Mamiya 7 80mm f/4 Reviews

Rating
Reviewed by: Philippe Tempel
(Intermediate)

Review Date
January 19, 2004

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Review 1 of 10

Price Paid: $0.00 from Used online

Summary:

Have been using this lens and also think it is one of the sharpest that I own. Sharpness isn't everything, but is certainly helpful to bring out small details. It's kind of a "wire sharp" as compared to Zeiss lenses.

Strengths:

Light and portable. Can flash sync at all speeds due to Seiko copal shutter. Very quiet (at least as quiet as a Leica M7).

Weaknesses:

Slower f/4 aperture. No half stop detents (though you can wing it by setting the aperture in the middle). Requires battery (not a big deal since the 6V lithiums can be bought at common drug stores like CVS).

Similar Products Used:

Carl Zeiss 80mm C (for Hasselblad), Schneider 75mm Xenar (for Rolleicord).

Customer Service:

Don't know since I never used it yet. I hear it's supposedly good.

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Rating
Reviewed by: TBentsen
(Intermediate)

Review Date
September 28, 2002

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 2 of 10

Price Paid: $0.00 from Askim fag import

Summary:

This is a very sharp and contrasty lens on all apertures. The colours are clean and brilliant. I use it most on f11-f22 for landscapes, and it delivers exellent results from nearest to infinity.

Strengths:

Ultra high resolution, very high contrast,clean colours. Very light and well made.

Weaknesses:

It's difficult to get "soft" portraits, because of it's high resolution and high contrast (if that's important). It's expensive (over 1600$), but most quality lenses are.

Similar Products Used:

Bronica Zenzanon 75 2.8 EII and PE, Nikkor 75mm 2.8 (for Bronica), Rollei Xenar 75mm 3.5.

Customer Service:

Very good.

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Rating
Reviewed by: jtcedinburgh
(Intermediate)

Review Date
December 17, 2001

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Review 3 of 10

Price Paid: $0.00 from WIth 7-II body

Summary:

Fantastic lens, I cannot sing its praises enough! My only criticism is that it''s fairly slow as a ''standard'' lens for the M7 system.

Strengths:

Optically perfect, or as perfect as I''ve seen. Beautifully sharp, even-handed contrast, astonishing detail, and that ''something'' that I''ve only ever seen in Zeiss glass - 3D!

Weaknesses:

Slightly slow - f4 max, although with the perceptibly shallower DOF, perhaps this is a good thing!

Similar Products Used:

Bronica ETRSi with 75/2.8PE Contax G2 system (28/45/90) Canon EOS with various L- and non-L glass.

Customer Service:

Not used.

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Rating
Reviewed by: Andrew Smallman
(Expert)

Review Date
August 30, 2001

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 4 of 10

Price Paid: $763.00 from Sydney, Australia

Summary:

The least expensive of the Mamiya 7 lenses.
Outstanding performance. I have a photograph of 500 people on the steps of Sydney Opera House made with this lens and you could identify each one of the faces.
It doesn't get any better in medium format.

Strengths:

Very light and compact for medium format.
Extremely sharp, remarkably so at f8 and f11.
Sharp right into the corners.
No apparent distortion. no problems with flare.

Weaknesses:

None

Similar Products Used:

Pentax 67 lenses, Nikon 80mm on Plaubel Makina.

Customer Service:

Not required

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Rating
Reviewed by: Colin Whittle
(Intermediate)

Review Date
March 29, 2001

Overall Rating
5 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 5 of 10

Summary:

I found it hard to believe the quality of the images, this lens is so sharp. I examined an 8 x 10 print with a magnifier it was amazing to see the detail in the image, I must have spent 10 minutes looking into the view and discovering the pin sharp quality. I compared with a similar scene taked on my EOS3 which I thought was excellent, under higher magnification the difference was staggering.
Outdoor and street work reveals detail almost impossible to imagine.
Mamiya isn't cheap, especially in the USA, UK is better :-))
My advice would be to hire one for the weekend, shoot a few rolls then prepare to be impressed.
Go on you only live once, treat yourself....

Strengths:

Stunning image quality

Weaknesses:

Picky - but the lens hood is a pain to use

Similar Products Used:

Canon EOS gear

Customer Service:

Never used

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