Mamiya C33 - Worth Buying?

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I've been offered one of these with a few lenses (60mm, 180mm & 250mm), WLF and Porrofinder.

I haven't seen it yet - hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday.

I've been looking for a TLR to play with for a while and was considering a C330, so this has piqued my interest.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of these? Any idea how much I should offer if it's in good condition?

Thanks . . .
 
Good solid camera. I used one for years, then replaced it with a 330, which is even nicer. When Mamiya tacked "Professional" on the end of the name, they weren't kidding!

You can check the current prices by going to ebay.co.uk then searching for "Mamiya C33". When the list comes up, look at the list of options on the left side of the screen. Scroll down until you find "Show Only" and tick the box for "sold items". It will automatically tick "completed items", immediately above - untick this and you'll only see actual sales. You can look at this list to see what other people have been paying.

Currently, bodies with a lens are around £150 and extra lenses are in the £150 - £250 range. For what you've described, £500 wouldn't be unreasonable but knock it down for any serious bumps or scrapes.

Main checks: Does the transport work OK and does it cock the lens shutters; excess wear on the bellows; are any of the shutter settings "lazy" and do the shutters actually open and close?

Manual here: https://www.cameramanuals.org/mamiya_pdf/mamiya_c33_pro.pdf
 
I have C330f with 4 lenses (55mm, 80mm, 135mm and 180mm) all of which are stunning, it's the one system that I have never, even for a moment, thought of selling. It's bulky and pretty heavy and the to C33 is I believe even heavier but it is totally worth it. I'll pop a couple of images up to show how good it is.
 
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Thanks chaps - much appreciated. :) (y)

I shall see what sort of condition it's in and take it from there. I'd guessed at a starting price of around £3-400.00 so I wasn't far out at least. I'll be happy to pay a little more if it's as good as he says it is.

I'll let you know how I get on.
 
My Mamiyaflexes never fail to produce outstanding results. If your intend to use the belllows extension, for which the cameras are rightly famous not withstanding the interchangeable lenses, and you are using a tripod then, if you can, get a Paramender which does the parallax correction.
 
PeterSpencer said:
if you can, get a Paramender which does the parallax correction.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping there will be one 'in the box' as he says there are a few accessories with it that he didn't name.
 
Superb bit of kit ,I had a 330 and lenses back in the 70’s unreal performance
 
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I've got a C3 incoming which I'm excited about.

Please post some images of your C33 when you get it and any extra bits and bobs. Then definitely some images with it. :banana:
 
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Well, I bought it. It is in very good condition and looks to be hardly used at all. To say I'm well chuffed is an understatement. :cool:

It came in a nice aluminium case and has with it; a 65mm, 180mm and 250mm lens (the 250 still in its original box). In addition, it has a few filters, a WLF, a porrofinder, a paramender, a 65mm frame adapter (with glass), a 105mm frame adapter, a 180mm frame adapter, a lens hood and an original depth of field guide.

It's dusty and all the lenses need cleaning, so that's a job for me this afternoon. Once that's done, I'll take some pics this afternoon to show you.
 
I'll be interested to hear how you get on with the frame finders. I found them hopeless and stuck to the ground glass. The Porrofinder may not be perfect but at least you'll see what you're getting! :naughty:
 
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AndrewFlannigan said:
I found them hopeless and stuck to the ground glass. The Porrofinder may not be perfect but at least you'll see what you're getting! :naughty:
Click to expand...

Once I've got it all cleaned up and properly checked over, I'll get a film in it and see. I'm not expecting to find them useful, so thanks for that - I'll know not to waste too much time trying. :)
 
OK, its all cleaned up ready to go. I've made some new light seals and fitted them as the others had just turned to powder when touched (as expected). It all seems to be working AFAICT without taking some pictures with it, so I've put in a film and will use it up over the next few days to see. I've got a few other rolls to develop too, so guess what I'll be doing next week.

All that bending and cleaning has given me eye strain, neck and back ache, so I'll take some pics of it for you over the weekend - I'm too knackered now (it doesn't take much).
 
A lot of Mamiya C series bodies were never taken off the studio tripod, so old ones look grubby, thanks to the "woven" texture covering but are seldom dented.
 
That doesn't surprise me, they are a heavy beast. :rolleyes:

I still haven't finished the roll of film I put in mine yet, I must try and get out tomorrow and finish it so I can develop it to see if there are any problems or light-leaks.

I also still need to strip the spare lenses and give them a clean. I might try and do that this weekend too.

Once that's done, I have new light seals to make for my Olympus OM1, OM1N and OM4 as well as a Nikon F2A. I really must get my finger out and stop putting things off - a bad habit of mine. :oops: :$
 
I'm becoming a bit obsessive about Mamiya TLRs, well the square format. in particular,

I commissioned my 330f this afternoon. It seems to work as it should, thank goodness. I took a long shot on eBay, the camera with 80mm/f2.8 lens, cost £250, I thought I paid too much, but no issues that I can spot so far and the lens and body seem, often, to go to auction for much more.

Tomorrow Max (the dog) and I are climbing Winter Hill, this link seems to be plausibly beilevable (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Hill_(North_West_England)), and the weather looks promising so I will have my C2, fitted with the 105mm lens, to hand to shoot something. Max will, inevitably, photo-bomb every arty picture, but it is in his job description. I expect that lugging the camera around will be be a bit hard, it probably weighs 25Kg. Well, that's what it feels like.
 
PeterSpencer said:
I'm becoming a bit obsessive about Mamiya TLRs, well the square format. in particular,

I commissioned my 330f this afternoon. It seems to work as it should, thank goodness. I took a long shot on eBay, the camera with 80mm/f2.8 lens, cost £250, I thought I paid too much, but no issues that I can spot so far and the lens and body seem, often, to go to auction for much more.

Tomorrow Max (the dog) and I are climbing Winter Hill, this link seems to be plausibly beilevable (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Hill_(North_West_England)), and the weather looks promising so I will have my C2, fitted with the 105mm lens, to hand to shoot something. Max will, inevitably, photo-bomb every arty picture, but it is in his job description. I expect that lugging the camera around will be be a bit hard, it probably weighs 25Kg. Well, that's what it feels like.
Click to expand...

A great spot and the weather today should be fabulous. Hope you are having/had a great time.
 
Sky, I just wanted to add that I got a truly fabulous strap and handle from deadcameras in Portugal for my C3 which will fit the C33 too.

Not cheap but the quality is outstanding and I have complete confidence it will last for a long time despite the weight of the C3. I may give up before the strap does :D
 
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