BRIEF BACKGROUND ON THE MAMIYA 645 AF “D” LENSES

On March 19, 2008 Mamiya announced the new Mamiya 645AFD III medium format camera body and the new Mamiya-Sekor AF 80mm F2.8 D lens. The 80mm’s optical formula is unchanged from the original auto-focus Mamiya AF 80mm F2.8, but the coatings are new (hence the “D” designation) and optimized for digital photography. Mamiya describes the 80mm D lens as (original article) - “While all Mamiya lenses can be used on today’s high performance digital backs, the new Mamiya Sekor D series of lenses raise sharpness to a new level. Utilizing exotic Low Dispersion glass and Aspherical lens elements, the Sekor D Digital Lens series produces ultra-wide coverage (28mm f4.5), exceptional color accuracy and sharp, contrasty images. And all Mamiya Digital lenses are designed to work with film backs, not only digital backs!”

The new “D” lenses work with the Mamiya 645AFD II, Mamiya 645AFD III, Mamiya ZD integrated dSLR and the Phase One P645 body. The Mamiya ZD integrated dSLR may require a firmware update - click here for more information. The new “D” lenses are not compatible with the Mamiya 645AF or the original Mamiya 645AFD. The 645AF requires a hardware and firmware upgrade; the 645AFD requires a firmware upgrade.

The new Mamiya D (and Phase One) lenses incorporate a new 16-bit CPU into the lens. Again, taken directly from Mamiya’s website - “The Sekor AF 80mm f/2.8 D utilizes a 16 bit CPU that allows easy firmware upgrading, finer lens characteristic correction and faster, more reliable communication between the lens, camera body and digital back.” The Mamiya D lenses are fully recognized in Phase One’s Capture One (C1) software and lens corrections are available in C1. The lens corrections made in C1 are similar to what Hasselblad does with their Phocus raw editing software and their HC lenses.

LENS HANDLING

The original Mamiya’s 645AF auto-focus lenses garnered little praise for their build quality. The plastic barrels and free spinning focus rings are in sharp contrast to the build quality found Leica-R, Contax 645 or Hasselblad V lens. What Mamiya lacks in build quality, they make up for in performance. The Mamiya 645AF lenses are generally considered sharp and (bless their hearts) dirt cheap on Ebay for second hand copies. The new Mamiya “D” lenses up the ante in terms of build quality and especially price. When handling the new Mamiya AF 80mm F2.8 D, the following physical characters have changed compared to the original Mamiya AF 80mm F2.8:

1. •The 80mm D’s improved barrel build quality is immediately noticeable. The barrel is all metal and the white lettering is engraved. Cosmetically the 80mm D looks similar to the Mamiya AF 35mm F3.5 lens. The 80mm D adds a sliver ring for a bit of bling.
   

2. •The 80mm D is slightly larger, mostly wider. The front element is the same size on both lenses, but on the 80mm D the front element is recessed deeper into the lens. Weight increased by 30 grams.
   

3. •The manual focus ring feels the same. The ring spins relatively freely, as if on ball bearings, thus manual focus needs only the lightest touch. I like the light touch because it is easy to hold the ZD with two hands and then use a single finger to adjust focus.
   

4. •Two new gold contacts have been added to the rear mount - mostly likely in support for the 16-bit focus engine. They are no corresponding contacts on the Mamiya ZD body, so I am not sure what functionality the new contacts add.