Mamiya RZ67 Portraits | Best Mamiya RZ Portrait Lens | 110mm f/2.8
Mamiya RZ67 portraits shot in Budapest (mostly) . All photos taken with the best Mamiya RZ portrait lens.. the amazing Mamiya Sekor 110mm /2.8.
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Mamiya RZ67 Pro II Portraits with the 110mm lens
Mamiya RZ67 Portraits – Here are a series of film scan images I shot on my Mamiya RZ67 Pro II 6×7 medium format film camera. I used the Mamiya 110mm f2.8 lens (as pictured above) and the amazingly big and bright Mamiya RZ waist level viewfinder.
Best Mamiya RZ67 portrait lens?
I have a few lenses for the Mamiya RZ67 Pro II camera system. I have a 65mm (crazy sharp), 90mm, 110mm and 180mm. The best Mamiya RZ67 portrait lens has to be the mamiya Sekor 110mm f2.8. Even for non-portraits it is still the number one lens. The bellows focusing coupled with the fast f2.8 aperture can create super shallow depth of field when working close to a subject. Even the most boring object can become fine art with this lens. I find the 180mm flattens the face too much for portraiture but I know some photographers prefer that look. The 65mm is excellent for wider scenes and is the sharpest lens of those I use.
Mamiya RZ 6×6 Film Back
I opted for my Mamiya RZ 6×6 film back rather than the standard RZ 6×7 film back. After using my Hasselblad 501C / 500CM cameras a lot I prefer composing as a square than 6×7. I used a mixture of film stocks for the shoot but many of the colour photos were shot on expired 120 Kodak Portra 160 film.
Overseas location shoot with the Mamiya RZ
All the photos were shot on a model photography trip to Budapest in February 2017 when I finally decided to take the big Mamiya RZ67 overseas (for the first time I think). Since then I have gone back to travelling with a Hasselblad camera or if I need to travel light only Leica M cameras. Hasselblad cameras are nice but the Mamiya RZ67 viewfinder is still the best (biggest, brightest, easiest to focus) and I enjoy the Mamiya RZ bellows system where I can focus as close as I wish with any lens. (Like the even more amazing Rolleiflex SL66E camera which also uses bellows but is always breaking / jammed).
Hasselblad vs Mamiya RZ67 – Portraits
I have blogged my thoughts on the Hasselblad vs. Mamiya RZ67 comparison before. 12 months (or so) on and with me now using more Hasselblad equipment I think the Mamiya RZ photos here render smoother than my Hasselblad photos (that I can think of) and using the above mentioned Mamiya Sekor 110mm f2.8 lens the sharpness is fantastic. Both the Mamiya RZ67 Pro II and the Hasselblad 500CM /501C are very good cameras.
Budapest Models
A big thanks to the Budapest models Petra, Patricia and Nora. I was using multiple cameras so the other girls may have been shot on a 35mm Leica film camera or digital Leica M240.
Nice detail
*(I don’t normally say this but I would strongly recommend you to click any image that catches your eye to view larger on Flickr as small size here really doesn’t do the camera / lens / model justice!).
Mamiya RZ67 Portraits – Flickr photos
More Mamiya RZ Portrait Images
Here are a few more Mamiya RZ67 Pro II portraits with UK models Sophie, Stacey and Lindsay
You might also like –
If you love the 6×7 format you can also consider these cameras
Pentax 67
Plaubel Makina 67
Fuji GF670
Mamiya 7
Related Posts
- Budapest Model Photography Trip – February 2017
- Mamiya RZ67 Pro II with 6×6 Film Back
- Mamiya RZ67 Polaroid Back
- Mamiya RZ67 Pro II Camera
- Mamiya RZ67 vs Hasselblad
- Wikipedia – Mamiya RZ67
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Hi Matt
I really prefer your pictures made with the Makro-Planar 120mm lens. They have that special 2D look , rarely seen on the pictures, made with other lenses ( some Leica lenses could do that. I also like Sonnar type lenses, especially 180 MM Sonnar for Hasselblad, but it is too long)
BTW – have you tried Heliar lens for Leica? ( 50mm f 3.5 – classic Heliar formula with modern coatings) I have not tried myself, however I really like the bokeh and 2D look it can bring to the pictures. Just one thing – it looks ugly – I really don’t understand the design…
Hi Mikhail, Ah yes the 120mm is crazy sharp! The 110mm probably gives the best pop look for the RZ. Yes 180mm Sonnar is good, there are examples on my Flickr. Big lens though as you say! No i’ve not tried the Heliar but I know of it. Maybe I can pick one up one day to try. My best Heliar is on the Fuji GF670 camera.. one of the best performing lenses I own, up there with the Makro-Planar, 75mm APO, 90mm Macro-Elmar..
Hi Mikhail, I did some research after you messaged me. I was extremely impressed with the Heliar and I managed to find one for sale at a good price in the UK. It seems a good lens to own and a good investment long term as there are not many listed on eBay. It is not the ideal time to test lenses as no models during lockdown but keep your eyes open and I will share test results once I have it. Thanks for bringing this lens to my attention. (I have never looked at the results from this lens before. That sold it to me even though I have other 50mm.. as you say the pop look is like nothing else i’ve seen on common 50mm lenses.
Hi Matt. I hope you will not be disappointed and will be lucky to get a good example of this Heliar. I hope you will share with us the pictures shot through it!
The name ‘Heliar” is being used widely, however just a few lenses would have the real “classic” Heliar formula. I used to work with one of the real Heliars on the old Bessa-2 camera. This 6×9 camera was very difficult to focus and compose the frame, however if everything was OK – the pictures it delivered were quite impressive for that “special” Heliar look – extremely smooth transition from the sharp part of the picture to the part out of focus, so called “bokeh”.
BTW – Mamiya RZ has 180 mm W lens ( not W-N one! This one is of Tessar formula, too sharp) This W lens supposed to be of Heliar formula as well – but I’m not sure if Mamiya recreated exactly the same famous Heliar look…
Regards
Mikhail
Hi Mikhail, thanks. It is from a shop so I can return it if it doesn’t do as I had hoped, Yes I will do a full lens review of course. The Bessa-2 sounds great. I recently discovered the Soviet Iskra 6×6 camera if you want to research it, The lens seems very good and better than my Rolleicord for pleasing results though it is not a Heliar. Mamiya 180mm – thanks. I only used it 1 or 2 times. It flattened the images too much for my taste. I went back to shorter lenses.
Hi Matt. Thanks, being myself from the former USSR – I only can comment the following: the engineers in the USSR were quite good ( they supposed to be good to support all these space and advanced military programs) – however the quality control on the factories was VERY poor ( because of many reasons) and you need to be lucky enough to get a good example of a camera or a lens from that era ( some of the Russian lenses had original smart formulas, like the wide angle Russar 20mm f 5.6 – not a clone of Biogon/Distagon ones) . If your example of Iskra camera was good… that meant you ARE the lucky guy and the Heliar you had ordered supposed to be a good one!
Regards
Mikhail
Thanks Mikhail, Yes it seems I am lucky. My Iskra seems excellent and my Jupiter 3 also (see blog). Far better than it ‘should be’! 🙂 I like former USSR stuff. I have the Orion-15 too, and various other stuff. Matt
..My FED-2 also seems better than I expected! 🙂
Hi Matt. Have you received the Heliar lens?
Hi Michail, yes. I haven’t used it much as during lockdown i’m doing mostly close up photos or running with light cameras and lenses.