Mamiya 6 Serial Numbers

The Mamiya Six Automat is yet another addition to my medium format camera collection that I acquired in March 2017. A collection largely funded by my desire to not just break down and spend more than $1000 on some gear that I know is really nice. (Looking at you modern, interchangeable lens Mamiya 6)

1. Mamiya 6 Manual
2. Mamiya 6 Serial Numbers
3. Serial Numbers Nero

The first medium format camera I ever owned was a Kodak Tourist II 6x9 folding camera. I only ran a handful of film through it before I stopped using it. I haven't had a folding camera since (if you don't count a baby Speed Graphic), but always have kind of wanted one. Still not wanting to spend $1800 for a Fuji GF670, I did some research on the vintage folding cameras and settled on the Mamiya Six Automat.

Strap Lugs

The Mamiya Six does not have any strap lugs on the body. Something I overlooked when I bought a camera without a case. Thus, I've been operating strapless for now. With the lens out, I'm not actually finding a good way to hold the camera in one hand while walking around. Might need to pick up one of Gordy's tripod wrist straps, or commission a custom half case if I can't turn up a vintage case to fit the camera. The neat part about not having the extra leather case on the camera though it that it even more easily fits in my coat pockets.

Also, I have already dropped it on my foot when I wasn't wearing shoes. I don't recommend doing that. It hurts like hell, and then your toe swells up and turns black and blue.

A Rangefinder!

1. The Mamiya Six is a 120 film folding rangefinder camera, 6x6 format, first issued in 1940 by Mamiya Optical Co.,Tokyo. The camera was an innovative design by Mamiya Seiichi, a Japanese camera designer. It focuses by moving the film plane, not the optics. It was built until the end of the 1950s and there are plenty of different models.
2. This camera is not to be confused with the much later New Mamiya 6, which is a rangefinder with exchangeable lenses and metering, released in 1999. The camera featured here was part of a long line of folding cameras released by Mamiya in the 1940s and 1950s.

If you like old film cameras, you might enjoy this quick tour of a 1950s folding medium-format camera with a clever, unique design. If you can find a late-mo. Exc Mamiya 6 Six KII 6x4.5 6x6 Rangefinder Sekor S 7.5cm F3.5 from Japan #1537. Minimal signs of use Serial Number Body: 318751Lens: 113819.

I didn't like the Kodak Tourist II very much since there was no rangefinder in it. One of the big selling points on the Mamiya Six Automat is that it has a coupled rangefinder. The rangefinder itself turns out to be pretty decent as well. I'd say the rangefinder spot itself is compatible to the spot in the two Fuji GW690/GSW690 cameras that I have owned.

The Mamiya Six, also known as the Mamiya-6, is a series of folding medium-format rangefinder cameras manufactured by Mamiya between 1940 and the late 1950s. The cameras captured twelve 6 cm × 6 cm images on 120 film rolls. Some later models could also take sixteen 4.5 cm × 6 cm images. The cameras were coupled rangefinders, but had a unique focusing mechanism that moved the film plane.

The neat thing about the focusing mechanism in the Automat is that instead of the lens moving back and forth, the focal plane and film move instead. I guess this makes it more reliable over time due to less complexity with moving the lens and having it fold into the body. The film plane focus also allows you to focus the camera while the lens in still in the body. Not sure what use that would be, but you can do it! Maybe if you wanted to clandestinely prefocus on something before you open the lens and strike later?

Bellows

Like all cameras of this age, the bellows are always a point of worry. The initial tests I did by popping a flash into them looked good. No pinholes! Ran a roll of film through the camera and it showed signs of light leaks. Tested it again and low and behold, a large pinhole had appeared. Instead of the typical acrylic paint/Elmer's glue mix that I've used in the past to repair bellows, I gave Liquid Electrical Tape a try. The initial application was promising. I let it set up and tested for leaks and found none. I opened and closed the camera a few times and checked again. Even more pinholes than when I started! I applied a second coat of the stuff and repeated this same cycle a few more times until I no longer had pinholes after opening and closing the camera few times.

