Mamiya NC1000 / NC1000S
Mamiya has long enjoyed a reputation among medium format camera users for their reliable and excellent machines, but they are much less known for their 35mm cameras. You could mount a convincing argument that this is because Mamiya never made many waves with its 35mm camera design; certainly not like Nikon, Canon, Leica, Pentax, Olympus, Minolta or so many other camera companies. However, this was not for lack of trying. There are a number of Mamiya 35mm SLR cameras out there to try, such as the NC1000.
The NC1000 was released in 1978, as a pretty radical departure from the earlier Mamiya SLRs such as the DTL or XTL. The NC1000 is significantly smaller and lighter than its predecessors. It is heading into Olympus OM-1 territory without ever quite getting there. Nonetheless, Mamiya did manage to design a camera that looks and feels like a tank, without weighing as much as one - an important consideration when you are walking around all day with one of these strapped around your neck. The NC1000 introduced a new and specific lens mount. While earlier Mamiya SLRs made use of the universal M42 thread mount, the NC1000 used the new CS lens mount, specific to this and the NC1000S cameras (though they could still be used with limited capabilities on the later ZE cameras).
In terms of its other capabilities, the NC1000 is a solid camera. It makes use of an electronically-controlled focal plane shutter that has a top speed of 1/1,000th and is capable of operating either in manual or shutter priority exposure modes. The NC1000 also has a nice meter on/off feature wherein the meter is turned on by popping the film advance lever out a few degrees and turned off by pressing a button located in middle of the film advance lever base, this also has the advantage of locking the shutter button. Add in a self-timer and depth of field preview lever and the NC1000 ticks all the major boxes for helpful camera features. We also love its large viewfinder, which reminds us of looking through an OM-1. This impression is further strengthened by the placement of the shutter speed ring around the base of the lens mount.
Mamiya pretty quickly released an update called the Mamiya NC1000s, which added on a film clip reminder box on the back door of the camera and the ability to swap out the focusing screen with one of five variants.
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