Mamiya 6 (1957–1995, multiple generations)
The name "Mamiya 6" covers three different cameras spread across four decades, and the record on each is uneven. The one most people mean is the modern folding rangefinder Mamiya introduced in 1989. It marked the company's return to the interchangeable-lens rangefinder market. It was in production until 1995. New, the body sold for $1,900, and the standard 6×6 outfit (body plus the 75mm f/3.5 lens) went for $3,300. The lenses are a trio of bayonet-mount optics: 50mm f/4, 75mm f/3.5, and 150mm f/4.5. The camera folds flat when not in use, has a between-the-lens leaf shutter, and makes 6×6 cm images on 120 film. High Fidelity (December 1970, p.47) never reviewed this later model, but its Mamiya/Sekor DTL advertising from that era shows how the company positioned itself - cameras that let a working photographer move fast and make exposure choices without fiddling. That same approach carried into the Mamiya 6's design.
Before the 1989 camera, two earlier folding 6×6 cameras carried the Mamiya 6 name. The original appeared in 1957 with a Mamiya-Sekor 75mm f/3.5 lens and zone focusing. Despite the name, it had no rangefinder. A second folding model followed in 1969, this time with a real rangefinder and again a Mamiya-Sekor 75mm f/3.5. Documentation on both is thin. No dimensions, weights, shutter details or original prices have surfaced in the sources we have. They were simple folders, and the 1969 model in particular was the conceptual ancestor of the 1989 camera.
Known specs for the 1989 Mamiya 6:
- Medium format 6×6 cm rangefinder, folding design
- Interchangeable bayonet lenses: 50mm f/4, 75mm f/3.5, 150mm f/4.5
- Between-the-lens leaf shutter
- Produced 1989–1995
- New price: $1,900 (body), $3,300 (standard outfit with 75mm lens)
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