It is hit and miss. Some of the Zuikos had a glass type that overtime deteriorated and cannot be fixed. But, apparently it is still possible to find perfect Zuiko lenses if you spend a lot of time and manually examine them as we have. Our Zuiko lens is perfect. These Mamiya Six cameras are now extremely hard to find in shops. I recently spent a week in the best vintage camera city in the world and could not find even one on the shelf in more than 50 shops.
I got a MAMIYA 6 AUTOMAT in mid 2023, the original Olympus lens has deteriorated and got haze between glasses. Swaped it to a Carl Zeiss Tessar 75mm f/3.5 (maybe from a Rolleiflex donor camera), patched borken bezel then carried it for a trip to Japan. It went flawlessly, the copal shutter is running quite accurate even after almost 70 years later. The only thing it needs is a piece of rag for cleaning and few drops oil for lubrication. Really nice camera and really nice video, big thanks from China.
Anly downside is the rangefinder/viewfinder due to the lack of frame guidance, I feel tricky to compose the frame. Also, the focus mechanism is easy to adjust since it doesn't focus depend on lens, simple and reliable.
Thanks for your great experience. Trying to change the Olympus lens to a Carl Zeiss shows real committment and some risk. I am amazed you managed to synchronize the new lens with the rangefinder. It must have been a careful calibration job. Now you have a truely unique combination.
@@TechHeritage Sure thing. Focus plane is basically same, but zeiss lens has thinner design, the only tool I used were just a caliper and a fine file, with a lot trail and error.
Thank you for taking the time to post this positive comment. This channel is all about deep dives into the subject matter. There is a lot more where this video came from. I look forward to your comments on the other camera reviews.
Thank you very much for the video. This is a great history lessen with tons of hard to find information. I've just learned that I have a model II and a model V A and not a model III and V as I always thought. I love these cameras, especially the V. I've shot dozens of rolls through it and it traveled with me all around the world for the past years as my main film camera. I replaced the bellows and I did a thorough CLA when I got it and it still works like the day it left the factory 70 years ago. The CLA was one of the easiest I've ever done. What a beautiful design and craftsmanship, even under the hood
Thanks for sharing your experience. Your model II is very rare and hard to find. I wander if you determined if it is the pre-war version or the post war version. It’s revealed by the screws on the cold shoe. Your model Va is probably the best of all models.
@@TechHeritage The camera looks like a model III but it doesn't have a flash sync pin and also no self timer. It has two screws so I guess it's a post war model II. But maybe it's just a III with a different shutter assembly. If it was produced right after the war then they probably just used what they had found in the ruins.
It's always a pleasure to watch these videos, full of the most relevant and complete information about very interesting cameras. Some years ago, I "discovered" these folding medium format cameras and started to read and listen to all the information I could get to be able to decide which brand and model I should look for, and the Mamiya Six Automat was my first choice. But after looking for pictures on Flickr, I ended to buy a N.K.K. Wester Autorol, a camera I shoot with quite often. Best regards
@TechHeritage It would be lovely for the Wester Autorol's community if you offer one of these excellent videos about their camera. We know that the quality of the image we see on the Internet depends on a bunch of factors, like the photographer, the film, the scanning, any post processing, and so on. And we must not forget, when we are talking about +50 years lenses, the condition of the lens itself. So, for some reason, three or four years ago, the Wester Autorol pictures I found on Flickr pleased me more than those of Mamiya Six. But after my precedent message, I remembered that the final decision was because on Ebay, at that time, we could find dozens of Mamiyas Six for sale and just two Wester Autorol, and that feeling of exclusivity some how made my final choice. Cheers and all the best
Wester Autorol is certainly rare compared to Mamiya 6 as NKK did not last very long. But the cameras were very highly regarded, especially the lenses. We review cameras that we own (and we have almost 400). Sadly we dont have a Wester Autorol to prepare one of our usually detailed videos. If we get hold of one, we will certainly do an episode as suggested. It will be on my shopping list.