Satisfied that I finally applied enough coats I let it cure for the recommended 24 hours. Then I closed up the camera and threw it into my bag as I went to work. After the work day, I opened the camera, and the liquid electrical tape had fused to itself, and it did a real number on the bellows as it peeled apart during the opening process.

I claimed defeat and sent to the camera to Jurgen at certo6.com to get a new set of bellows installed. Patching is fine in a pinch when it works, but for old bellows near the end of their life, it always leaves that sense of dread not knowing when another one will appear. So I'm happy to pay the premium not to have to worry about when new holes will appear.

The camera came back with some sexy new bellows. Though there initially were some light leaks due to glue on some of the corners connecting to the body coming undone.

The Autococking Shutter

So the auto in automat apparently originates from a mechanism on the camera that automatically cocks the shutter as the user advances the film between exposures. This a neat feature that many medium format cameras lack. The problem with my particular automat though, was that for about two or three exposures per roll, something in the timing mechanisms would get our of whack. This glitch results in the cocking arm not returning to its resting position which would cause the shutter to either not be able to be fired. Or even worse, not let the shutter close after it opens.

When I noticed that this happened, it was easy enough to work around by starting to close the lens into the body. That motion would break the connection between the shutter cocking arm and the body. Then it could be moved out of that way and fired as normal. But then the camera goes back to needing to be manually cocked between exposures until the lens if fully closed and reopened.

On a lark one night I took the top and bottom base plates off the camera and just watched everything move as I dry fired the camera over and over. Eventually, I noticed a little tab on a gear on the bottom of the camera that was associated with where the shutter cocking arm stopped.

This tab (Figure A) is supposed to connect with an arm that is connected to the shutter release button to stop the cocking arm from moving anymore after it did its job. However the arm wasn't fully resetting in my camera, so it wasn't stopping the tab every time.

First, there was a lot of gunk built up around the pin that connects the shutter button and the arm that stops to the shutter cocker. (Figure B) I swabbed all this off with a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to get the gunk off to let the arm and pin slide against each other cleanly.

Secondly, The shutter release button was twisted weird so that it was getting caught under the disc that shows how many meters the rangefinder is focused on. (Figure C) I suspect that due to this, the shutter was not able to fully reset, which cascaded down to the arm at the bottom of the camera not being able to connect with the shutter cocker stopper tab.

I simulated exposing about twelve rolls of film after making these adjustments, and the timing on the shutter cocking mechanism hasn't failed once. I hope that means I got it! ::knocks on wood::

Loading The Camera

I feel like every time I get a new medium format camera I end up goofing up the loading of the first roll of film somehow and ruining it. So for the Mamiya Six, I made a little video showing how to load it.

Two points of interest about loading and unloading the Mamiya Six. First, I find that when aligning up the start arrows with the start mark tends to put the film close to the lead edge of the film. If you are processing your film at home, this isn't an issue. However, I take my film to a lab for development and have found that the beginning of the film that always gets exposed when they load it into the machine creeps into the first frame. So, you may want to give the film an additional crank or two if you intend to have a lab do your processing.

Second, with the lick and stick seal that Kodak uses for their current 120 films, it sometimes seems to get hung up in the camera when winding up the rest of the roll. Sometimes attempting to advance the film will cause it to tear off, sometimes I won't. Small panic inducing feeling the first time it happens, but it doesn't seem to fog the film if you need to open the camera up to free the stuck film.

Removing The Top Plate

If you want to get into the camera to clean the viewfinder, or for other devious reasons, here is a video I made showing to remove the camera's top plate.

The 645 AF is a medium formatSLR camera made in Japan by Mamiya, the company's first auto-focus camera. It was released in Japan in September 1999.^[1] It was followed in December 2001 by the 645 AFD, a version of the same camera made compatible with some digital backs (not produced by Mamiya at the time), and Mamiya produced improved models, the 645 AFDII and 645 AFDIII later. These retain the ability to use either film or a digital back, switching from one to the other quickly, mid-roll if desired.

