Mamiya 7ii: What You Need To Know 

In the 1980's I saved up for a Pentax 6x7. I was 22 years old. I went to the camera store and they wouldn't sell it to me, because they didn't think people of color like myself had credit and perhaps they thought that my card was stolen. I said i had cash, but they didn't believe me. This was typical of the discrimination that i encountered in the 1980's in L.A. Well, in spite of all that, I overcame discrimination and racism and by middle-age, I was making a middle-class income. I can now buy any camera that I want, and if a store thinks I can't buy their products, that's on them....I tell my credit company and they go after the store. These days, most people buy online, so a lot of minorities bypass the bad treatment they get from walk-in stores and buy from B&H or Amazon and everybody benefits. Back to the camera, I ended up getting the 7II Mamiya. I was thrilled with 6x7 and I still have the camera to this day.

I shot hundreds of weddings with the M7II and the 80mm lens. I always got superb images and my clients were extremely pleased with their portraits. I still own this wonderful piece of equipment and have a blast scanning its high resolution negatives.

Plastic build quality indeed! It’s bigger than I expected, the GF670 is much lighter and smaller, but looking forward to try it

Great Video! I would love to see a review of the Rz67!

Good insights, will be adding this one to my GS-1 system.

very insightful thank you !

Hope you all are doing ok during this stressful time.

Excellent video on this camera!

hello, you are a very knowledgeable gentleman and i greatly appreciate your sharing these informative videos- extremely generous of you. sir, i would like to pose a question to you... after watching your video in full-- twice now-- i am left at a crossroads regarding the mamiya 7ii. i shoot primarily portraits on an 85mm lens (in full frame digital), but have been looking to add an analog camera to shoot what i'd call "environmental portraits"- wider portraits where more of the surroundings are in frame and subject is shot from upper leg up. i've heard nothing but the very best things about the mamiya 43mm, which i'd utilize more as an "effects" lens due to the distortion- that lens is a must, in my humble opinion, and might be reason enough to get into this system. beyond that though i'm having a hard time deciding between the 65mm and 80mm. both will still have some distortion, but closer to traditional portrait lengths, granted still a far cry from a 50mm on a traditional 35mm. so what would be the best portrait lenses? i used to shoot an rz67 in-studio, but it was far too large and bulky for me to continue on with, even on a tripod- robbed the joy of shooting from me. pentax 67ii has also been a longtime dream camera.

A great thing about the multi-exposure is that you will save a lot of shots where you accidentally left the dumb lens cap on the first time you tried to make the shot. I'm told. ;)

Cool camera😊

so when you say that the M7ii doesn't pair up to the leica, what do you mean? what leica are you referring to ? there's a lot of leica models out there so I'm curious to know which leica you think is 'better' if you want to compare to medium format at that price range ? does leica have a medium format? the mamiya system like any other is a preference and surely far ahead of many in medium format.... thoughts?

Great video! Really helpful

Hi, Is it worth buying the Mamiya 7 II + 80mm f/4 £3500-£3800? User says it is immaculate. Is it too risky to buy as they are old. User says he bought it new in 2003. Is this camera recommended for portraits and travel?

i hear you, i have one and love it and i also have some leica equipment but why compare to a leica ? in quality ? ok, but what medium format is compatible in the leica family to say that you feel this Mamiya 7 is less than a leica ? curious.

Hey, how about a video about the Bronica RF645?

i owned the RZ too, good review buddy !! its for landscape old mate, i think

AOV is closer to 28mm on 135. Which is better than no mans land 35mm equivalent AOV.

Until 2010 it was sold new.

The Mamiya is a pure pleasure to use, but the camera is way, way over-hyped! I've had 3 different Rolleis, 3 large format Linhofs, 2 Hasselblads, and the Mamiya 7 with 3 lenses, and I can honestly say the images from the Mamiya were my LEAST favorite. In comparison to the Zeiss lenses in particularly, the Mamiya lenses produced images that looked flat, with no "Zeiss pop," which look truly 3-dimensional when placed next to those from the Mamiya 7. So many commenters on various forums rave about the Mamiya 7 and the absolute clarity and crispness of the high-resolution images, so I fell for the hype and bought one. Very disappointed, even though the camera is a pure joy to use.

I don't like tlrs or rangefinder medium format cameras. Slr 6x6 cameras are for people who have little money. I use Praktisix and Keiv 6c cameras. What you see is EXACTLY what you get. My Keiv 6c cost me £60. With a 90mm 2.8 lens. Other lenses are available for under £80 from 30mm fisheye to a 180mm 3.5. Mamiya 7ii is for the rich guys like David Bailey who uses one. £3000 now with one lens.

Too expensive!!!

its the only lens i don't own, the most undesirable lens for me!