This just came up in my feed and a very interesting video thank you. I few years ago i was buying most of these models and completely rebuilding them as they were in poor condition. I have the knowledge to strip the shutters down to the aperture blades and do a proper CLA. Most of the bellows were replaced by camera bellows in Birmingham uk and the silvered mirror replaced as the double image was not even there. The only problem i had was with one automat model in that it will not focus and it does not need any shims so i have no idea how to reduce the distance between body and shutter. My other one works fine. I suspect that maybe the lens was swapped out in a past life. I will take another look at it sometime. Just finished rebuilding an Olympus 35 SP which is working as only a manual camera now as the cds cell is corroded by battery acid traveling up the wire to the cell. Its still a beautiful camera and is quite a complicated shutter to put back together. Once again thanks for this informative video.
Thank you for sharing your long experience of these Mamiya Six cameras. Please excuse me if I have mis-understood your description of the Automat that does not focus. You mentioned that you don't know how to reduce the distance between the body and shutter. Isn't that exactly the function of the rear focus? The thumb wheel changes the distance between the film plane and shutter. If the minimum distance is still not enough, perhaps the gear behind the thumb wheel has slipped. Alternatively it is actually in focus but the rangefinder patch is out of synch with it and does not confirm it (a common problem with many folding cameras). The only way to confirm which one is at fault is to first ignore the rangefinder. Open the back and attach a gound glass or similar exactly where the film plane would be at the closest distance of the pressure plate to the shutter. I usually use magic tape strips. Open the aperture. Put the shutter on B. Use a cable release, shoot and hold then lock the cable release to keep the aperture open. At night with the back still open point at street lights at a far distance. See if the picture on the ground glass or magic tape is in focus or not. You may have to use a magnifying glass to really confirm. If it is in focus, then the problem is the rangefinder calibration, which is not hard to fix. If the picture is not in focus, then the problem is with the calibration of the thumb wheel. Sorry if you already knew these tricks.
Thanks for this great video! After watching it I bought a Mamiya 6VA with a Zuiko lens. It arrived this afternoon and when I checked it I realized that the lens, unfortunately, is completely cloudy. I just left it at a technician's but I don't think he can fix it. I'm really dying to use this camera. Do you think it's possible to change the lens, just the glass elements, for others from the Automat model or any other from the previous or later versions, any that aren't Zuiko or aren't damaged?
I am truely sorry to hear that your Mamiya 6 Va has the dreaded Zuiko cloud problem. Perhaps you bought it before watching this video, since I actually gave a warning about these Zuiko lenses in the final conclusion. Unfortunately the original lens cannot be fixed by any technician. It is a defect in the glass used. When these cameras were still being sold by Mamiya, it was possible to swap the entire lens-shutter assembly to one of many choices offered by the company. Today, it woudl be hard to find a technican who would offer to do it for you. But if you are brave enough, you can do it. You will need a donor body first; a Mamiya 6 (not automat) which has a perfect lens (usually a Sekor lens) but a battered body being sold for parts. If the cloudiness is only in the front lens assembly, and your donor lens is also a perfect Zuiko, you can simply unscrew the front assembly by hand and replace it with a donor. It comes out as a unit complete with the metal frame. You can then swap with a donor. Otherwise, you will have to swap the entire lens-shutter assembly. After that you need to do a focus calibration, which is less difficult than it seems. Here we have 5 of these Mamiya 6's and to my amazement, all of them had perfect lenses! Even the one with the Zuiko was perfect, possibly a late model of Zuiko. So, I assume it is not hard to find a donor body with a perfect lens. I would not mix lens components from different brands.
Thanks for sharing. Yours probably comes with the Zuiko lens. If it is not suffering from the cloudiness by now, it probably means it is one of the good ones that will last.