The cameras have a new bayonet lens mount incorporating several electrical contacts, to support the use of AF lenses. The range of lens designations is very similar to that provided for the earlier, manual-focus cameras (the Mamiya M645 and M645 Super/Pro series cameras).

Whereas the M645 Super/Pro series cameras had polycarbonate bodies, the 645 AF series have aluminium bodies.^[2] Perhaps Mamiya was sensitive to criticism of the previous, plastic body; the introduction of the manual for the AF uses the phrase 'heavy professional use' a number of times.

• 1645 AF
  • 1.2Exposure settings

645 AF

Many of the features of the 645 AF are retained from Mamiya's previous series of 4.5x6cm SLR cameras (the M645 Super and related models). However, the camera is not built in the modular way that those cameras were; the power film winder is built-in, as is the AE prism viewfinder; a waist-level finder cannot be used (although there is a right-angle eyepiece attachment).

The standard lens is an 80 mm f/2.8, as in the pictures.

Metering

As in previous camera series, the prism finder has settings for spot (S) or center-weighted average (A) metering, and a setting (A-S) in which the camera automatically selects one or other of these, or an exposure between the two, based on the variation in brightness in the scene. The meter measures between EV 2 (1/2 second at f/2.8) and EV 19 (1/1000 second at f/22) at ISO 100, and allows exposure compensation by up to three stops in either direction; any selected compensation is shown in the VF display. The viewfinder eyepiece has a shutter to keep out light when the camera is used away from the eye, and built-in diotric adjustment.

Exposure settings

Exposure settings are controlled via menu options displayed in an LCD on top of the winder grip, and selected with wheel controls (one by the shutter release button, and another at the back of the grip, by the user's thumb) in combination with a main mode dial. The exposure settings in use are also displayed at the bottom of the viewfinder. The mode dial has settings for programmed AE (P), aperture-priority (A_v) and shutter-speed priority (T_v) AE, metered manual exposure (M), auto flash (X) and a setting for long exposures (T). The dial locks in the 'X' mode; there is a lock-release button in the centre of the dial which must be pressed to move it from 'X' to any other mode.

• Programmed AE ('P'). In this mode the camera selects both the shutter speed and aperture according to a programmed profile (that is, for any EV level, this mode offers a single combination of shutter speed and aperture; for example, at EV 12, 'P' mode gives 1/125 second at f/5.6). It is possible to shift the program profile to favour a shutter speed one stop lower, with a correspondingly smaller aperture giving the same EV (sub-mode P_L, giving in the example above 1/60 second at f/8), or a higher speed and wider aperture (sub-mode P_H, in the example case giving 1/250 second at f/4). These 'program shift' sub-modes are selected with either the front or rear wheel controls.

• Aperture-priority AE ('A_V'). In this mode, either wheel control is used to adjust the aperture, in half-stop increments. The LCD shows both the aperture and the shutter speed (or a flash symbol if the light cannot be metered at the selected aperture).

• Shutter-priority AE ('T_V'). In this mode the wheel controls are used to select the shutter speed, in half-stop increments. The LCD shows the speed and aperture; the aperture flashes if the light is too dim to meter at the selected shutter speed.

• Metered manual ('M'). In this mode the front wheel control selects the shutter speed, and the rear control the aperture. Both are shown in the LCD. If the meter reading differs from the set values, the 'error' is shown at the right hand side of the viewfinder display, as the number of EV stops (up to ±6), in steps of one third of a stop (that is, if the VF display shows '+1.3', the current settings will give one and one third of a stop over-exposure, relative to the meter reading).

• Flash ('X'). In this mode the shutter speed is fixed at 1/125 second.

• Time ('T'). This mode allows 'T' shutter mode for very long exposures, where the shutter release is pressed once to open the shutter, and again to close it. In this mode, the shutter is mechanically controlled, so that the batteries are not drained by prolonged operation of the electronic shutter mechanism.

There is an AE lock button ('AEL') by the rear wheel control, allowing the user to reframe the scene after metering, in any of the AE modes. This is also useful to allow the AE modes to be used with the mirror-up control.

