It is true that the Mamiya system is a lot cheaper but it is not as good. In any case the Contax has a WLF as an option (ok it is expensive on ebay). The waist level finder is pointless on a 645 unless it has a rotating back, as portrait format is unusable. Manual focus is as natural as on any camera, other than a very slight drag of the focus ring. The Contax 645 is an amazing system with the best lenses of any similar camera. I don’t like to disagree with a fellow film shooter but I don’t understand any of the points you make in this post.

See full details of my portrait photography equipment kit – HERE.

See full details of my portrait photography lighting kit – HERE.

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Contax 645 Wedding Photography – Paul & Deb.

Mamiya 645 Super Review – Cheaper Hasselblad Alternative?.

6×7 film format is too big for film wedding photography whereas 645 format is the perfect combination of bigger negatives than 35mm yet 16 shots per roll off 120 film. I keep wanting to shoot more 645 film but I don’t currently have a 6×4.5 format camera that I like enough. Yes the Contax has autofocus but that killed it for me so the Mamiya 645 Super seems to offer the best of both worlds. I just bought a Mamiya 645 Super for less than 1/6 of that price! I sold my Contax and didn’t lose any money for about £1800. As such I think the Mamiya 645 cameras offer fantastic value for money when you consider the price of a Contax. When I look at the Mamiya M645 Super and more so the Mamiya 645 Pro range they are so similar to the Contax 645 with the DSLR like grip option, film back and film inserts, prism viewfinder and the Zeiss 80mm f2 lens on the Contax 645 is very close to the Mamiya Sekor C 80mm f1.9 lens. I then saw a good value Mamiya M645 Super on eBay with WLF yesterday and much preferred the look, controls layout, modular film back and the fact that it looks like a mini Mamiya RZ67 Pro II that I have. I haven’t used it as I wanted to get a waist level viewfinder (“WLF”) to replace the TTL prism viewfinder. It was just too DSLR like compared to some of the older film cameras I was now using.

I later sold the Contax 645 as found it too automated for my liking. The Contax 645 portraits I had seen online from fashion photographers and wedding photographers seem to be unmatched by any other camera / lens combination. The Contax 645 was my first medium format camera and my reason to move into the world of film photography. Mamiya 645 vs Contax > You can buy a Mamiya 645 for a 1/6 of the price of a Contax 645!! Contax 645 vs Mamiya 645 (Contax 645 + Zeiss 80mm f2 lens vs Mamiya 645 + Mamiya Sekor C 80mm f1.9 lens)

Contax 645 digital back phase one