REVIEWS - Mamiya 645M 200mm F2.8 APO Telephoto Lens

OVERVIEW

While the Mamiya 645M 200mm F2.8 APO was designed for Mamiya M645 film cameras, it still works with today's Mamiya 645AF mount. And with the correct adapter, the Mamiya 200mm can mount to just about any digital camera on the market today. On a full frame 645 medium format digital back the Mamiya 200mm APO’s field of view is ~124mm, so its field of view and depth of field are similar to something like a 135mm F2 lens on a Sony A7rIV.

BUILD QUALITY

The Mamiya 200mm APO is well built with all metal construction. The focus ring is not as dampened as a Leica M or R lens, but is still nice to use. The aperture ring clicks in 1-stop increments. I prefer half-stop exposure steps, but when shooting via stop-down metering, the 1-stop aperture rings are easy to count-off. The Mamiya 200mm APO’s built-in hood slides into position and with a twist, locks in place. There is a screw-in lens hood extension which I rarely use. Over the years I have owned many Mamiya 200mm APO’s and all have performed well, so the lens seems durable.

My only gripe is the sliding hood. When pulling the lens out of the camera bag, the only place to grab the lens is by the hood. Of course the hood slides to its extended position. If in a hurry, this all happens fast and the hood comes to an abrupt stop when its full extension is reached. It is a somewhat jarring and probably not good for the lens. It is what it is, so take care when picking up the lens (by the hood).

ADAPTERS

Weighing 2.45 pounds, the Mamiya 200mm APO is a moderately heavy lens and needs a quality adapter that can support the weight. The inexpensive Canon / Mamiya adapters typically found on Ebay for $39-$49 are not up to the task due to a very poorly designed / executed locking mechanism.

Note the silver tab on the inside of the "cheap" adapter. When the lens is attached, the silver tab rests against a shaft that links to the aperture mechanism. The adapter uses the shaft to keep the adapter from over rotating. Should the tab get bent, then the “lock” on the opposite side does not line up correctly, thus allowing the lens to over rotate and potentially spin off the adapter. I have had this happen, thus why I dub such adapters as "cheap".

Many moons ago, for the Canon 1Ds3 I used a Kipon adapter. The Kipon adapter is very solid and easily handles the weight; the same adapter also worked fine with the much heavier Mamiya 300mm F2.8 APO. The Kipon is a totally different design (than the "cheap" adapters) and seems well made.

No adapter is needed if using the Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO with a Phase One / Mamiya 645 camera body. For the Leica S2 and S Typ 006, I used the Leica made Leica S-Adapter Mamiya. While the Leica adapter is pricey, it is well made and everything mounts smoothly. As for getting the Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO set up the Leica M10 Monochrom, the only option is a Novoflex MAM-RING plus the Novoflex LEMA. It too is an expensive set-up, but very strong. For pictures and more details, see this Gear Talk write-up.

MODIFICATION FOR PHASE ONE XF CAMERA BODY

If using the Mamiya 200mm with a Phase One XF camera, the Mamiya's mount needs a minor modification. A black lip protrudes past the Mamiya's mount; this interferes with the Phase One XF's added row of lens contact pins. To resolve this, unscrew the three screws holding the silver mount rings on the Mamiya lens. Remove the ring and then lift out the black section - this just comes out and in no way effects any of the lens elements. From there I cut off the black tube with a Dremel cutting tool, using the flange on the black tube as a physical guide.

Sounds scary, but very easy to do provided you have a Dremel tool with a metal cutting disk. The Mamiya black tube is made of soft aluminum, so cuts easily. Total modification took ~10 minutes.

USING THE MAMIYA 200MM F2.8 APO ON THE HASSELBLAD X1D

When Hasselblad updated the X1D's firmware with the Electronic Shutter (ES) feature, that offered a way to use non-leaf shutter lenses on the X1D. The situation is not ideal because it takes ~300 milliseconds for the X1D to read the entire sensor, but it is better than nothing. Kipon offers the "Kipon Mamiya-X1D" adapter for ~$180 US on Ebay. The Kipon adapter does not have a tripod foot, so I purchased a Novoflex ASTAT-SL tripod collar for ~$140 and then 3D printed a spacer (via www.shapeways.com) to fit around the lens and inside the Novoflex collar.

The 3D print only cost ~$24 and is plenty strong for the task. Purely for aesthetic reasons the ring was printed red. The design process was not very difficult; I used an on-line application provided by AutoCad - tinkercad.com. I tried a couple different FPA prints and the result was disappointing. The SLS print quality was much, much better. If you would like to make your own 3D print, it is available here at Shapeways.

HANDLING

Mamiya described the Mamiya 200mm f/2.8 APO as a high-speed, hand-holdable, compact telephoto lens for existing light photography. The Mamiya 200mm APO is large and weighs 1107 grams, so "hand-holdable" is certainly debatable. Factor in the lens adapter and the lens hood extension and the kit is even bigger.