@@TechHeritage It does indeed have the Zuiko lens. It does have some cloudiness on the rear element, a small ring on the edge caused by balsamic separation. Shutting down to f5.6 and smaller eliminates it.
Model P (as in popular) was suposed to be the simplest consumer model. But as long as the shutter speed is correct, the body should not impact the picture quality. It is all down to the lens. Your lens is not the very best that Mamiya 6 has to offer. However it should still provide excellent pictures on a massive negative. I suggst you carefully check the lens with a bright LED flash light to see if there is haze or dust or fungus on any of the internal surfaces. On these cameras, the front component can be easily removed by un-screwing. That will allow you to clean 4 lens surfaces without any further dismantling. For the lenses attached to the rear lens element, you need to keep the shutter open on the B setting and clean from the outside without removing. I suggest you try and see if it improves. Another suggestion: check for a pin hole in the bellows with a strong flash light in a dark room and try to fix with liquid rubber from inside. If the pin hole is very small, it will not appear as an obvious light leak but as an overall haze over the image.
@@TechHeritage the body itself is solid, no holes in bellows, and no haze in lens. The image is decent, but the corners are definitely pretty rough even stopped down. I’m thinking of looking for one with a Sekor lens. Thanks for the response
Thank you so much for putting this together! the mamiya 6 line up is very confusing and information is sparse! Would you be able to test/ answer something for me? I know with the automat you have to have the bellows out while winding for the shutter to cock and so if you want to wind without it cocking you just close the bellows. However on most of these you cant change the shutter speed after cocking the shutter to my knowledge. Does this mean the automat will lock your shutter speed in when you advance the film? Id see that as a huge disadvantage and would make the automat system kind of useless unless you only wind when you are about to take a shot.
Firstly thank you for the positive feedback. As you have discovered information on this subject is very confusing and inconsistent. Some information on important sites such as Wikipedia or Camerapedia is actually wrong and no-one seems to bother to correct it. I have tried to do all the hard research work to navigate this minefield so that you don't have to. Here we have 3 Mamiya 6 cameras of different periods. I can verify that you can change the shutter speed after cocking. However, after cocking, the shutter dial becomes noticeably stiffer. In some units, it becomes so stiff that it gives the impression that you cannot change the shutter speed after cocking. On those units I have done a little cleaning and lubrication of the mechanism and they have become (almost) as smooth after cocking. My understanding is that the actual shutter mechanisms on the Automat models is not substantially different to the other models. The difference is a relatively simple mechanical link that does the same job as the manual cocking (ie pushing a lever). Here we have many other folding cameras (not Mamiya 6) which automatically cock the shutter with film advance. I have checked and those also allow shutter change after cocking. This is all I know. If someone here has a different experience with Automat, please post a comment.
Re: the Model 3a (at 12.12) - is the second 'button' (unknown use) not a screw rather than a button? Or am I just an imbecile? (Very detailed video by the way - thanks for posting)...
You are always one of the first to watch my videos. Thank you. Other reviewers and camera listings have also referred to "two buttons", not a button and a screw. The pictures seem to indicate they are both raised like buttons. I have been in negotiations with a seller of this model for 2 months back and forth. If I manage to get it, I will verify 100% one way or another.
A late model automat would be Automat II. A little hard to find these days. Good luck camera hunting and share your experience. I am currently hard negotiating with a seller to get the IIIA, which is like a Unicorn.
I’ve had a Model IV for about 2 years and have been looking for an in depth video. You are amazing and I love the history lesson. Thank you very much
Thanks for the positive feedback.
The Zuiko is the best lens in them
It is hit and miss. Some of the Zuikos had a glass type that overtime deteriorated and cannot be fixed. But, apparently it is still possible to find perfect Zuiko lenses if you spend a lot of time and manually examine them as we have. Our Zuiko lens is perfect. These Mamiya Six cameras are now extremely hard to find in shops. I recently spent a week in the best vintage camera city in the world and could not find even one on the shelf in more than 50 shops.
