Mamiya RB67
The Mamiya RB67 is one of the more famous medium format cameras of all time and, it could be considered, one of the best medium format studio cameras. It is a massive 6x7cm SLR camera that features interchangeable lenses, film backs, and finders. The ability to change all these elements to the camera makes the RB67 incredibly versatile.
First released in 1970, the RB67 got its name from the rotating back it featured (RB = rotating back), allowing the photographer to switch between portrait or landscape-oriented images without having to rotate the camera. The camera has many other features that made it very popular with professional photo studios and photographers alike. Mamiya supported the RB67 with a huge array of lenses. Focusing is done via the body of the camera using a bellows that has 46mm of extension, allowing RB67 lenses to focus much closer than many other medium format cameras. This built-in focusing rack essentially makes every lens into a macro lens on this camera. The lenses had Seiko leaf shutters that topped out at 1/400th of a second, but allowed flash synchronization at all speeds. The lenses also included depth of field preview levers. Film backs came in either 6x7cm format or 6x4.5cm format, the latter being popular with professional photographers who wanted more shots per roll before having to reload. Finally, the RB67 is fully mechanical with no battery whatsoever. You can buy a couple different styles of metered prisms for this camera in order to have TTL metering. The metered prisms and finders used their own battery.
Mamiya produced a few different models of the RB67. Most of the revisions between versions are pretty subtle and are as follows:
- RB67 Pro S - Successor to the original RB67. Added a focus lock, an accessory shoe and red crop lines in the viewfinder when the back is rotated to landscape orientation. The Pro S film backs also had double exposure prevention.
- RB67 Pro SD - Improved lens mount that allowed the use of APO lenses (only compatible with the Pro SD or later RZ67).
One important element to note about this camera, it is fairly easy to accidentally double expose your frames. You must make sure to both advance the film and reset the shutter mechanism before making another shot.
These cameras continue to be one of the lower-priced medium format cameras on the market. Given their extreme versatility that is only marginally offset by their larger size, they are a camera we consider to be routinely underappreciated and therefore under-valued.
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