Test driving the Mamiya 6

I love shooting medium format, but using most medium format cameras can be challenging at times. When I first saw the Mamiya 6 medium format rangefinder introduced way back when I was in high school I was intrigued, but never actually had a chance to try one out. Last year, when a friend gave me a copy of HARLEM ON THE VERGE by ALICE ATTIE shot entirely with a Mamiya 7 II, my mind was back on the idea of the rangefinder medium format set up. Thanks my friends at Winnipeg's #1 camera shop... Photo Central, I finally got a chance to take one for a test drive.

As much as I though I'd fall in love with this camera, I didn't. Sure for a few moments I felt like I was looking through the lens just like Alice Attie would have when she was roaming the streets of Harlem, but there in itself was the problem. I didn't feel like I was composing a photo like Cam Nikkel would. I love to get up close to the subject. Using the 50mm lens on my Mamiya C220 is a completely different world to using a 50mm lens on the Mamiya 6 so for now, I'll stick with the C220 any day of the week.