Five Mamiya lenses for the Mamiya 711 6x7 120/220 roll-film rangefinder camera, tested August 2000.


Five top-performing
lenses for the
Mamiya 7 I I

We tested all five Mamiya lenses made for the Mamiya 7II in conjunction with our "Hands On" test of the camera. The lenses are a 43mm f/4.5, 50mm f/4.5, 65mm f/4, 80mm f/4, and a 150mm f/4.5

Finished in attractive semi-matte black, the lenses are compact compared to other lenses for the 6x7 format. Each lens has knurled rings for focusing and aperture selection. The former are covered in a rubber-like material, the latter are hard plastic. That tactile difference tells you which ring is which, without having to look. The focusing action is smooth and well-damped. All close-focus by turning the focusing ring counter-clockwise, and have non-rotating front lens barrels. Aperture rings at the outer edge of the lens barrel are marked in white and click-stopped in full-stops.

The lenses have large, easily seen distance scales with metric distances in white and footages in yellow. Below the distance scales are legible white-on-black depth-of-field scales, infra-red index marks in red. The bayoneting lens-mounts have white mounting alignment dots. All mount with an easy twist and balance nicely on the camera. Front rings are threaded for screw-in filters, and each lens has a bayoneting sun shade that reverses for storage and transport.

In the lab / field: We are not able to test medium-format lenses on our optical bench, but according to the results of our lines-per-mm tests, all five lenses showed excellent performance in the centre (on-axis) and on corners (off-axis).

Test slides were uniformly very sharp and contrasty from centre to corner at every aperture, except as noted. All lenses produced extremely accurate exposures, with less than 1/10 f-stop under-exposure, except at maximum aperture where performance varied slightly as indicated. Flare was very well controlled with minimal ghosting for all lenses.

Conclusion: The Mamiya 7 lenses performed very well. They had the most consistently excellent performance of any 6x7 lenses we've tested. Some photograpers might want the option of a lens faster than f/4, but that's probably not in the cards optically, given the circumference of the Mamiya 7 lens-mount and leaf shutter timing considerations. Overall handling was great and we especially liked the rubbery aperture rings and agreeably compact size of these lenses. The 150mm, for example, is about the size of aa 150mm in the 35mm format (3.5 inches long, 1 lb 2 oz.), yet it covers the 6x7 format.
43mm f/4.5 L Mamiya 7 N

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 43mm (43.75mm tested)
Maximum aperture: f/4.5 (Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 10 elements in 6 groups
View angle: Diag. 92º
Minimum aperture: f/22
Focussing: 80º counterclockwise from infinity to close focus, 3 feet 3 3/8 inches.
Weight: 14ounces.
Filter size: 67mm.
Mount available: Mamiya 7, included lens-hood, optical view-finder.
List price: $4,034
Street price: $2,599

Lens Test Results
Resolution @ 43mm

aperture
f/
 lines/mm,
center 		rating lines/mm,
corner 		rating
    4.5 68 Excellent 30 Excellent
    5.6 77 Excellent 30 Excellent
    8.0 77 Excellent 34 Excellent
   11.0 61 Excellent 43 Excellent
   16.0 54 Excellent 33 Excellent
   22.0 48 Excellent 24 Very Good


Results: Lens showed slight pin-cushion distortion (0.65 percent). Exposure was extremely accurate (less than 1/10 stop under-exposure, except at maximum aperture (1/3 stop under-exposure due to light fall-off). At the measured minimum focusing distance of 39 inches (1:20), centre and corner sharpness were excellent at every aperture. Optimum performance was at f/11.

In the field: Light fall-off was gone by f/8. Field test slides showed slight softness, centre and corner, at maximum aperture; all other apertures produced uniformly sharp, contrasty slides.


50mm f/4.5 L Mamiya 7 N

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 50mm (52.55mm)
Maximum aperture: f/4.5 (Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 10 elements in 6 groups
View angle: Diag. 84º
Minimum aperture: f/22
Focussing: 80º counterclockwise from infinity to close focus, 3 feet 3 3/8 inches
Weight: 15½ ounces
Filter size: 67mm.
Mount available: Mamiya 7, Included lenshood and viewfinder.
List price: $2,920
Street price: $1,949


Lens Test Results
Resolution @ 50mm

aperture
f/
 lines/mm,
center 		rating lines/mm,
corner 		rating
    4.5 58 Excellent 37 Excellent
    5.6 66 Excellent 41 Excellent
    8.0 74 Excellent 46 Excellent
   11.0 66 Excellent 41 Excellent
   16.0 58 Excellent 37 Excellent
   22.0 46 Excellent 24 Very Good

Results: Mamiya's 50mm f/4.5 exhibited minimal barrel distortion (0.45 percent). Exposure was extremely accurate with less than 1/10 stop under-exposure, except at maximum aperture which showed 1/3 stop under-exposure due to light fall-off. At the measured minimum focusing distance of 37.5 inches (1:15.87), centre and corner sharpness were excellent at every aperture. Optimum performance was at f/8.
In the field, light fall-off was gone by f/8 and test slides were sharp and contrasty from centre to edge at all apertures.

