Hamish Gill
Tech Support (and Marketing)
This shows the Mamiya C3 mounted on a tripod via its paramender. The basic principle of the camera can be seen from this view. It has two lenses and the upper, viewing lens is directed via a mirror to the viewing screen - hence it is a twin lens reflex (TLR) camera. Of course one of the problems that this brings is that the view on the screen is displaced vertically by about 5cm from the view that will end up on the film. This is not a problem for distant subjects but close and portrait shots will be affected by the parallax error. Enter the paramender. You compose your shot with the paramender in the lower position and, just before shooting, you bring it into the upper (shown here), thus moving the taking lens into the position previously occupied by the viewing lens. You of course need to lower it again when composing the next shot (and allow it to fall gently once the clip is released!). The bit on the top is the waist-level finder (you can open the front of this to give you a 'sports finder' too!) which is equipped with a flip down magnifier and the two black knobs move the lens panel in and out to facilitate focusing. You can just make out the wind-on crank to the left and the shutter is actuated by either a cable release or a shutter button.
In this shot you can see the focusing rack and bellows along with the depth of field and exposure compensation scales. The knob with 'lock and open' on it closes a shutter over the film plane (the main shutter is in the lens) and releases the lock on the lens panel. The unique thing about the Mamiya TLRs is that they have interchangeable lenses and this can be done mid-roll. Once the panel is unlocked it can be removed by swinging the clips out of the way and another attached. A red bar appears in the viewfinder to remind you the panel is unlocked and the film is covered.
The knurled knob attached to the 'wire' clip at the top right is the panel release. You can also see the aperture and shutter speed dials on the lower, taking lens.
The bottom of the panel and the pivot is shown here.
This shows the knurled knob on the lens-panel clip clearer, the cable release and the flash sync socket.
Here you can see the wind-on crank, the roll / sheet film selector, frame counter and the distance scales.
A close-up of the depth of field scales and the lens panel lock (and film speed reminder scale - it has no function other than to remind you of what's in the camera).
This shows the coupling between the shutter release arm and the lens (plus the knurled shutter release button) as well as one of the two focusing knobs.
The camera takes 120 roll film and the frames are indexed so you don't need to watch the numbers in a window in the back. You just insert the film and wind it on using the two knobs on the back (visible in picture two) until the arrows on the backing paper line up with the index marks in the back and then close the back of the camera. You then wind the crank until it stops (and a '1' is then shown in the frame counter window). Once you have taken a shot, you wind the crank until it stops and you will be ready to take the next - this action will also recock the shutter (which is fully mechanical).
There were 6 different focal length lenses made for Mamiya TLRs ranging from 55 - 180mm. All were excellent and all are cross-compatible with the various models produced over the years (the 180mm is considered to be the weakest). Earlier lenses are reputed to be both slightly sharper and have higher contrast than the later ones (this kit has the earlier lenses - except for the 55mm). Apparently this was a deliberate change at the request of the photographers using these cameras (they were the mainstay of the portrait and wedding business for many years) who tended to use softening filters when shooting portraits as they found the straight lenses too sharp!
There is also a reflex hood for the camera although it is not the brightest and a cut film holder!
These are slowish and contemplative cameras to use but excellent and very satisfying. Image quality is superb.
In this shot you can see the focusing rack and bellows along with the depth of field and exposure compensation scales. The knob with 'lock and open' on it closes a shutter over the film plane (the main shutter is in the lens) and releases the lock on the lens panel. The unique thing about the Mamiya TLRs is that they have interchangeable lenses and this can be done mid-roll. Once the panel is unlocked it can be removed by swinging the clips out of the way and another attached. A red bar appears in the viewfinder to remind you the panel is unlocked and the film is covered.
The knurled knob attached to the 'wire' clip at the top right is the panel release. You can also see the aperture and shutter speed dials on the lower, taking lens.
The bottom of the panel and the pivot is shown here.
This shows the knurled knob on the lens-panel clip clearer, the cable release and the flash sync socket.
Here you can see the wind-on crank, the roll / sheet film selector, frame counter and the distance scales.
A close-up of the depth of field scales and the lens panel lock (and film speed reminder scale - it has no function other than to remind you of what's in the camera).
This shows the coupling between the shutter release arm and the lens (plus the knurled shutter release button) as well as one of the two focusing knobs.
The camera takes 120 roll film and the frames are indexed so you don't need to watch the numbers in a window in the back. You just insert the film and wind it on using the two knobs on the back (visible in picture two) until the arrows on the backing paper line up with the index marks in the back and then close the back of the camera. You then wind the crank until it stops (and a '1' is then shown in the frame counter window). Once you have taken a shot, you wind the crank until it stops and you will be ready to take the next - this action will also recock the shutter (which is fully mechanical).
There were 6 different focal length lenses made for Mamiya TLRs ranging from 55 - 180mm. All were excellent and all are cross-compatible with the various models produced over the years (the 180mm is considered to be the weakest). Earlier lenses are reputed to be both slightly sharper and have higher contrast than the later ones (this kit has the earlier lenses - except for the 55mm). Apparently this was a deliberate change at the request of the photographers using these cameras (they were the mainstay of the portrait and wedding business for many years) who tended to use softening filters when shooting portraits as they found the straight lenses too sharp!
There is also a reflex hood for the camera although it is not the brightest and a cut film holder!
These are slowish and contemplative cameras to use but excellent and very satisfying. Image quality is superb.
Last edited by a moderator:
