Mamiya Mamiyaflex (1948–early 1950s)

Name: Mamiya Mamiyaflex
Brand: Mamiya

The Mamiyaflex is the twin-lens reflex that started Mamiya in the camera business. It eventually led to the interchangeable-lens C-series line that collectors know far better today. Documentation on the earliest models is thin, but what survives shows the family tree clearly enough.

The original Mamiyaflex appears to date to the late 1940s. A Mamiyaflex Junior listed as "Occupied Japan 1948" sold at auction for $161.50, and the "Occupied Japan" mark puts it in the immediate postwar window. The Mamiyaflex II followed in 1952. It added a sports finder and combined the shutter cocking and film advance mechanisms. A Mamiyaflex C model arrived around 1956-57 and brought in the bellows focusing and interchangeable lens system that became the signature of the C-series. From there the line split into the C2 and C3, then went on through the C22, C33, C220, C330 and beyond. One Flickr user called the C2 "the grandmother" of that whole interchangeable-lens TLR dynasty.

Surviving examples have a metal body in silver, and at least some models carry an 80mm f/2.8 taking lens. The system grew to include other optics. One current European dealer offers a Mamiyaflex with both 105mm Sekor and 65mm Sekor lenses for €499. The Mamiyaflex C2, from about 1958, is the one usually seen with the accessory eye-level finder.

Detailed specifications for the base model are hard to pin down. No original price, no shutter speed range and no dimensions are documented in the sources found. Even the exact production years of the earliest Mamiyaflex are inferred from that "Occupied Japan" auction listing, not from any factory record. The C-series descendants are far better documented, and far more common on the used market today.

Known specs, such as they are:

Twin-lens reflex camera, 120 film
Manual focus
Metal body, silver finish
Some examples fitted with 80mm f/2.8 lens
Mamiyaflex II (1952): added sports finder; combined shutter cocking and film advance
Mamiyaflex C (c. 1956–57): interchangeable lenses via bellows focusing

Accessory grips for the Mamiyaflex TLR surface occasionally, listed at $125 in excellent condition. The Mamiyaflex Junior with flash attachment sold for $161.50 at auction. Beyond those data points the record is thin. Most of the documented history belongs to the C-series.