Kowa 6, or Mamiya C220
F. Hayashi
I've received two offers.
One is for a Kowa 6, and the other is for a Mamiya C220.
Besides one being SLR and the other being TLR, any comments on which one
is more likely to keep me happy?
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fumitaka Hayashi - hay...@u.washington.edu |
| http://macrophage.immunol.washington.edu/~fumi/index.html |
| Aderem Lab - Dept. of Immunology - University of Washington |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
David & Robyn Brown
>
> I'm trading one of my 35mm cameras for a medium format camera, and so far,
> I've received two offers.
>
> One is for a Kowa 6, and the other is for a Mamiya C220.
>
> Besides one being SLR and the other being TLR, any comments on which one
> is more likely to keep me happy?
Don't know what will make you happy ... ;)
I have both - a Kowa Six and a C220. I use the Kowa much more, myself,
but I would advise the Mamiya if you are just starting. Lenses and
accessories will be easier to find, and the prices will be comparable.
If you have a chance to inspect and play with both, shoose the one you
like the best!
Good luck.
David
YOBRO1
and attachments are hard to find. I've got the 85 and a 150 lens,90 degree
prism,waist level finder and it runs about 40 lbs.Largest production prints are
5x5 and I'm having problems finding proff books(I'v been away from the still
wedding scene and the dist. I knew before have all gone out of business.After
all this I would not give mine up for anything.
D.Grabowski
<hay...@u.washington.edu> wrote:
>I'm trading one of my 35mm cameras for a medium format camera, and so far,
>I've received two offers.
>
>One is for a Kowa 6, and the other is for a Mamiya C220.
>
>Besides one being SLR and the other being TLR, any comments on which one
>is more likely to keep me happy?
>
>
>+-------------------------------------------------------------+
>| Fumitaka Hayashi - hay...@u.washington.edu |
>| http://macrophage.immunol.washington.edu/~fumi/index.html |
>| Aderem Lab - Dept. of Immunology - University of Washington |
>+-------------------------------------------------------------+
My introduction to medium format was via Minolta Autocord, shot some
real nice photos with that camera . I grasped the parallax problem
fairly well. When I went on the search for more expandable equipment
as well as affordable equipment, I found myself in the exact same boat
you are in. While one option was for the C220 I upscaled one notch to
the C330 and ultimately ended up with a 220 as backup. My reason for
passing on the Kowa was the simple fact that like the Mamiya, it is no
longer in production , however, nor are the repair parts unlike
Mamiya. My intended use was primarily wedding and portraiture , the
Mamiya lenses lend themselves well to this environment and backup
service and parts are readily available.
My opinion on your options here would be : If you need reliability and
are going to depend on the camera to complete hired jobs skip over the
Kowa. If you are looking for an affordable start and want to
experience medium format , either option will do that. The Kowa
lenses are reported to be very good as well as reliable , I feel they
will exibit more contrast than the C lenses , sharpness will be
compareable . You may or may not find yourself at odds with the TLR
parallax situation , but the Kowa mirror is in the way on the shot,
the Mamiya is perfectly repairable and fairly reasonable to do. The
Kowa bodies are reported to need attention more so than the C220
bodies, repairability for the Kowa is limited to a few places and
parts could be a problem. FWIW, a C330 will indicate where the top of
the frame should be situated , thus acting as a compensator for
parallax and it will cock it's own lens. The C220 has no indication
for parallax and you cock the lens on each and every shot , but there
is less to go wrong within the body as compared to either the C330 or
the Kowa.When I even mentioned Kowa at the local shop( several years
ago) I use for camera repair , they literally almost laughed me out of
the place. When my latest 330 needed advance work they said bring it
in, I did they ordered parts from Mamiya and I had it back the
following week with a $50 repair bill including parts . The other side
of this is when I was considering a Kowa, I contacted a man in
California that claims to repair Kowa regularly. There would be
shipping costs and general maintainance would be a set rate of $150 ,
don't know about specific repair.
Both cameras are good shooters , for higher contrast images and
pleasure shooting the Kowa may beat out the Mamiya TLR. Lens hoods,
filters and the like will be a natural for you on the Kowa and a pain
in the butt to work out on the TLR.Keep in mind that there are plenty
of people shooting both systems out there and these are only my views
on the matter, other people may be able to help you more than this.
