Mamiya Lenses

Est. 1940 · Tokyo, Japan (historical); Copenhagen, Denmark (Phase One successor) · 9 lenses

Mamiya Camera was founded in Tokyo in 1940 by camera designer Seiichi Mamiya and financial backer Tsunejiro Sugawara. Its first product, the Mamiya Six folding camera, used a distinctive coupled-back focusing mechanism and established the company's preference for mechanically inventive medium-format equipment. Postwar lines expanded through the Mamiyaflex and C-series twin-lens reflex cameras, Mamiya Press and Universal rangefinders, and 35 mm SLR systems carrying Mamiya-Sekor lenses.

The RB67, introduced in 1970, became Mamiya's defining professional system: a fully mechanical 6x7 SLR with bellows focusing, rotating backs, and leaf shutters in the lenses. The smaller M645 followed in 1975, while the electronically controlled RZ67 extended the studio platform in 1982. Mamiya later developed two unusually compact interchangeable-lens rangefinder systems, the 6x6 Mamiya 6 and 6x7 Mamiya 7, whose short back-focus freedom supported highly corrected wide-angle and standard lenses.

The company name changed through Mamiya-OP and Mamiya Digital Imaging as the business moved from film into autofocus 645 cameras and digital backs. Phase One acquired the medium-format camera assets and continued Mamiya-derived 645 bodies and lenses before consolidating the system under the Phase One brand. The historical Mamiya catalog remains unusually broad, spanning compact 35 mm optics, bellows-focused studio lenses, macro and soft-focus specialties, and portable medium-format rangefinder designs.

Notable designs: Mamiya-Sekor lenses, Mamiya C-series TLR, Mamiya Press, RB67, RZ67, M645, Mamiya 6, Mamiya 7, Sekor AF 150mm f/2.8 IF D