It is, if you find a good one without fungus or oxydation
I have the first dual window after war model from 1947 or 48 with Olympus Zuiko coated lens it works perfect and makes pictures like a Rolleiflex
I got a MAMIYA 6 AUTOMAT in mid 2023, the original Olympus lens has deteriorated and got haze between glasses. Swaped it to a Carl Zeiss Tessar 75mm f/3.5 (maybe from a Rolleiflex donor camera), patched borken bezel then carried it for a trip to Japan. It went flawlessly, the copal shutter is running quite accurate even after almost 70 years later. The only thing it needs is a piece of rag for cleaning and few drops oil for lubrication. Really nice camera and really nice video, big thanks from China.
Anly downside is the rangefinder/viewfinder due to the lack of frame guidance, I feel tricky to compose the frame. Also, the focus mechanism is easy to adjust since it doesn't focus depend on lens, simple and reliable.
Thanks for your great experience. Trying to change the Olympus lens to a Carl Zeiss shows real committment and some risk. I am amazed you managed to synchronize the new lens with the rangefinder. It must have been a careful calibration job. Now you have a truely unique combination.
@@TechHeritage Sure thing. Focus plane is basically same, but zeiss lens has thinner design, the only tool I used were just a caliper and a fine file, with a lot trail and error.
Such a mass of information, definitely the deepest dive into M6 models. Thank you for putting it together
Thank you for taking the time to post this positive comment. This channel is all about deep dives into the subject matter. There is a lot more where this video came from. I look forward to your comments on the other camera reviews.
Thank you very much for the video. This is a great history lessen with tons of hard to find information. I've just learned that I have a model II and a model V A and not a model III and V as I always thought. I love these cameras, especially the V. I've shot dozens of rolls through it and it traveled with me all around the world for the past years as my main film camera. I replaced the bellows and I did a thorough CLA when I got it and it still works like the day it left the factory 70 years ago. The CLA was one of the easiest I've ever done. What a beautiful design and craftsmanship, even under the hood
Thanks for sharing your experience. Your model II is very rare and hard to find. I wander if you determined if it is the pre-war version or the post war version. It’s revealed by the screws on the cold shoe. Your model Va is probably the best of all models.
@@TechHeritage The camera looks like a model III but it doesn't have a flash sync pin and also no self timer. It has two screws so I guess it's a post war model II. But maybe it's just a III with a different shutter assembly. If it was produced right after the war then they probably just used what they had found in the ruins.
It's always a pleasure to watch these videos, full of the most relevant and complete information about very interesting cameras. Some years ago, I "discovered" these folding medium format cameras and started to read and listen to all the information I could get to be able to decide which brand and model I should look for, and the Mamiya Six Automat was my first choice. But after looking for pictures on Flickr, I ended to buy a N.K.K. Wester Autorol, a camera I shoot with quite often. Best regards
Thanks for sharing your experience. This prompts me to research the N.K.K Wester Autorol and see what it was that attracted you.
@TechHeritage It would be lovely for the Wester Autorol's community if you offer one of these excellent videos about their camera. We know that the quality of the image we see on the Internet depends on a bunch of factors, like the photographer, the film, the scanning, any post processing, and so on. And we must not forget, when we are talking about +50 years lenses, the condition of the lens itself. So, for some reason, three or four years ago, the Wester Autorol pictures I found on Flickr pleased me more than those of Mamiya Six. But after my precedent message, I remembered that the final decision was because on Ebay, at that time, we could find dozens of Mamiyas Six for sale and just two Wester Autorol, and that feeling of exclusivity some how made my final choice. Cheers and all the best
Wester Autorol is certainly rare compared to Mamiya 6 as NKK did not last very long. But the cameras were very highly regarded, especially the lenses. We review cameras that we own (and we have almost 400). Sadly we dont have a Wester Autorol to prepare one of our usually detailed videos. If we get hold of one, we will certainly do an episode as suggested. It will be on my shopping list.
