Episode 45: Ma-Mamiya!

On Episode 45 of the Camerosity Podcast, the guys and I return to a brand specific discussion for everyone’s favorite bellows-TLR, 6cm x 4.5cm medium format SLR, 35mm leaf shutter SLR, f/1.5 lens rangefinder, half frame pistol camera making company, Mamiya! If that seems like a wild range of cameras, you’re right! As makers of pretty much every style of camera conceived, Mamiya has done it all!

Joining Anthony, Paul, Theo, and Mike on this episode is Bill Rogers from mamiyarepair.com who has a literally grocery store size storage room full of spare Mamiya parts acquired from the company before they went bankrupt. Bill has experience with and can repair nearly every Mamiya camera ever made, even the compact 35mm point and shoot Mamiya U.

In addition to Bill’s expertise, we also welcome current Mamiya employee Ray Nason. Ray has many decades of experience working with Mamiya cameras, selling them for many years to professional photographers and consumers alike. Together, both Bill and Ray offer a 1-2 punch of Massive Mamiya Madness!

Along for the ride are returning callers, Robert Rotoloni, Mark Faulkner, Nick Marshall, Cheyenne Morrison, Andrew Smith, Bob St. Cyr, Ira Cohen, Marcy Merrill, and Larry Effler, and first time callers Brian Howard, Mike Ahmadi, and Steven Lederman.

With a total of 20 participants, the most we’ve ever had on an episode of the podcast, we cover a HUGE array of subjects, including some history of the brand, the state of the Japanese optics industry immediately after the war, the origins of the Mamiya-Sekor name, trivia on a rare Canon lens made in the Exakta mount for Mamiya, and how Mamiya was able to use Nikon’s bunny ears for the meter coupling on the lenses for the M645 cameras. Ira shows off his half frame Mamiya Pistol camera, Marcy brings with her a very strange accessory made for the Mamiya U, and Steven Lederman shows off a totally bizarre stereo camera made with Mamiya lenses.

As always, the topics we discuss on the Camerosity Podcast are influenced by you! We would love to hear from more listeners, especially those who are new to shooting film or collecting cameras. Please don’t feel like you have to be an expert on a specific type of camera, or have the level of knowledge on par with other people on the show. We LOVE people who are new to shooting and are interested in having an episode dedicated to people new to the hobby, so please don’t consider your knowledge level to be a prerequisite for joining!

The guys and I rarely know where each episode is going to go until it happens, so if you’d like to join us on a future episode, be sure to look out for our show announcements on our Camerosity Podcast Facebook page, and right here on mikeeckman.com. We usually record every other Monday and announcements, along with the Zoom link are typically shared 2-3 days in advance.

For our next episode, we are finally entering the digital era, with an entire discussion on film-less cameras. Point and shoot digicams, DSLRs, digital mirrorless, vintage digital, and digital backs are all topics we may or may not get to! If you’d like to learn more about the history of digital photography, or why Gen Z is so smitten with Japanese digicams, be sure to look out for the next show! Episode 46 will be recorded on Monday, April 3rd. We hope to see you there!

