An Impressive Achievement.

For the past month I've been trying out the new Mamiya 645AF with the AF80mm f/2.8 and the AF45mm f/2.8. I will give my impressions of the operations of this new camera. For detailed specifications please refer to the Mamiya product information at the beginning of this section.

It performed flawlessly when I used it for covering a Bat Mitsvah and I enjoyed using the 45mm wide angle to take pictures of all the guests at the event. The auto-focus capability is an asset as I was able to capture fleeting moments of natural expressions and interaction between the guests at the party. The spontaneity of the shots make this an ideal camera for candid photography with the superb quality of medium format. Besides the convenience of AF here are some other really useful improvements:

120/220 Film Back:This is a most significant improvement over the previous model. You can use either 120 or 220 films on the same back. All you have to do is flick the film pressure back on the insert to change it from 120 to 220 and the back resets itself to your selection and the LCD display indicates the setting. This feature was first introduced in the Contax 645AF and Mamiya has wisely included it in the new camera. This is a tremendous advantage as you can shoot with 220 films giving 32 exposures for the most part of the day and at the end of the coverage if you feel you only need to shoot not more than 16 shots you just switch over to 120 film!

Retractable Shutter Curtain: When the film back is removed the shutter curtain automatically retracts out of harms way. This is a great innovation as it protects the delicate shutter from being accidentally poked with your fingers when you are interchanging film backs. Believe you me this can happen in the midst of a hectic shooting session. Thank you Mamiya for this thoughtful feature.

Higher Flash Sync & Top Shutter Speed: The new shutter has an increased flash sync speed of 1/125s over the previous 1/60s. This one stop increase is better than none and is useful for outdoor fill-flash photography. Lets hope that in future Mamiya can boost it up to 1/250s and that would make this a truly versatile camera. The new shutter has a top speed of 1/4000s which is a useful increase over the previous 1/1000s but to me this is not applicable as I would not need such a fast speed for my type of photography. But if you use this camera to shoot sports or action photography this will be a welcome improvement.

Non-slip Finish to Body: The new body is now covered with a rubbery non-slip finish which is both very effective and attractive. This is a major improvement as the motor drive is similarly covered and feels great.
Now I shall comment on the other new features that may or may not be an improvement over the previous model:

Permanently Attached Motor drive: The new motor drive is permanently attached to the body while the previous Pro-TL allows you to remove it and install a manual crank. While this follows the general trends in 35mm SLRs the previous design is preferred for professional use as if the motor drive breaks down and I assure you it will then the whole camera cannot operate. You will need at least two bodies to ensure uninterrupted use. This can get very expensive as the body costs $2,649.00 each.
Permanently Attached AE-Prism Finder: The new fixed, slim-line design of the AE-Prism is very esthetically pleasing. But I prefer the previous detachable design which allows you to change to a waist level finder for low level viewing.

Dial controls for Aperture & Shutter Speed: Gone is the aperture ring on the lens and you need to turn a dial on the motor drive to select the aperture setting. Unfortunately it is all too easy to accidentally change this setting. Even the shutter speeds are now set by a dial. I guess most professionals would prefer to use the old style controls for the shutter speed dial on top of the camera as well as the aperture ring on the lens.

Conclusions:
I guess its time for medium format cameras to change and catch up the the advancements already enjoyed by 35mm users. Mamiya is leading the way with a complete redesign of the 645 AF. Overall the new camera is a very worthy successor and together with the high quality optics will no doubt be highly successful. We can only expect to see more AF models in the near future. How about an AF Hasselblad or Bronica?