This is the best video about cameras I've watched this year.❤❤❤I really appreciate it. THX A LOT!!
Wow, thank you!
This just came up in my feed and a very interesting video thank you. I few years ago i was buying most of these models and completely rebuilding them as they were in poor condition. I have the knowledge to strip the shutters down to the aperture blades and do a proper CLA. Most of the bellows were replaced by camera bellows in Birmingham uk and the silvered mirror replaced as the double image was not even there. The only problem i had was with one automat model in that it will not focus and it does not need any shims so i have no idea how to reduce the distance between body and shutter. My other one works fine. I suspect that maybe the lens was swapped out in a past life. I will take another look at it sometime. Just finished rebuilding an Olympus 35 SP which is working as only a manual camera now as the cds cell is corroded by battery acid traveling up the wire to the cell. Its still a beautiful camera and is quite a complicated shutter to put back together. Once again thanks for this informative video.
Thank you for sharing your long experience of these Mamiya Six cameras. Please excuse me if I have mis-understood your description of the Automat that does not focus. You mentioned that you don't know how to reduce the distance between the body and shutter. Isn't that exactly the function of the rear focus? The thumb wheel changes the distance between the film plane and shutter. If the minimum distance is still not enough, perhaps the gear behind the thumb wheel has slipped. Alternatively it is actually in focus but the rangefinder patch is out of synch with it and does not confirm it (a common problem with many folding cameras). The only way to confirm which one is at fault is to first ignore the rangefinder. Open the back and attach a gound glass or similar exactly where the film plane would be at the closest distance of the pressure plate to the shutter. I usually use magic tape strips. Open the aperture. Put the shutter on B. Use a cable release, shoot and hold then lock the cable release to keep the aperture open. At night with the back still open point at street lights at a far distance. See if the picture on the ground glass or magic tape is in focus or not. You may have to use a magnifying glass to really confirm. If it is in focus, then the problem is the rangefinder calibration, which is not hard to fix. If the picture is not in focus, then the problem is with the calibration of the thumb wheel. Sorry if you already knew these tricks.
Thanks for this great video! After watching it I bought a Mamiya 6VA with a Zuiko lens. It arrived this afternoon and when I checked it I realized that the lens, unfortunately, is completely cloudy. I just left it at a technician's but I don't think he can fix it. I'm really dying to use this camera. Do you think it's possible to change the lens, just the glass elements, for others from the Automat model or any other from the previous or later versions, any that aren't Zuiko or aren't damaged?
I am truely sorry to hear that your Mamiya 6 Va has the dreaded Zuiko cloud problem. Perhaps you bought it before watching this video, since I actually gave a warning about these Zuiko lenses in the final conclusion. Unfortunately the original lens cannot be fixed by any technician. It is a defect in the glass used. When these cameras were still being sold by Mamiya, it was possible to swap the entire lens-shutter assembly to one of many choices offered by the company. Today, it woudl be hard to find a technican who would offer to do it for you. But if you are brave enough, you can do it. You will need a donor body first; a Mamiya 6 (not automat) which has a perfect lens (usually a Sekor lens) but a battered body being sold for parts.
If the cloudiness is only in the front lens assembly, and your donor lens is also a perfect Zuiko, you can simply unscrew the front assembly by hand and replace it with a donor. It comes out as a unit complete with the metal frame. You can then swap with a donor. Otherwise, you will have to swap the entire lens-shutter assembly. After that you need to do a focus calibration, which is less difficult than it seems. Here we have 5 of these Mamiya 6's and to my amazement, all of them had perfect lenses! Even the one with the Zuiko was perfect, possibly a late model of Zuiko. So, I assume it is not hard to find a donor body with a perfect lens. I would not mix lens components from different brands.
Excellent video full of useful information. Have a Mamiya 6 IV and love it.
