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Adapting Mamiya 645 to GH2 (flange distance)
  • kazuokazuo

    Hi everyone,

    I've been looking at medium format lenses for sometime now, and have half a mind to slap them onto my GH2. I have seen footage produced by such lenses on an unhacked GH2, and even then, the images are quite out of this world.

    I managed to track down an adaptor in the market that interfaces 645 mount to m4/3, but it's exorbitant. A cheaper alternative would be to use a 645 to EOS or Nikon adaptor, and then adapt a second time from EOS or Nikon to m4/3.

    Does anyone know if this workaround will cause me to lose focus to infinity? In the first place, will the flange distance be right?

    Cheers

  • 9 Replies sorted by
  • OedipaxOedipax

    @kazuo, do you have a link to some of this footage? How was it different than typical 35mm-sized glass?

    I've been considering buying a medium format film body for a while now and it would ease the transition a lot if I could use the lenses on my GH2 as well.

  • jokieonejokieone

    I have a mamiya camera, RZ67 I think. The problem is that the lens does not have focus rings - you focus with the camera. Just a thing to look out for.

  • kavadnikavadni

    I am not sure if this is the correct one http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mamiya-645-AF-M645-lens-M4-3-GF2-GH2-E-P2-E-P1-GF1-G2-/150553444811?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item230daf41cb

  • kazuokazuo

    yup that's the one. Been asking myself, if it's worth it, to spend so much on an adaptor? Even though these 645 lenses are sharp sharp sharp, they are also very slow, with f1.9 usually the fastest. What are you going to do with a 150mm f4, for instance? Medium format photography usually assumes good lighting, but the same may be said of filmmaking, so the f4 shouldn't be too out of place. But medium format glass doesn't lend itself to run and gun. In the grander scheme of things, i see limited use.

  • balazerbalazer

    That's a Four Thirds adapter, not Micro Four Thirds.

    Most lens adapters are a little too short, which shifts the focus range away from the camera. So you lose some close focusing ability and you can focus a bit beyond infinity. But aside from that and the focus scale being off, it works fine with prime lenses. Zooms are another matter: when the flange focal distance is incorrect, the lens won't be parfocal.

  • kavadnikavadni

    @balazar, I replaced link above with the correct m4/3 adapter

  • jokieonejokieone

    If you already have a canon adapter or something similar can't you use a double adapter solution as the canon-mamiya adapters are not as expansive.

  • kazuokazuo

    @Jokieone

    That's the question I have been asking: From 645 to nikon f, then nikon f to m4/3. Not sure what the flange distance is when you slap these two adaptors back to back.

  • jpbturbojpbturbo

    my experience with medium format cameras is that the lenses are not necessarily any sharper than their 35mm format counterparts. It is the larger film that makes everything seem so sharp. A smaller sensor is always more sensitive to the quality of the glass.

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