The wheel controls can be locked, using the 'F1' and 'SET' buttons by the LCD, to prevent accidental adjustment of the exposure settings in the A_V, T_V and M modes.

Mamiya 6 Manual

Advanced exposure functions

• Exposure bracketing. In the P, T_V and A_V modes, exposure bracketing is available, selected by pressing the 'Mode' button by the Mode dial, once. The bracket can be adjusted to half, two-thirds or a whole stop, using either of the wheel controls.

• Multiple exposure. The camera can be set to make up to five exposures before advancing the film. This facility is also selected by pressing the 'Mode' button twice, and the number of exposures on one frame adjusted with the wheel controls.

• Self-timer. The self-timer is selected by pressing the 'Mode' button three times, and can be adjusted between 3 and 60 seconds, using either of the wheel controls.

Shutter

The camera has a focal-plane shutter with aluminium blinds that travel vertically. This gives speeds from 30 seconds to 1/4000 second, in steps of one-eighth of a stop when in AE, or half a stop when manually set. 'B' is available as a shutter speed in the 'M' mode, and there is a mechanically-controlled 'T' mode for very long exposures, as noted above. The shutter synchronises for flash at 1/125 second. Both shutter blinds are automatically retracted (i.e. the shutter opens) when the film back is removed (to avoid damage to them) or when there are no batteries in the camera.

The shutter release button has settings for single or continuous exposures, and a locked position. It is threaded for a standard cable release. There is also a socket on the left side of the body for electronic releases, including remote ones.

Focusing

The camera uses a through-the-lens phase-difference detection auto-focus method. The focus mode switch, which sets the behaviour of the auto-focus function, is on the front of the body, on the bottom left (i.e. the user's left when behind the camera; the side opposite the grip). There are three settings:

• Single-focus ('S'). In this mode, when the shutter release is half-pressed, the camera focuses, using the area in the small rectangle marked across the centre of the VF. When satisfactory focus is achieved, the focus is fixed (i.e. the camera stops adjusting it), and the focus marker in the VF display lights. The shutter will not release until the marker has lit. Mamiya also describe this mode as focus priority, and suitable for still subjects. The fixed focus is cancelled if pressure is removed from the release button. This mode allows the familiar method in which the scane may be reframed after focusing, while holding the shutter release button down, to place the focused subject off-centre in the frame.
• Continuous focus ('C'). In this mode, when the release button is half-pressed, the camera continuously adjusts the focus as the scene is reframed by the user. The focus mark lights when the current scene has been focused, but the shutter may be released at any time. Mamiya describe this mode as release priority, and suitable for moving subjects.
• Manual focus ('M'). In this mode, focusing is done by the user with the lens' focus ring. The VF shows focus guidance arrows in addition to the focus marker (these only work with lenses of f/5.6 or wider).

The camera has an infra-red lamp on the front of the body, next to the shutter release. This lights to illuminate the subject in conditions of dim light or low subject contrast in the Single focus mode, to assist the auto-focus function.

There is a depth-of-field preview button on the bottom right of the front of the body.

Film holders

The 120 film back for the 645 AF is superficially similar to that for the earlier M645 Super; it is a detachable chamber, with a metal dark slide, into which a film insert (comprising a pair of spool-holders with a pressure plate and rollers) can be fitted. However, the back for the 645 AF has an LCD and 'up' and 'down' buttons to set and display the film type and speed (between ISO 25 and 6400), and requires its own battery (CR2032) to support this while the back is detached from the camera. It also has more electrical contacts than the earlier film back, and the two are not interchangeable. The same film insert accepts both 120 and 220 roll film; the pressure plate may be rotated, to adjust it for the different thickness of 120 and 220 film. The back automatically advances the film to frame 1 provided the paper leader is attached to the take-up spool. A Polaroid back also exists.

In addition to the automatic retraction of the shutter blinds, the camera has the same common-sense interlocks as the Super to prevent accidental exposure of film:

• The dark slide cannot be opened when the back is off the camera.
• The back cannot be detached when the dark slide is out.
• The shutter cannot be released when the dark slide is in.