Thanks for sharing. Yours probably comes with the Zuiko lens. If it is not suffering from the cloudiness by now, it probably means it is one of the good ones that will last.
@@TechHeritage It does indeed have the Zuiko lens. It does have some cloudiness on the rear element, a small ring on the edge caused by balsamic separation. Shutting down to f5.6 and smaller eliminates it.
I have a model P with a Kominar lens instead of the sekor lens, was wondering if you had info about it, the quality does not seem great
Model P (as in popular) was suposed to be the simplest consumer model. But as long as the shutter speed is correct, the body should not impact the picture quality. It is all down to the lens. Your lens is not the very best that Mamiya 6 has to offer. However it should still provide excellent pictures on a massive negative. I suggst you carefully check the lens with a bright LED flash light to see if there is haze or dust or fungus on any of the internal surfaces. On these cameras, the front component can be easily removed by un-screwing. That will allow you to clean 4 lens surfaces without any further dismantling.
For the lenses attached to the rear lens element, you need to keep the shutter open on the B setting and clean from the outside without removing. I suggest you try and see if it improves.
Another suggestion: check for a pin hole in the bellows with a strong flash light in a dark room and try to fix with liquid rubber from inside. If the pin hole is very small, it will not appear as an obvious light leak but as an overall haze over the image.
@@TechHeritage the body itself is solid, no holes in bellows, and no haze in lens. The image is decent, but the corners are definitely pretty rough even stopped down. I’m thinking of looking for one with a Sekor lens.
Thanks for the response
Thank you so much for putting this together! the mamiya 6 line up is very confusing and information is sparse! Would you be able to test/ answer something for me? I know with the automat you have to have the bellows out while winding for the shutter to cock and so if you want to wind without it cocking you just close the bellows. However on most of these you cant change the shutter speed after cocking the shutter to my knowledge. Does this mean the automat will lock your shutter speed in when you advance the film? Id see that as a huge disadvantage and would make the automat system kind of useless unless you only wind when you are about to take a shot.
Firstly thank you for the positive feedback. As you have discovered information on this subject is very confusing and inconsistent. Some information on important sites such as Wikipedia or Camerapedia is actually wrong and no-one seems to bother to correct it. I have tried to do all the hard research work to navigate this minefield so that you don't have to.
Here we have 3 Mamiya 6 cameras of different periods. I can verify that you can change the shutter speed after cocking. However, after cocking, the shutter dial becomes noticeably stiffer. In some units, it becomes so stiff that it gives the impression that you cannot change the shutter speed after cocking. On those units I have done a little cleaning and lubrication of the mechanism and they have become (almost) as smooth after cocking. My understanding is that the actual shutter mechanisms on the Automat models is not substantially different to the other models. The difference is a relatively simple mechanical link that does the same job as the manual cocking (ie pushing a lever). Here we have many other folding cameras (not Mamiya 6) which automatically cock the shutter with film advance. I have checked and those also allow shutter change after cocking. This is all I know.
If someone here has a different experience with Automat, please post a comment.
@@TechHeritage thank you! that makes sense, I was thinking the automatic feature would be half useless if the shutter speed got locked in every time
Re: the Model 3a (at 12.12) - is the second 'button' (unknown use) not a screw rather than a button? Or am I just an imbecile? (Very detailed video by the way - thanks for posting)...
You are always one of the first to watch my videos. Thank you. Other reviewers and camera listings have also referred to "two buttons", not a button and a screw. The pictures seem to indicate they are both raised like buttons. I have been in negotiations with a seller of this model for 2 months back and forth. If I manage to get it, I will verify 100% one way or another.
I've purchased four in the last year. May splurge for a late model auto cocking model before they become unobtainable.
A late model automat would be Automat II. A little hard to find these days. Good luck camera hunting and share your experience. I am currently hard negotiating with a seller to get the IIIA, which is like a Unicorn.