the latter a large, easy-to-use bar rather than a small button it is fitted with a lock to avoid accidental triggering. The control layout is logical and efficient, with the shutter speed and aperture set by small knobs below the taking lens these do not have click-stops or a readout on top of the lens unit, so you do need to look down at the knobs themselves to see the setting. Build quality is really very good, especially considering what the state of Japanese industry must have been only a few years after the war. Such was the case with our subject here today, a rarely-seen Mamiyaflex Automat A, one of the earliest examples of a Japanese TLR based on the template established by Rollei.įirst off, it’s a very solid camera, compact but heavy. When I find one that’s affordable and not too badly broken, I usually end up buying it. Not necessarily rare and valuable collector’s items (though I won’t say no to them), but oddballs, one-offs, occasionally awkward, often flawed cameras that you just don’t see every day.