Other features

• As with earlier models, the camera has a ⅜-inch tripod socket with an insert to adjust it to ¼-inch size.
• There is a mirror-up lever on the left-hand side of the body.
• There is a hot shoe on top of the prism, as well as a PC socket on the left side. The camera is compatible with some Metz flashes for through-the-lens flash metering, with an adapter.
• There is a backlight for the LCD, switched on with the 'BL' button.
• The camera has a built-in facility to imprint date and/or serial number data at the edge of each exposure. This is controlled with the 'F1', 'F2' and 'SET' buttons by the LCD.
• The camera requires six AA alkaline or lithium batteries, which are loaded in a removable holder that fits into the grip. The LCD display shows the battery condition continuously when the camera is switched on (i.e. when the shutter release is not in the locked position).
• An external battery holder exists (to be kept in a pocket, for cold-weather use); this connects to a socket in the base of the camera.

Lenses

The standard lens is an 80 mm f/2.8, as shown on the examples pictured. As at autumn 2008, the list of lenses available was as follows.^[2]

• Sekor AF 28mm f/4.5 D aspherical
• AF 35mm f/3.5
• AF 45mm f/2.8
• AF 55mm f/2.8
• AF 80mm f/2.8
• Sekor 80mm f/2.8 D
• Sekor Macro MF 120mm f/4 D (manual focus only)
• AF 150mm f/3.5
• Sekor AF 150mm f/2.8 IF D
• AF ULD^[3] 210mm f/4 IF
• AF APO 300mm f/4.5 IF
• Zoom AF 55-110mm f/4.5
• Sekor Zoom AF 75-150mm f/4.5 D
• Zoom AF ULD^[3] 105-210mm f/4.5

The range of designations is very similar to that provided for earlier generations of Mamiya 4.5×6cm SLRs, except for the addition of the 28mm.

The lenses attach on the AF bayonet mount in the same way as with the previous mount, by aligning the lens with the red spot on the body and twisting to fasten the bayonet. The release is also unchanged; a sliding button on the left side of the camera body. The AF mount is compatible, in a limited way, with the lenses for the preceding models (the Mamiya M645 and M645 Super/Pro series cameras). The manual-focus lenses can be fitted to the new mount, but the AF cameras do not have the pin to mate with the aperture yoke on these lenses, so stopped-down metering must be used. There is also a special focusing screen, with a manual-focusing aid (a microprism/rangefinder spot) for use with manual lenses.

Mamiya produce a mount adapter allowing the use of Hasselblad V series lenses. These are subject to similar limitations, needing the manual-focus screen and stopped-down metering.

645 AFD

The 645 AFD is very similar to the AF, except for the addition of Mamiya Serial Communication software to communicate with a digital back, if fitted, and display information about its state in the camera's LCD. This information is quite basic, showing when image capture or storage is in progress, the remaining capacity of the back's storage, and when this or the back's battery are exhausted.

645 AFDII

The 645 AFDII is similar to the AFD. Mamiya's literature mentions a new, quieter focusing motor and a new 'focusing algorithm'. The camera body has a few additional or changed features, but the most significant changes are in the software.