Best regards,
David Grabowski
DKTEAT
Say your posting on the Kowa vs. Mamiya and was very interested in your
opinion. Sounds like you have had quite a bit of experience with the TLR.
If I could trouble you for a few minutes. I picked up a used Yashica12 to edge
into MF and have been quite pleased with it. But would like to ask your
opinion.
I shoot primarily Nature related stock images. I find the images from the MF
Yashica are much sharper and clearer than my 35mm. I have been shooting 35mm
for about 6 years now and do alot of closeup flower portraits.
I find the 80mm.3.5 fixed lens on the Yashica a little limited and the idea of
being able to change lens as on the Mamiya is very inticing... Your statement
on the Mamiya 330 having the view finder marked for closeups to adjust for
parallax was very interesting (I hadn't heard this point before).
I like the all manual Yashica and the waist level veiw finder is ideal for
working close the ground....
What do you think... Mamiya 330, 220 or one of the SLRs?
Thanks for your time!
Don
dkt...@aol.com
stan clark
it.
It's hard to interchange lenses with the Yashika. :-) The Mamiya
appears to be more of a bulldozer also.
I just sold a paramender on ebay auction for $66. It's clever, but
difficult to use for a wedding "ring shot." It requires a tripod.
That Mamiya bellows is impressive indeed!
I'm sorry to butt into your newsgroup, but a guy sold me a Pentax 6X7
he said was used in the JFK autopsy, and I'm trying to sell it. The
camera came out 6 years after the autopsy. Whatever. Stan
D.Grabowski wrote in message
<364f79ae...@newshost.capecod.net>...
>On 15 Nov 1998 18:44:47 GMT, dkt...@aol.com (DKTEAT) wrote:
>
>>David,
>>
>>Say your posting on the Kowa vs. Mamiya and was very interested in
your
>>opinion. Sounds like you have had quite a bit of experience with
the TLR.
>
>I've shot more than a few rolls of film through them for sure, but
>claim to be no expert. I'll help where I can, others are probably far
>more qualified than me to answer your technical questions, I can
offer
>my interpretation as experienced from my personal findings and what's
>common knowledge only ..
>>
>
>>I shoot primarily Nature related stock images. I find the images
from the MF
>>Yashica are much sharper and clearer than my 35mm. I have been
shooting 35mm
>>for about 6 years now and do alot of closeup flower portraits.
>
>This is an area that I do not delve too deeply into . I can tell you
>that the Mamiya works very well on bridal bouquets but this is shot
as
>an overview or arrangement with the entire bouquet and ring hands. To
>pick out a specific flower you would be able to shoot close,I believe
>the bellows will let you in far closer than with the yashica, though
>depth of field would be quite limited. I like the 65mm. lense for
>close work, though others are good too the 65 lets you in very close
>to the subject. Distorsion can be a factor here but for what I do it
>works well.
>>
>>I find the 80mm.3.5 fixed lens on the Yashica a little limited and
the idea of
>>being able to change lens as on the Mamiya is very inticing... Your
statement
>>on the Mamiya 330 having the view finder marked for closeups to
adjust for
>>parallax was very interesting (I hadn't heard this point before).
>
>This is not a super accurate method of correcting for closeup shots .
>It works, and a dial on the side lets you alter the correction for
>each available lens, it corralates with a moving bar below the viewer
>screen. It will get you in the ball park and you surely will know
>where the top of the frame is, in time you get a feel for where the
>bottom is too. A better way is to use the Mamiya Paramender .This
>devise mounts under the camera( tripod mounted) and allows you to
>focus as normal and then raise the camera the exact amount equal to
>the spacing between the viewing and taking lenses. This not only
>cures the parallex problem in terms of maintaining a full frame but
>keeps the proper angle of perspective you initially aimed at. With
>this devise the C220 is as accurate as the C330 in regards to framing
>your shot, that is to say , the two cameras are equal regarding
>framing when using the devise..
>>
>>I like the all manual Yashica and the waist level veiw finder is
ideal for
>>working close the ground....
