Mamiya 645 Pro TL (1997–2006)

Name: Mamiya 645 Pro TL
Brand: Mamiya

The Mamiya 645 Pro TL is a medium-format 6×4.5 SLR, made in Japan from 1997 to 2006. It's the end of the manual-focus Mamiya 645 line, which began with the original M645 in 1975. It was effectively the final word before the autofocus 645 AF series took over from late 1999. The "TL" means through-the-lens metering, and specifically the addition of through-the-lens flash metering (off-the-film, or OTF) over the earlier 645 Pro. Otherwise it's very similar to the 645 Pro and shares that model's modular design.

Like the other cameras in the Super/Pro/Pro TL/E group, the Pro TL makes fifteen 6×4.5 cm images on a roll of 120 film. The body is mostly polycarbonate, a deliberate change from the metal bodies of the earlier M645 models. The lens mount is the same bayonet used across the whole manual-focus 645 lineup, so any manual-focus Mamiya 645 lens fits. The system runs from an ultra-wide 24mm f/4 to a 500mm f/4.5 telephoto. Film backs are removable modular units, electronically linked to the body, so the film speed set on the back's dial is communicated automatically. The camera accepts backs for 220, 135 (including a panoramic adapter giving a 13×36 mm frame), and Polaroid 100- or 600-series packs. Interlocks stop you removing a back without the dark slide, and stop the shutter releasing while a dark slide is inserted.

The shutter is an electronically-timed, horizontally-traveling cloth focal-plane type, with speeds from 4 seconds to 1/1000 plus bulb. It has a mechanically-timed 1/60 fallback, so the camera still works with a dead battery. A single PX-28 6V alkaline (or equivalent 4SR-44 silver oxide / 4LR44 alkaline) powers it. The viewfinder is not interchangeable with earlier M645 cameras, only within this series. Screens are removable and a range of alternatives existed, with the standard one having split-prism and microprism aids. There is a manual mirror-up control on the left side, a multi-exposure control on the right, a hot shoe, and a PC socket. The tripod bush is 3/8 inch, with a 1/4-inch adapter fitted as supplied.

Documentation on the Pro TL specifically is thinner than on its siblings. Much of what circulates groups it with the Super, Pro, and E. Kamerastore lists it simply as a 6×4.5 SLR introduced in 1997 with interchangeable lenses, film backs, finders, and grips. No original price, weight, or dimensions are recorded in the sources gathered here. Nothing authoritative on common failures or long-term reliability turned up, only scattered owner chatter and a passing reference to a shutter problem possibly traced to a dirty magnet or solenoid. By 1997, a wedding shooter buying into 645 had two real choices pulling in opposite directions. The Pentax 645N offered autofocus, while the Mamiya 645 Pro TL remained a thoroughly modular, manual-focus system camera. The autofocus cousin is still made and sold today as a digital camera.

Format: 15 exposures, 6×4.5 cm on 120 roll film
Lens mount: Mamiya 645 bayonet (same across the manual-focus 645 series)
Shutter: Electronically-timed cloth focal-plane, 4s–1/1000 + B, with mechanical 1/60 fallback
Metering: TTL, including OTF flash metering (the "TL" addition)
Film backs: Interchangeable modular units for 120, 220, 135, and Polaroid packs
Body: Polycarbonate
Battery: One PX-28 6V alkaline (or 4SR-44 / 4LR44 equivalent)
Production: 1997–2006, Japan