Mamiya RB67 Pro S: First Impressions and Why I Sold My Pentax 67

[@JimThomas-qt5mt]

By far, my favorite medium format camera. I've used both the Pentax 6x7 and 645, Hasselblads (and Mamiya C-330) over the last 45 years. The RB was by far my preferred choice for what I shoot back before digital. Heck- I even used it to shoot high school football for the daily newspaper I worked for back in the '70's. We could shoot flash back then.

[@eguanzon17]

love to hear it!

[@tristinrose13]

Great video! the pictures are fire! I'm very excited to see more (: Also, you're a god at editing, someone should hire you haha

[@eguanzon17]

"God at editing"...gonna add that to the resume

[@mrca2004]

I have been shooting since 1959 and the viewfinder on my RB with an oleson split prism screen is the best view finder I have ever used. It makes taking a picture FUN. Bright, easy to see split prism lets me confidentally nail focus in a split second.

[@nicolecantwell1784]

Great review! That camera is a machine - my favorite part was the modularity. Also this video was amazingly edited. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@eguanzon17]

Thanks Nicole! I had a lot of fun shooting and editing that part :)

[@christinebattin657]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I learned so much, especially the visual with the long exposure process. The Goonies reference is key! Thanks for the review! PS . your model is beautiful

[@eguanzon17]

Thanks! Glad you learned something! And she absolutely is :)

[@justinmueller9579]

The rotating back is for me one of the best features

[@eguanzon17]

It is such a great feature. I'm still not used to having that option so sometimes I forget to switch it lol

[@OscarGomez-oo7im]

Without euphemistic language, "This is what every professional camera should be: A heavy duty military truck with an image comparable to any other of the medium format in the market!!!

[@mrca2004]

1/400 sec sync speed. Interchangeable backs allowing changing film mid roll. 645 backs if want more frames or like the grain result. Gorgeous lenses. Super bright view finder... I replace the finder with a Rick oleson split prism focus. But there are things you can accidentally do that will destroy shots or whole rolls. Back light leaks kiss off whole roll, mirror up accidentally on lets you think you are hearing it shoot... it's not and get a blank photos. Accidentally trip the multi exposure lever, you shoot on one frame til you switch it off. Meter improperly, you just screwed up that shot If you mount the lens uncocked or shutter not cocked you may not be able to get it off the camera. Film cost say $10 per roll and if you mail it for developing and scanning and get negs back, $25 plus 10 is $35/roll... for 10 shots. Do he math... $3.50 for every clunk of the shutter/mirror. Screw up 5 or 6 rolls because of the above problems and you have pissed away $150 and don't have the photos you took. This is NOT a camera for those new to film photography or who don't do their film develop/scanning. Doing that is about $1.20 per shot. Think about that and $3.50/shot when you are starting out.

[@alexlee8356]

Fun fact: 110mm F2.8 K/L actually exist as engineering sample lenses, but never went into mass production. They are like Sekor Z 110/2.8 but for RB67 and fully mechanical, super rare to find.

[@eguanzon17]

This comment has sent me on a Nic Cage/National Treasure level search to find this lens. So thank you for that lol

[@alexlee8356]

Actually, there is one on sale in my city right now, I can help you contact the seller if you want the lens. The seller is selling it with a RB67 ProSD body, 75/3.5 K/L and another lens, I am not sure if he wants to sell the lens separately.

[@eguanzon17]

@@alexlee8356 yeah that would be great if you could connect us! even if I don't buy it'd be cool to get a little more info about it

[@eguanzon17]

@@alexlee8356 you can shoot me a message on IG

[@sophietucker1255]

I have a RB67 Pro and a Pro S. Don’t ask. I love them and they are fun to use and always have people wondering what the hell are you using. My favorites are still my Hasselblad’s but when I don’t want that square my RB’s are my go to.

[@eguanzon17]

Nice! I feel like a Hasselblad is a perfect compliment to the RB

[@fepatton]

Same! I’m not really sure how I ended up with two, but I’m not upset about it. 😂 Agree about the Hasselblads, though.

[@shanelson1]

Awesome video. Great info!

[@infinitesmall]

great vid dude! for what it's worth during 'T' mode long exposures you don't have to hold down the shutter release cable the whole time - pressing it down once will trigger the leaf shutter to open, and turning the shutter speed ring / cocking the lever slightly will reset it, like you said!

[@CalumetVideo]

I use my RB67 on the studio or for macro work. I use the Hasselblad 500 C/M in the field. I think for studio and macro work, that is where the RB67 shines.

[@Narsuitus]

At one time, I used three Mamiya TLR cameras (C3, C22, and C220) with the following lenses: 180mm f/4.5 80mm f/2.8 55mm f/4.5 When it was time for me to replace my worn-out wedding cameras and lenses, I replaced them with two RB67 SLR cameras and the following lenses: 180mm f/4.5 90mm f/3.8 50mm f/4.5 Even though my TLR and SLR medium format cameras required that I separately cock the shutter and advance the film, for some reason, I seemed to get more accidental double exposures with the RB67.