This Week’s Episode

Introducing Bill Rogers from mamiyarepair.com
The History of Mamiya / First Japanese Camera Maker After WWII / Made in Occupied Japan Cameras
Mamiya Sixes Can Be Found with Fuji, Nikkor, and Zuiko Lenses / Nikon Almost Made a TLR
The Mamiya Six Had a Movable Film Plane and a Strange Film Pressure Plate
In 1948 Mamiya Released Both the First Mamiyaflex and Mamiya 35mm Camera / Early Mamiyaflex and Mamiya C-Series TLRs
Anthony Knew a Guy Who Used the Mamiya C to Shoot Crime Scenes and Dead Bodies
Mamiya C TLRs Were Popular with Wedding Photographers
Ray Nason Works for Mamiya and has a Couple Photos of Mamiya Prototypes
The Koni-Omegaflex and Gowlandflex Were Two Other TLRs with Interchangeable Lenses and Shutters
Mamiya Super 23 Press Cameras / Mamiya 645 Prisms Almost Always Have Separation
Why Do Prisms Have Separation? / Everyone Wants Waist Level Finders Today
The Mamiya 7 Has the Best Optics of Any Camera Mike Ahmadi and Theo Have Ever Owned
Weak Points of the Mamiya 7 / Magnetic Interlocks
The RB67 is a Tank / The RBs Will Be Repairable for a Long Time
Using Graflock Backs for the RB67 and the Super 23 Press Camera
Mamiyas’s 35mm Cameras / Mamiya Magazine Has a Completely Removable Film Back / Adox 300
Mamiya Sketch Was Japan’s First and Only 24mm x 24mm Rangefinder Camera / Mamiya Myrapid
Mamiya Prismat Leaf Shutter SLRs / Argus SLR / Nikkorex / Tower SLRs / Ricoh Singlex
Mamiya’s Other SLRs / Mamiya Auto XTL / Mamiya ZE-X
Mamiya 16mm Cameras / Tower 10B / Rank Mamiya
Canon Once Made a Lens with the Exakta Mount for the Mamiya Prismat / Ira Has a Mamiya Pistol Camera
The Meter Coupling “Bunny Ears” on Mamiya 645 Lenses Was a Shared Patent by Nikon
Insider Information: The Next Edition of McKeown’s Camera Collector’s Guide is Coming Any Day Now!
You Can Use 120 Film in the Mamiya M645 Camera With the 220 Back
Mamiya 500DTL and 1000DTL SLRs had Dual and Spot Metering
Where Does the Name “Sekor” Come From in Mamiya-Sekor Lenses?
Mamiya Was Game for Almost Everything / Mamiya Super Deluxe 1.7
The Early Japanese Camera Industry Was Built Around Cooperation / Mamiya Had a Lot of Similarities to Konica
Henry Froelich Was Responsible for Helping Konica Get Imported to the US
Bill Rogers Can No Longer Repair the Mamiya 645AF or the Mamiya ZD Digital Camera
Ilford Jazz CDs, Minolta Disco Records, and Mamiya Nudie T-Shirts and Fuzzy Bear Stickers
Mamiya U Manual Focus and Auto Focus Compact 35mm Cameras / Bill Still Has Parts for Those
Marcy Merrill Has the Coolest Accessory for the Mamiya U
Mamiya’s Demise Started Around 1983 / They Stopped Making 35mm Cameras
What Would it Take to Make an All New 35mm or Medium Format Camera?
The Biggest Obstacle to Someone Making a New Camera is So Many Old Cameras Still Work
Steven Lederman’s Weird 3D World Stereo Camera / Hybrid Stereo Mamiya C-Series TLR
The Recent Cincinnati Ohio Camera Auction was Very Well Attended and Paul Wasn’t There
Nick Marshall Loves Shooting Instax Film on the RB67 and Super 23 / Marcy Promotes a Camera Show in Kent, WA
An Update About Anthony’s Voigtländer Superb He Bought from Australia

Show Notes

If you would like to offer feedback or contact us with questions or ideas for future episodes, please contact us in the Comments Section below, our Camerosity Facebook Group or Instagram page, or email us at [email protected].

The Official Camerosity Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/camerositypodcast

Camerosity Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/camerosity_podcast/

Camerosity Twitter – https://twitter.com/CamerosityPod

Peter Dechert’s SLR book, “Canon: Single Lens Reflex Cameras 1959-1991”

Bill Rogers – mamiyarepair.com – https://mamiyarepair.com/

Ray Nason – https://www.facebook.com/RayNasonMacGroup/

Cheyenne Morrison – https://www.instagram.com/bigshotphotos/

Mark Faulkner – https://thegashaus.com/

Marcy Merrill – Junk Store Cameras – https://junkstorecameras.com/

Closing Credits Audio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUBC553yteo

Theo Panagopoulos – https://www.photothinking.com/

Paul Rybolt – https://www.ebay.com/usr/paulkris and https://www.etsy.com/shop/Camerasandpictures