Mamiya RZ67 Pro IID or Hasselblad 503CW?
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6 Responses to Mamiya RZ67 Pro IID or Hasselblad 503CW?
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Personally I’m a fan of the Mamiya but your question is way too subjective for an answer. See if your camera store will let you run a roll of film through each one. Or see if there is a camera rental place near you where you can use each camera for a longer time.
Then you can answer: Which one “feels” more natural in your hands? Which one has it’s controls where you expect them to be; is most intuitive? Which one is easiest to focus, compose with, balances best?
The objective stuff is easy to compare: lens resolution in lines/mm, cost of lenses and accessories, availability of same, etc. But it’s the subjective things that will make the difference between a camera you like vs. one you love and love using.
The Mamiya is less expensive, and has more accessories available. There have been problems reported with some equipment.
The Hasselblad is probably higher quality (and cost) but is less flexible.
You may want to research the Photo.Net Medium Format Forums for more info:
I do not have personal experience with a Hasselblad, but used Mamiya RB67′s for many years. While I loved my RB’s, the two problems I ran into were the weight and the noise. To photograph for any length of time, i.e. wedding portraits, I found it necessary to have the RB on a tripod because of its weight. I also received complaints from a couple of ministers that felt the loud “kalunk” sound of the shutter was distracting, even when I was shooting from the balcony. On the upside, I loved the 6×7 negative. If you are doing any negative retouching, instead of digital retouching, its much easier on which to work.
Good luck,
Jan
P.S. Over the years I’ve found B&H to be reliable and have good prices. The sales people at Schiller’s in St. Louis,MO, are always very helpful and knowledgeable, but they don’t have the best prices. They can advise you on the pros and cons of each camera for the type of photography you intend to do.
I am a long time Hasselblad user, though I have used Mamiya Rz67s in the past. My personal choice to go with a Hasselblad is the versatility in terms of working well in both studio and location environments. Rz67s are wonderful cameras but if you want to do handheld shots, unless you have big hands it can be kind of clunky, a much better choice would be the Pentax 67. I personally feel that if you like the 6×7 format because of the extra real estate compared to the 6x6cm format, and you dont mind the size of the rz67 then why not get a large format camera. I am not sure if you know but you can easily get 6×7, 6×9, and 6×12 film backs for large format cameras systems with the universal graflok back, and what is more is that you can shoot large format as well 4×5, 5×7 etc.. If you think about it, a large format camera system is a much much better value as compared to most medium format camera system that dont have the versatility to shoot so many different types of formats and have the ability to do swings and tilts etc for perspective control. Although I love Hasselblad cameras, sadly they dont have any perspective control lenses (and if they did they would cost the same as a lung transplant) which are essential if you are shooting architecture or products.
For portraits though, I have to say that I like the Hasselblad system. The lens quality in terms of resolution and color saturation are suberb. Also the square format is simpler, you dont have to think about whether you want to shoot portrait or landscape, and thus you can think more about the composition within the frame.
Also if you want to get a Hasselblad, go used. I would suggest KEH.com.. I buy cameras from this place all the time, my most recent acquisition was a 503cw and the quality and price are unmatched on the market. Keh is also a great place to find a nice large format camera system as well.
Hasselblad took pictures on the moon whilst Mamiya were sitting down here making cameras.
If you are thinking about portrait work and need accurate color representation, then it is Mamiya. Zeiss has a good name, but Uncle Carl is no longer involved, just like Mr. Leitz is no longer involved with Leica cameras.
I have a friend who works with the lenses at the Center for Disease Control and has tested all lenses for color abberations – Mamiya wins every time and they even won with the lenses for the long defunct Mamiya 330 series.
Mamiya is heavy. Mamiya is hard to hand hold. Mamiya does not, for me, make any more noise than any other camera, certainly not the shutter since the shutter is encased in the lense barrel and each lens has its own shutter mechanism.
If you are going to do portrait work, you will be using a tripod anyway. I climb up various and sundry Southern Appalachian mountain peaks with a Mamiya RB67, 5 lenses, other accessories, and a heavy Manfrotto tripod and I am crippled.
I think that if you check things, you might find that Hassys are manufactured in Japan, probably by Fuji.