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Mamiya C330 TLR
All lenses focus close...
There's another feature which distinguishes the TLR from all other reflex cameras. What you see is not what you get because the viewing lens is above the taking lens and always views at full aperture with no stop-down preview.
Focusing can be controlled by large knobs from either side of the camera body... the left side knob being lockable. The bellows draw allows a close-focus distance of only 14 inches with the 80mm... far better than most standard lenses on any format. For non-reflex focusing a distance scale can be read.
It may appear that Mamiya TLRs are fiddly cameras to use - and to the many 35mm auto-everything users who are contemplating an upgrade to a larger format this would seem true. But, having recently sampled several digital SLR cameras, which are meant to be user-friendly, I can only say that they require more knowledge to operate and more study of their instruction manuals than the simple Mamiya required in actual use. After all, we use cameras... don't we? Cameras shouldn't be allowed to use us!
If the C330S had been revamped in the style of it's RZ and M645 Super sisters, i.e. with polycarbonate body, rounded corners, smart silk-screened "C440" (wishful thinking) logo then I'm sure that many more photographers would have wanted to invest in the system. Had an integral exposure meter been added, Mamiya could have had an excellent package on their hands... not that many would have been "in stock" because I think they would have shifted fast!
When comparing Mamiya's TLRs with modern cameras the axiom "less is more" well and truly applies. What more could any practicing photographer want to tackle a wide variety of jobs than a simple mechanical camera, a workable range of lenses that synchronize with flash at all speeds up to 1/500th of a second, uninterrupted viewing on a large screen, with the undoubted quality of a large negative or transparency? The question doesn't require an answer because it's so obvious... Mamiya's TLRs have it all.
The only problem is that whilst current digital models quickly become too under-specified to resell at any price after a year's use, Mamiya TLRs are maintaining their second-hand prices nearly ten years after they stopped being manufactured... and in some instances are rising in price to a level higher than when new. This isn't dealer profiteering but the Law of Supply and Demand in action. However, don't be put off owning one... whatever you pay today you will get back with interest... the interest on your initial investment as well as the interest others will have in your quality images.
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