Mamiya

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Mamiya is a Japanese camera maker, founded in 1940 and that progressively specialized itself in professional medium format cameras.

Company history

Mamiya was founded in May 1940 as Mamiya Kōki Seisakusho (マミヤ光機製作所, Mamiya Optical Works). It was based in Tokyo, Hongo[1], and its first camera was the Mamiya Six, a 6×6 folder with coupled rangefinder that was focused by moving the film plane. There were many versions in the Mamiya Six series, but it was the only Mamiya model for eight years.

Mamiya began to make its own Stamina shutters and Neocon lenses from 1947 in the Setagaya (世田谷) plant. In 1950, the Setagaya plant became the depending company Setagaya Kōki K.K. (世田谷光機㈱), making the shutters and lenses. The name Sekor that appears on most Mamiya lenses comes from Setagaya Kōki, with r probably for renzu (レンズ, lens). Setagaya Kōki was again merged into Mamiya Kōki in 1963.

From 1948 the Mamiya range became more diversified, with the introduction of the Mamiyaflex series of 6×6 TLRs in 1948, the Mamiya 35 series of 35mm fixed lens rangefinder in 1949 and the Mamiya 16 series of 16mm film subminiature cameras in the same year. Together with the Mamiya Six, these four series were the basis of the Mamiya range throughout the 1950s. In 1950, yhe company name was changed to Mamiya Kōki Kabushiki Kaisha (マミヤ光機㈱, Mamiya Optical Co., Ltd.). The last Mamiya Six version appeared in 1958.

In 1957 Mamiya introduced two innovative designs, the Magazine 35, a 35mm camera with interchangeable backs, that only met a limited success, and the Mamiyaflex C, a 6×6 TLR with interchangeable lens pairs, that would be the first of a long series.

The first Mamiya 35mm SLR was the Prismat, launched in 1960. The same year Mamiya introduced the Mamiya Press, a medium format press camera inspired by some Linhof models. Mamiya dropped the 35mm rangefinders around the mid 1960s, and the range at the end of the 1960s was formed by the Press, the Mamiya C and the 35mm SLRs.

The RB67 Professional 6×7 SLR in 1970, the M645 4.5×6 SLR in 1975 and the RZ67 Professional 6×7 SLR in 1982 confirmed Mamiya's orientation towards the medium format professional market. Mamiya made a last attempt towards the amateur market at the end of the 1970s with some rangefinder and point and shoot 35mm cameras, together with their continuing series of 35mm SLRs, but the company went bankrupt in 1984 and it stopped producing 35mm cameras.

After that, Mamiya continued as a specialized medium format camera maker, with the M645 Super 4.5×6 SLR from 1985, new versions of the RB67, RZ67 and Mamiya C, the new Mamiya 6 6×6 format rangefinder from 1989 and its successor the Mamiya 7 6×7 rangefinder from 1995. In 1993, the company name was changed to Mamiya-OP K.K. (マミヤ・オーピー㈱).

Mamiya introduced the autofocus in the 645 AF 4.5×6 SLR in 1999, and tried to catch on the digital move with the release of the Mamiya ZD 22 megapixel "digital medium format camera" in 2004.

On Apr 21st, 2006, Mamiya announced that it transfered all the camera activity to a company called Cosmo Digital Imaging (コスモ・デジタル・イメージング㈱).

Digital

  • Mamiya ZD

Medium format

6×6 TLR

6×4.5 SLR

6×7 SLR

6×6 Folder

6×6 Rangefinder

6×7 Rangefinder

6×9 Rangefinder

See also Polaroid 600 and Polaroid 600SE.

35mm film

SLR

Fixed Lens Mamiya

Mamiya Prismat

  • Mamiya Prism Flex
  • Mamiya Pentaflex
  • Mamiya Prismat
  • Mamiya Prismat NP
  • Mamiya Prismat PH
  • Mamiya Prismat CPH
  • Mamiya Prismat CWP

Mamiya TL/DTL-Series

  • Mamiya TL 500
  • Mamiya TL 1000
  • Mamiya DTL 500
  • Mamiya DTL 1000
  • Mamiya DTL 1000 (black)
  • Mamiya DTL 2000

Mamiya X-Series

Mamiya SX-Series

Mamiya NC-Series

Mamiya Z-Series

Fixed lens rangefinder

  • Mamiya 35 I
  • Mamiya 35 II (f:3.5 and f:2.8)
  • Mamiya 35 III (f:2.8 and f:2)
  • Mamiya Magazine 35
  • Mamiya 35 S (f:2.8 and f:1.9)
  • Mamiya 35 S2 (f:2.8 and f:1.9)
  • Mamiya 35 Crown
  • Mamiya Elca
  • Mamiya 35 Metra
  • Mamiya 35 Metra 2
  • Mamiya 35 Auto Metra
  • Mamiya 35 Auto Deluxe
  • Mamiya 35 Auto Deluxe 2
  • Mamiya 35 Ruby (f:2.8 and f:1.9)
  • Mamiya 35 Ruby Standard
  • Mamiya 35 M3
  • Mamiya 35 EE Super Merit
  • Mamiya 4B
  • Mamiya 35 Super Deluxe (f:1.7 and f:1.5)
  • Mamiya 135

Fixed lens viewfinder

  • Mammy
  • Mamiya Automatic 35 EE
  • Mamiya 35 EE Merit
  • Mamiya 135 EF
  • Mamiya U
  • Mamiya EF2

Wide angle fixed lens

  • Mamiya Wide (with rangefinder)
  • Mamiya Wide E (no rangefinder)

AF point and shoot

  • Mamiya 135 AF
  • Mamiya M
  • Mamiya M Time Memory

24×24mm format

  • Mamiya Sketch

18×24mm format

  • Mamiya Myrapid

16mm film

  • Mamiya 16
  • Mamiya Super 16
  • Mamiya Super 16 II
  • Mamiya Super 16 III
  • Mamiya 16 Automat
  • Mamiya 16 Deluxe
  • Mamiya 16 EE Deluxe

Notes

  1. ↑ Its address in 1943 was Tōkyō-to Hongō-ku Higashi-Katamachi 180 (東京都本郷区東片町180). Source: "Kokusan shashinki no genjōchōsa" ("Inquiry into Japanese cameras"), listing the Japanese camera production as of April 1943.

Bibliography

Links

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