Tested August 2000.
65mm f/4 L Mamiya 7 N

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 65mm (64.75mm)
Maximum aperture: f/4 (Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 9 elements in 5 groups
View angle: Diag. 69º
Minimum aperture: f/22
Focussing: 80º counterclockwise from infinity to close focus, 3 feet 3 3/8 inches
Weight: 13 5/8 ounces
Filter size: 58mm.
Mount available: Mamiya 7, Included lenshood and viewfinder.
List price: $2,501
Street price: $1,599


Lens Test Results
Resolution @ 65mm

aperture
f/
 lines/mm,
center 		rating lines/mm,
corner 		rating
    4.0 46 Excellent 37 Excellent
    5.6 52 Excellent 42 Excellent
    8.0 59 Excellent 42 Excellent
   11.0 66 Excellent 42 Excellent
   16.0 59 Excellent 37 Excellent
   22.0 46 Excellent 26 Very Good

Results: This optic had minimal barrel distortion ( 0.35 percent). Exposure was extremely accurate (less than 1/10 stop under-exposure), except at maximum aperture (1/5 stop under-exposure due to light fall-off). At the measured minimum focussing distance of 39 inches (1:12.73), centre sharpness was excellent at every aperture. Corner sharpness was very good from f/4 to f/5.6 and excellent from f/8 to f/22. Optimum performance was at f/11.
In the field, light fall-off was gone by f/5.6. Test slides were sharp and contrasty, centre to edge at all apertures.

80mm f/4 L Mamiya 7 N

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 80mm (78.92mm)
Maximum aperture: f/4 (Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 6 elements in 4 groups
View angle: Diag. 58º
Minimum aperture: f/22
Focussing: 80º counterclockwise from infinity to close focus, 3 feet 3 3/8 inches
Weight: 10 3/8 ounces
Filter size: 58mm.
Mount available: Mamiya 7, Included lenshood and viewfinder.
List price: $2,017
Street price: $1,299


Lens Test Results
Resolution @ 80mm

aperture
f/
 lines/mm,
center 		rating lines/mm,
corner 		rating
    4.0 48 Excellent 32 Excellent
    5.6 55 Excellent 42 Excellent
    8.0 58 Excellent 42 Excellent
   11.0 58 Excellent 42 Excellent
   16.0 65 Excellent 37 Excellent
   22.0 55 Excellent 26 Very Good

Results: This standard lens for the Mamiya 7ii showed minimal barrel distortion (0.25 percent). Exposure was extremely accurate with less than 1/10 stop under-exposure, except at maximum aperture which showed 1/5 stop under-exposure due to light fall-off. At the measured minimum focusing distance of 53 inches (1:15.74), centre and corner sharpness were excellent at every aperture. Optimum performance was at f/11.
In the field, light fall-off was gone by f/5.6, and test slides were sharp and contrasty from centre to edge at all apertures.


150mm f/4.5 L Mamiya 7 N

Specifications: (Tested values in italics)
Focal length: 150mm (151.76mm)
Maximum aperture: f/4.5 (Tested measurement not available due to instrument limitation)
Construction: 6 elements in 5 groups
View angle: Diag. 34º
Minimum aperture: f/32
Focussing: 150º counterclockwise from infinity to close focus, 5 feet 10 7/8 inches
Weight: 1 LB 2 11/16 ounces
Filter size: 58mm.
Mount available: Mamiya 7, Included lenshood and viewfinder.
List price: $2,767
Street price: $1,799


Lens Test Results
Resolution @ 150mm

aperture
f/
 lines/mm,
center 		rating lines/mm,
corner 		rating
    4.5 42 Excellent 33 Excellent
    5.6 55 Excellent 33 Excellent
    8.0 60 Excellent 42 Excellent
   11.0 60 Excellent 47 Excellent
   16.0 55 Excellent 47 Excellent
   22.0 47 Excellent 37 Excellent
   32.0 35 V. Good 27 V. Good

Results: Mamiya's 150mm f/4.5 had minimal pincushion distortion (0.45 percent). Exposure was extremely accurate (less than 1/10 stop under-exposure), except at maximum aperture (1/5 stop under-exposure due to light fall-off). At the measured minimum focusing distance of 69 inches (1:10.36), centre and corner sharpness were excellent at every aperture. Optimum performance was at f/11.
In the field, light fall-off was gone by f/5.6. Field test slides showed slight softness, centre and corners, at minimum aperture; all other apertures produced uniformly sharp and contrasty slides.

Tested August 2000.

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