• The mirror lock is now electronically activated, with a button by the mode dial (where the mode button was on the AF and AFD), instead of the manual mirror-up lever. By default, the mirror lock is cancelled after each exposure; however, this and many other default behaviours are adjustable via custom settings (see below).
• There is an 'auto-focus lock' (AFL) button, below the infra-red focus-assist lamp. When pressed, this prevents the camera from continuing to re-focus, in the Continuous AF mode. Again, the extensive menu of custom settings allows the functions of this button and the AE lock button to be swapped.
• There is a new position, 'CF' on the mode dial, from which a menu of 36 custom settings can be accessed. Up to three sets of custom settings can be saved, for different users of the same camera, studio versus outdoor use, etc. Many of the available settings are rather minor changes to default behaviour, like those mentioned above. For further example, the order of the three exposures in a bracket series can be changed, the direction to turn the wheel controls to increase a setting value can be reversed, and the functions of the front and rear wheel controls can be swapped. Others of the custom settings are more significant, however:
  • The increment for all exposure variations can be set to one half or one third of a stop.
  • The auto-focus can be set to use a smaller central area of the scene.
  • Custom functions replace the 'T' mode, and extend the range of long shutter speeds (see below).
  • The infra-red focus-assist lamp can be disabled (for reasons of discretion).
  • Display of the focusing guides and focus marker in the viewfinder can be switched off.
• There is no longer a 'T' position on the mode dial (for very long exposures). These can still be achieved, of course, by setting the shutter speed to 'B' in 'M' mode, and using a locking cable release. Alternatively, a custom function allows the behaviour of the 'B' setting to be selected as a conventional 'B' (shutter remains open as long as the release is pressed) or 'T' shutter (release pressed once to open the shutter, and again to close it). Another custom function allows a maximum opening time to be assigned to the 'B' setting, after which the shutter will close, regardless of the shutter release. This can be up to 60 minutes. However, whereas the 'T' mode of previous models was mechanically controlled, 'B' is electronic, and will drain the batteries.
• There is now a straightforward self-timer position on the shutter release control (the self-timer was accessed as the third option with the mode button on the previous models).
• The auto-focus mode switch is repeated on the barrels of some of the lenses available when the AFDII was produced.
• Also, on some of the zoom and telephoto lenses, auto-focus can be switched on and off using the focus ring itself.

There is another significant change to the software regarding the 'program shift' function in 'P' mode. Rather than a one-stop shift in each direction, this function now selects the highest shutter speed possible (P_H), or the smallest possible aperture (P_L), for a given metered EV value. As with other features, there is some scope to adjust the behaviour of the program shift using the custom settings.

645 AFDIII

The 645 AFDIII retains the reliance on custom software functions to give great flexibility in the camera's behaviour. There are rather few significant changes in the camera body, relative to the AFDII:

• The mirror lock function is now given a position on the shutter release lock (where the self-timer was on the AFDII) and the self-timer is accessed using the button that was the mirror lock. A custom function allows a mirror-up delay to be set, such that when the shutter release is pressed, the mirror is raised, and the shutter then released after a short delay, to allow camera vibrations to cease; a very sensible combination of functions.
• The camera normally uses the same auto-focus area; a shallow rectangle across the centre circle of the frame. As with the AFDII, there is a 'spot' focus option, but now any of three focus spots may be selected (one in the centre of the circle, one at the left-hand end of the normal area, and one to the right), and the user may select which of these the AF system uses. There is an auto setting in which the camera focuses using whichever of the three focus spots has the closest subject. In fact, the three spots are rather too close together for this feature to be useful.
• A new film holder (model HM402) was produced for the AFDIII; this allows faster film transport (with both the AFDIII and the AFDII) and also allows the AFDIII to imprint extra data (the lens focal length) on the margin of the film. The two film holder models are compatible, to the extent that the inner parts can be interchanged, but data imprint may be affected, especially at fast shutter speeds.
• The AFDIII can accept Ni-Cd or Ni-MH batteries, in addition to alkaline or lithium batteries.

Mamiya marketed the 645 AFDIII with the 22-megapixel ZD back.^[2], but other makers' backs, including Leaf and Phase One, can be used.

Mamiya 6 Serial Numbers

Mamiya has since gone into close partnership with Phase One. The Phase One 645 AF is essentially identical to the Mamiya 645 AFDIII.

A digital-only camera body of very similar specification, the 645 DF is sold under both the Mamiya brand, with their DM series of digital backs (22 to 33 MP) and with the Phase One brand, with backs up to 60 MP.

Serial Numbers Nero

Notes

1. ↑Mamiya company history (archived), in Japanese, on the Mamiya Digital Imaging website.
2. ↑ ^2.02.12.2Shown in the brochure for the AFDIII, formerly available at the Mamiya USA site.
3. ↑ ^3.03.1With Ultra-Low Dispersion glass.

Links

User's manuals (pdf) at Mamiya USA: