stepping down and out with the best MF system there is

I decided to buy this MF camera as lugging around my Sinar P was becoming less attractive. There are a number of excellent medium format systems available, but as I prefer 6x7 to 6x6 this 6x7 format reflex looked the best. I also wanted to stay with conventional processes rather than use digital and also keep away from plastic and electronics. The RB67 is usually billed as the professionals workhorse. As they are now coming to market at affordable prices due to the pros having to switch to digital, the big question is "is your horse knackered by the time it gets on the bay". Professionals look after their gear, but use it till its used. This was near mint, so I think I got a good deal.

What I like:
The Format - 6x7 is more pleasing to my eyes than 6x6. Just a question of taste. 6x9 is nice but I have some old folders to shoot that.
Plenty of lenses, with integral Seiko shutters, so flash sync is available at any speed you want.
Excellent quality optics.
Interchangeable backs - I use B&W neg, Colour neg, Polaroid and Fuji pack (that I also share with my Sinar). Another plus is that I can add an adapter to my Sinar system to take my Mamiya Backs. There is also a cut film back so if I want, I can do single sheets. I haven't figured out why I might want too yet.
Interhangeable viewfinders and focusing screens. I haven't got any yet, but I would like to swap my currennt focusing screen for the E type 45 degree split prism one. Otherwise I find focusing fine with what I have.
Mirror-up exposures, to eliminate vibrations. Will be useful in Macro.
The Weight. It is heavy in comparison to a Nikon 35mm, but I don't find it a handicap. I am using a tripod anyway for most work.
The safety interlocks. Houdini proof.
Majority of lenses take one size 77mm filter screw. I will find that handy as my Sinar and Hitech filter holders fit, and if I want to use screw in ones at least I only need to buy one size.

What is less likable.
Shooting on B/T speeds requires reflection...or the handbook
There is a noticable slap as the mirror comes up. I guess everything can't be as quiet as my Leicas.

A great camera for anyone with patience.

Built like a tank, and as heavy, great, modular, manual, 6x7 format camera

I bought this camera (actually, I bought the body only) to replace my first used RB67 Pro S, which was a bit more beat up and had some slight mechanical issues.
The RB67 is a very manually operated and mechanical camera (you can't put a battery in it anywhere). I had originally bought a used Pro S on which some of the interlocking mechanisms stuck, so sometimes the shutter wouldn't release without a nudge here or there. This Pro SD body was sold as "new," which really meant barely used and had a much nicer appearance. And so far, works flawlessly.
There are lots of web resources about this camera and other medium format cameras.

My decision to go with a medium format film camera is based on image quality. I develop and scan my b and w film myself (started about 40 years ago). The digital photography explosion has made lots of great film cameras available for next to nothing. I like the look of film derived images over digital, and with medium format film, you can get detail and clarity that you can't touch with digital cameras that cost less than $30,000.
Digital is about convenience, film is about quality.

My decision to go with an RB67 are:
Availability of great, great lenses for a song. Check out Keh.com.
I like the rectangular format - Hasselblads are smaller and lighter, but the maximum dimension is 6/7ths that of the RB (and more expensive). "RB" stands for "rotating back." You twist the back to change from horizontal and vertical formats, not the whole camera.
I'm more comfortable with an SLR over a rangefinder - it is closer to wysiwyg - esp. the ability to stop down and get a fair visual idea of the depth of field.
Flash synch on all shutter speeds - the leaf shutter is in the lens. Shutter speed and aperture rings on the lens are set with parallel detents - you can move both together with one hand - effectively maintaining the same exposure while varying aperture and speed - easier to do than explain, but a really cool feature.
Bellow focussing that easily focuses 1:1.

The clumsy/mildly annoying things:
Weighs a ton. There are a couple different angle bracket hand grips (which you really need to use an on camera flash), but it is a less that optimal "street" camera. I use a tripod 90% of the time. No built in light meter (there is a prism finder that has one built in, but I think they're CDS based - really old and not very accurate) - you will need a light meter. I use the waist level finder almost exclusively (the prism finder weighs as much as a lens). All waist level finders have the disconcerting action of moving the image right as you left. You'll get used to it.
Also, the RB67 requires you to advance the film and cock the shutter (and reset the mirror) with two different levers. Again, you get used to it. And, you have to remember to take out the dark slide before you shoot.

Film backs: All of the 3 backs I bought needed to have the foam seals re-done. There are kits online and it is a tedious, but not difficult job to do. I recently found out that the back is a standard "Graflex" back, so, although I haven't done it yet, I can use an older 6x9 back to get a little more image in the longer dimension. I also recently got, but haven't used yet, a Polaroid back (Fuji still makes "Polaroid" film). And they make motorized backs, too, but a big part of the whole film thing is slowing down and thinking about what you're doing, not about doing it in a hurry.

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The RB67 SD is a Component System

The RB67 Pro SD is a great professional camera that can hold it's own against even top of the line digital SLRs. I know, because I own and have used both. This camera, however, is definitely a "tripod camera" designed for use in making carefully posed and lighted studio shots or carefully COMposed landscape shots and close-ups. It's not the sort of thing to use when you need to keep your equipment really light for hand-held shots and candids. The complete camera with lens and film back weighs nearly 7 lb. The camera is a really big, bulky, tank of a camera compared to a lot of modern digital stuff. Add an additional lens, camera backs and tripod, and you've got more than 10-12 lb. to lug around - not the sort of thing you want to take backpacking or ski touring. However, with proper film development and scanning, the Mamiya will yield comparable or superior images to most modern, digital SLR equipment. The Mamiya lenses are excellent; the camera is ruggedly built and is designed for long use. I expect to get a lot of use out of it.

The Mamiya RB67 is a COMPONENT system. If you need a camera like the RB67, make sure that you are bidding on a COMPLETE camera, including the following: lens, camera body, focusing screen, viewfinder, rotating film adaptor, and film holder or magazine. Without each of these 6 component parts in good working condition, a Mamiya RB67 Pro SD will be unusable as a camera, but it might make a pretty good (although expensive) doorstop.

I bid on and won a Mamiya RB67 Pro SD that listed as a "camera" and "lens" but it proved to be a totally stripped down camera BODY and lens. The equipment, as purchased, was not usable as a complete camera until a film back, rotating film magazine adaptor, view finder and focusing screen were purchased separately. You can find this stuff on eBay or KEH. The additional component parts ended up bringing the entire purchase to nearly double my winning bid. The seller did not list the component parts separately in his ad. However, I suspected that there were missing components from looking at the picture that was shown, so I wasn't entirely surprised. As it turned out, the components that were sold at auction were in mint condition, and the components I added were in pretty much the same condition, so I now have a really nice, COMPLETE Mamiya RB67 SD in near mint to add to my collection of cameras.

I'm new to bidding on eBay. If I had it to do over again, I would bid more money on a complete, mint or near-mint RB67 Pro SD and not waste time looking around for the additional, necessary component parts. Once you have purchased part of a camera, you pretty much have to find and purchase the rest, or you have wasted your money, and, alas, time spent is also money spent.

I should add that this is not a camera for the casual purchaser. Unless you are into film development and (chemical) print making, you'll need a good retailer who can do this work for you or provide you with negatives and either JPEGs or (preferably) TIFs on disk so that you can get them onto your computer. Those of you who have gotten into photography with digital, should keep in mind that a film exposure is a PERMANENT exposure. You can't just erase it, and (these days) film exposures are considerably more expensive per shot than digital exposures.

Keeping all of these things in mind, the RB67 Pro SD is one heck of a lot of fun to use.

Mamiya Pro SD

Anyone who's been around medium format photography knows the reputation of the Mamiya RB/RZ as a real workhorse. It's practically indestructible and the lenses are excellent. Weight is about the only real negative. This camera is exactly what I expected. Solid and in excellent condition as described. I already had one body and several lenses and got this to accommodate the 500m lens that won't fit the older body. I particularly like the fact that the camera is totally manual - no electronics or batteries to fail at the last minute. It accepts all the lenses and accessories of the earlier camera, although an adapter ring is required with older lenses.

I use it for landscape and close up photography - the focusing bellows makes it very suited for close ups. Only downside is the weight and bulk when used outside of a studio setting. It's a brick but it's worth it.

One of ny very favorite cameras.

Mamiya RB67 Review

This was the camera I used back when I was the school photographer for my High School back in 1976. I originally wanted a Hasselblad 500CM, but they were too expensive for me. So I settled on the Mamiya RB67 and I was so glad I did. This camera shoots a bigger frame size (6 x 7) cm. The film back rotates 90 degrees, and the photos I took with this camera were of incredibly high quality. The sharpness and detail in the 11 x 14 prints I made was eye popping.
I want to try and get this adapteed to use a digital film back and this will become my main camera once again. To see how I looked with this camera back when I was in high school type the words "rutherford high class of 77" into Google and click on the 1st link on the hits page. This will take you to the web site for my class reunion. On the home page you will see a picture of me when I was 17 years old holding this camera. I loved this camera, and I am glad to own one again.