The Mamiya 7 is a mechanical medium-format camera with a rangefinder. It is small in size and with the lens sometimes weights in total even less than an ordinary professional camera. Moreover, owing to the absence of a built-in mirror, in many situations the camera allows hand-held photographs to be taken and works with high efficiency. And fantastic optics and the possibility to use professional 6×7 films allows for big slides with incredible sharpness; this in turn gives the opportunity to print photos with a size of up to 48,8 x 60,6 inches (120×150 cm) without losing quality. It is the only 6×7 camera with interchangeable lenses that is practical for travel and street photography.

In spite of its excellent size and fantastic performance, the Mamiya 7 has a considerable number of restrictions. I read time and again how many photographers admit that during their career they more than once tried to “tame” it, get used to its minuses, but as a result every one of them found a reason to give it up.

You may be surprised to learn that very few examples of photos made with Mamiya 7 can be found on the Internet that seems to have everything. It will be at most about a dozen or so sites.

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