Shot On RZ67

Filmsesh is supported by the individuals at Fotodiox who love to shoot film.

If you are shooting film, you may already know what the Mamiya RZ67 is all about. Some of us cannot get enough of RZ talk and others can do without it. In this series, “Shot on RZ67”, we will be documenting our experience shooting with a Mamiya RZ67 that has been with Fotodiox for years. As a company that manufactures adapters, we are stocked up on all the lenses we support, so this RZ67 spent most of its time in our camera vault. Yes, we do make lens adapters for the RB/RZ67 but more on that later.

Our Mamiya RZ67 Professional came with a 110mm f/2.8 lens and a 220 film back. This would have been okay if they still made 220 film. But good luck finding a 120 film back for an affordable price, let alone 220 film. Even if you do track down a back, most of the options on eBay do not include the dark slide.

For my first shoot I decided that I would stick to the RZ67’s roots and shoot a portrait. I collaborated with my neighbor Akil who runs a podcast called Blvckbroadway, which I invite you to check out. The shoot would be simple, taking place outside of our apartment building during golden hour. The film used was no other than Kodak’s Portra 400.

Despite having the prism finder, it was still a challenge having to focus the bellows on this camera. It is one of those things you learn as you go, even if it means sacrificing four frames to do so. Out of seven shots these were my best. With a roll of 120 you get 15 frames, but during my shoot the RZ67 would not fire after the seventh frame. You see, without the dark slide you run into the risk of the film back locking itself. Without the dark slide you cannot remove the back to troubleshoot the issue. Sadly, we had to end our short shoot there.

Not all is lost. The hype behind this camera gardened my attention from the beginning. There is true awe and wonder that radiates from this camera. Although pricy, I believe this one is completely worth it. Despite having issues on my first shoot I was not disappointed, and I am looking forward to shooting more with this camera.

Back up your vintage SLR camera purchase knowing that Fotodiox has your back. We support RB67 and RZ67 lenses on multiple camera systems with our RBRZ67 lens adapters.

We help you make the most of your purchase, so if you have RB or RZ lenses and a digital camera, you can find some comptible adapteres here.