[@eguanzon17]

Nice! I'm actually looking at building up to that exact set of lenses for my RB! Do you have a favorite? Did you get the C's or KL's? As for the double exposure, I haven't done that...yet lol I do have the Pro-S which backs have that anti-double exposure lever which is really handy. Just forget to take out the dark slide sometime

[@Narsuitus]

@@eguanzon17 All my lenses are C lenses. One of my RB67 bodies is the first version and the other is second version. I think your Pro-S is the third version. Most, if not all, of my film backs do not have an anti-double exposure lever. The three lenses on my list (180/90/50) are my favorites. The three can handle almost any routine assignment. For special situations, I also have the following RB67 lenses: 250mm f/4.5 for tight face shots 150mm f/4 SF for soft focus portraits 140mm f/4.5 macro for close-focus and macro photos 100-200mm f/5.2 zoom as a backup lens

[@Steaphany]

I have an RB, Pro SD, and it's my favorite tote about camera

[@fepatton]

My Dad brought home his RB and some film from work when I was a teenager, and I was hooked. So, I’ve been using them on and off since, say, 1980?

[@RobertLeeAtYT]

I've had a couple of RB-67 ProS bodies for about a decade now. It's an excellent MF camera system for studio use, particularly portraiture. I chose this over the Hassleblad 500 series originally because 6x7 gave the largest practical film area. I use a Nikon CS9000 dedicated scanner now, but at the time I had just a Epson flatbed (which sucked.) The 500 shoots 6x6. So either you're happy with square aspect, or you're cropping down to effectively 645. I've been hunting for a digital back for the RB67 off and on.

[@eguanzon17]

It is without a doubt a portrait beast. Did they ever make a digi back for the RB? I only thought that was available for one of the RZs

[@RobertLeeAtYT]

@@eguanzon17 There's a bunch. The Mamiya ZD back can be used on the RB but requires a Mamiya adapter. The Better Light scanning back is interesting. The scan area is actually 7cm by 7cm so that covers the whole 6x7 camera image circle. No crop. Good only for absolutely motionless scenes though.

[@llewdis]

My RB67 Pro-S arrives tomorrow. Stepping up the the 67 from the 645 and can't wait for all that real estate to play with on my negatives. Thanks for your thoughts!

[@eguanzon17]

Congrats on the upgrade! How's it working out for you?

[@llewdis]

@@eguanzon17 Really well, but it is a beast to lug around. :) I got my self a pelican case and have both the 645 and RB67 in it to lug around. But I am loving the added real estate on the negatives.

[@emmanuelalvarez3926]

Seems crazy and out of this world that you find the RB easier to handhold than the pentax, i have both and the rb/RZ design is the weirdest to handhold

[@eguanzon17]

Yeah I think I'm in the minority when I say I feel like it works better handheld than the Pentax lol

[@sixth.memory]

Awesome review! Im thinking of making one as well I just recently starting shooting portrait with it and definitely was a learning and run experience

[@eguanzon17]

Do it! This thing is an absolute beast for portraits. Do you have a favorite lens for it yet?

[@sixth.memory]

@@eguanzon17 ive only used the 180mm that came with the lens, my latest videos all include photos from the lens

[@theblackmanarmedwithacamera]

DOPE VIDEO! SUBBED!!!🤘🏾🤘🏾 - THE ANALOG SLAYER

[@eguanzon17]

thanks for stopping by! appreciate the support

[@neilpiper9889]

I just use a Yashica Mat and have done since the 1960s,. Needs a Nikon f2 cable release adapter. I sold my two Pentax 6x7s because they had gone up so much in price that I couldn't resist. I made some nice photos with them. I would buy again with the rubber grip 55mm f4 if the price was right. RB never. RZ maybe with a prism finder.

[@eguanzon17]

Thanks for commenting Neil! Glad to see you're still rocking with the Yashica. Truly some great cameras. Why RB never?

[@neilpiper9889]

@@eguanzon17 my friend had one. It would be OK on a tripod in a strobe flash studio, otherwise it's a brick

[@Mellow262_]

Yo what’s good I just got mine in the mail and I have no idea where the iso setting is at dumb it down for me but do we need it? 😂

[@eguanzon17]

Hey! Because there's no internal meter, this camera doesn't have an ISO dial. Unless you have a metered prism for it

[@anta40]

I think RB67 is better in the long run for studio/landscape shooters. On the other side, ergonomically P67 is better for handheld shooting. Just think of your favorite 35mm SLR, only much bigger. And no, no need for fancy grip. Not so much about RB67. Sure, you can add a grip and prism finder... which makes the setup even bulkier. For me, P67 is daily camera, and RB67 is something when I want to use tripod with.

[@HarveyWallbanger-ho2cq]

Buy a 645 camera and you'll never be disappointed. The RB is a studio camera.

[@eguanzon17]

Thanks for the comment Harvey! My first medium format camera was a Mamiya 645 and was actually quite disappointed with it. It didn’t give me quite the look I was after

[@jmm117kgb]

The lenses are much better on the Pentax 67 though - sharper and faster. Can't beat the 105mm F2.4. I owned both RB and P67 and the P67 just is a better performer in portability, shutter speeds (the RB tops out at like 300-500 compared to 1000 on P67), sharpness of the lens, choices of lenses, etc. You can also get waist level viewfinder on the P67

[@whiteelephantvideos1343]

You only want fully mechanical cameras good bye my beronica S2A With 3 Landers

[@johnearley9924]

Nice camera review but waving that mike around is very distracting.

[@eguanzon17]

Hey John! Thanks for the feedback and watching the video. As I mentioned in a previous comment, it's the only mic I had available. BUT I have since gotten a new microphone so the next video will be improved :)

[@peterdadson7713]

Get a smaller mic. From the perspective it could easily cover your head. Again with the mic get a stand to hold it. The rest of your video was good.

[@eguanzon17]

Thanks for the feedback. It's the only mic I have and I'd rather use this mic than not make a video.