Over the years my in-focus keeper rates with optical view finders has been mixed. The Mamiya 645AF cameras have always been a challenge and tripod is almost a must-have. Manual focus was easier on the Leica S bodies due to the cameras’ very bright optical viewfinders. Leica’s Microprism Split Screen also helps. Back in the day, my keeper rate with the Canon 1Ds Mark III could be hit or miss at F2.8 as well. Live View was the best bet for focus accuracy, but executing framing / focusing / catching “the moment” with old school dSLR Live View is not easy.

I am not the biggest fan of EVF's, but when it comes to focusing manual lenses like the Mamiya 200mm APO, an EVF based camera is much easier (and better) for critical focus.

The Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO requires stop-down metering on all cameras except the original Mamiya 645M bodies. Dialing in focus at F2.8 takes time. Stopping down the lens to the desired F-stop adds more time, especially if re-checking focus and depth of field. Thus, the Mamiya 200mm is best suited for essentially static scenes.

OPTICAL PERFORMANCE

APO is an abbreviation for Apochromatic. An apochromatic lens brings the RGB wavelengths to a common focal plane. Bringing the RGB wavelengths into alignment so that they intersect the focal plane at the same point reduces chromatic aberrations. Reducing chromatic aberrations produces sharper images and reduces color fringing. It is important to note that APO corrections REDUCE the fringing and may not fully eliminate it. Most APO lenses will have various amounts of color fringing in their bokeh. Wikipedia offers some additional insight:

“Apochromatic designs require optical glasses with special dispersive properties to achieve three color crossings. This is usually achieved using costly fluoro-crown glasses, abnormal flint glasses, and even optically transparent liquids with highly unusual dispersive properties in the thin spaces between glass elements. The 'APO' designation is used rather loosely by some photographic lens manufacturers to describe the color accuracy of their lenses, as comparable lenses have shown superior color accuracy even though they did not carry the 'APO' designation.”

Manufactures call their lenses as APO as they see fit. I have found the Mamiya 200mm APO's to be well corrected with minimal chromatic aberrations. And the Mamiya 200mm APO should be good considering its original MSRP price tag. The US list prices were ~$4,123 for the 200mm F/2.8 APO, $12,000 for the 300mm F/2.8 APO and $18,000 for the 500mm F/2.8 APO. Mamiya’s marketing literature emphasized their focus on high quality materials and processes:

“Mamiya manufactures their own glass and coated the lens elements using Mamiya's proprietary multi-coating process, increasing light transmission, dramatically reducing flare, and ensuring crisp, clean whites and vibrant natural colors. The Mamiya 200mm F/2.8 APO exhibits optimal correction for chromatic aberration even at wide open aperture.”

The Mamiya 200mm APO is very sharp wide open, and when the light is right, it renders a nice 3-D feel. The background blur (bokeh) is wonderful and similar to a Canon 135mm L F2 on a full frame Canon dSLR. On a full frame digital back like the Phase One IQ160, the Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO field of view is almost 135mm (relative to a full-frame dSLR). The 200mm bokeh can be smoother, and more abstracted due to the compression and magnification characteristics of 200mm vs 135mm.

The Mamiya 200mm’s minimum focus distance is 2.5 meters. The Mamiya 200mm APO can be used with extension tubes, but the tube(s) really limits the focus range. I have also used the Mamiya 2X Teleconverter, which turns the Mamiya 200mm APO into a a 400mm F5.6 field of view. The converter works fine, but sharpness and contrast are definitely impacted, the bokeh shows some double-imaging and can have a smear-like effect in the blurring. The 2X adds some distortion too.

I really cannot think of anything negative to say about the Mamiya 200mm APO's optical performance. It is very sharp wide open with good contrast, colors are deep and rich and the lens is very well corrected. Resolution is impressive - even on a 60 megapixel digital back. I also have a Leica 180mm F2.8 Elmarit-R APO, and the Mamiya gives up nothing to the Leica 180mm - though, the Leica 180mm F2.8 APO is slightly smaller (about 10-15% smaller). For Leica S owners, here is a quick comparison of the Leica APO-Tele-Elmar-S 180mm f/3.5 Lens vs the Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO, both shot wide open -

For bokeh and background blur, the Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO has the advantage of 20mm more reach plus a 2/3-stop faster aperture. Both lenses are nearly identical in wide open sharpness at the center. Even when framing is normalized (the Mamiya 200 APO pulled back lightly), the Mamiya 200mm APO still has a smoother background. The Mamiya 200mm APO wins the 'bang-for-the-buck' contest, but the Leica 180mm S offers auto focus, auto aperture and EXIF.

CONCLUSION

This is an easy review to wrap-up --- I like the Mamiya 200mm APO - it is that simple. For medium format shooters, I consider the Mamiya 200mm APO a "must-have" lens. The fast F2.8 aperture is unique amongst medium format lenses and makes for a bright viewfinder - particularly on the Leica S system. For 35mm full-frame cameras, maybe the Mamiya 200mm APO is overkill, but I still like the lens. I would not be surprised if Fujifilm GFX owners soon (re)discover the Mamiya 200mm APO. For more pictures from the Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO, Mamiya 200mm F2.8 APO Picture Gallery.