>
>Yes , I understand ! If you like the waist level viewer of the
Yashica
>you will really like the Mamiya, it's far more clear to view through
>IMO and with a Brightscreen or Beatie Intenscreen it is all the more
>desirable, again IMO. My current C220 F has as nice a viewer as you
>would ever want to look through, it is as clear and detailed as a TLR
>could ever be IMO. The 330 I currently own leaves a little to be
>desired and it's still far clearer than the Yashica screens. I owned
>a 330 for a while that had the improved screen with a split prism in
>the center and it was great. Traded that camera in because of some
>other problems and neglected to pull the sreen out before I let it
go,
>my mistake and still kicking my butt about it!!
>>
>>What do you think... Mamiya 330, 220 or one of the SLRs?
>
>This is apsolutely pure opinion as based on my limited closeup
>experience with TLRs :For semi quick grab shooting fairly close up
and
>handheld the 330 will do with it's internal indicator of parallax,I
>know it works great for weddings and people shooting at reasonable
>close ranges and as I stated ,for the floral arrangements. It beats
>the 220 for on the go shooting. If you go the paramender route and
>don't mind slow deliberate actions and doing your own cocking the 220
>is fine as is the 330 still. One note though , the 220 viewers are
>perfectly interchangeable but the screens are more troublesome than
>the 330 screen, the latter takes about 3 minutes to change.
>
>Just as a little side note here, FWIW and for general scenic shooting
>for my own pleasure I tend to use the 220 with an 80 mm. lens and
>Cokin hood. Its sharp and clear viewing , results are contrasty and
>sharp enough to do it for me. That camera is a little lighter than
the
>330 , I just like it.
>
> For true closeup work and Macro capability where extention tubes and
>macro lenses or closeup add on lenses are likely to be your cup of
>tea, your stuck with the more costly SLR route.
>
>regards,
>David Grabowski
Robert Monaghan
style or needs are, and so any opinions would likely be projecting our
preferences onto your (unknown) needs ;-)
see http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/tlr.html and mf/cameras.html for
specifics on kowa 6 (mf/kowa6.html) and mamiya c220, including online manual
doing closeup work? SLR need quiet camera for weddings? TLR lowest
system cost - a tossup here. Probably either camera would work fine for
90% of most folks photography - but it depends on your needs and interests...
You might read Danny Gonzalez's great medium format camera reviews at
http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/gindex.html for more hands on views and
details too...
regards bobm
--
* Robert Monaghan POB752182 Dallas Tx 75275-2182 rmon...@post.cis.smu.edu *
* Bronica 6x6 medium format: http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/bronica.html site *
* Medium Format Cameras: http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/index.html megasite*
D.Grabowski
D.Grabowski
wrote:
>Trade for the Kowa, and if you don't like it, I'll trade you a 220 for
Stan, I'm not trading anything , just giving my opinion.
>it.
>
>It's hard to interchange lenses with the Yashika. :-) The Mamiya
>appears to be more of a bulldozer also.
You can't interchange lenses on the Yashica !
>
>I just sold a paramender on ebay auction for $66. It's clever, but
>difficult to use for a wedding "ring shot." It requires a tripod.
I wouldn't try to use it for a ring shot, the man asking for info
might like to use it for flowers or still life though. For that matter
, my wife loves shooting flowers and she might like a paramender with
the 220 if I could get her to give up the 19 year old K1000 for a few
shots !
>
>That Mamiya bellows is impressive indeed!
Yes and it comes with the package at no extra charge..
>
>I'm sorry to butt into your newsgroup, but a guy sold me a Pentax 6X7
>he said was used in the JFK autopsy, and I'm trying to sell it. The
>camera came out 6 years after the autopsy. Whatever. Stan
Your not butting in at all as these are everyones newsgroups, your on
track as far as subject matter , but I feel you may have misunderstood
who was posting what.. Also, people will say anything to make a sale !
David Grabowski
Vickiedogs
to have it overhaled,there is a guy in Los Angles
by the name of Ross Yerks that workes on them reasonable it Ross Yerks camera
repair
he overhauled my 6MM for $130.00 hes good
LPullen302
would part with one . They are all Super 66
BenPudd
how much ...please describe..I am interested
Ben