LENS PERFORMANCE UPDATE  Added May 23, 2008

It has been five months since the Mamiya 80mm F2.8 AF D arrived and during that time it has performed flawlessly on the Mamiya ZD. There have been no glitches, no issues with build quality and no issues with performance. Having the AF / MF switch on the lens body is a radical improvement over the original 80mm AF design. With the new design switching between auto-focus and manual-focus is quick, intuitive and can be done easily while looking through the viewfinder. For build quality and handling, the new Mamiya 80mm F2.8 AF D earns an easy “A”.

Optically the new 80mm F2.8 AF D is as good or better than the original 80mm AF. The new 80mm F2.8 AF D feels like a refreshed version of the original, but with no real changes in the optical performance. The only difference I am noticing is in the coloring which is probably related to revised lens coatings. Most of my product shots are taken on a white background. Those images look crisper with 80mm D. The colors come across with a slightly more bold look. Whereas the original Mamiya 80mm F2.8 AF had a slight tint to its coloring - something in reddish-yellow family. This tint was very subtle, but the curious thing is, I think I prefer the old color because it seems to mesh better with the Mamiya ZD’s tone curve.

I am sure the new Phase One digital backs do a better job with the new Mamiya 80mm because the Phase colorists are probably using the new 80mm lens (rebranded as a Phase One lens) as their reference lens. In my experience the files from the Phase One backs have a bolder look, so the purer, slightly cooler colors from the new 80mm F2.8 AF D probably blend quite nicely with current Phase One digital backs. In my case I am using a Mamiya ZD dSLR which was designed circa 2003 / 2004 and the old 80mm AF was most likely its reference lens. Again, this is just a feeling, nothing scientific - I feel the Mamiya ZD with Mamiya 80mm AF non-D generates a more unique look whereas with the new 80mm D, the images are more generic looking - though, certainly in line with contemporary colors.

During a recent trip I used a B+W Kaesman Circular Polarizer with the 80mm F2.8 AF D and the colors were very different - almost like a retro look for a modern day World War II movie like “Flags of Our Fathers”. Back home at the computer I thought perhaps the Mamiya ZD’s auto white balance went awol. For a couple days I played with the files and could not figure out why the colors skewed, then I finally remembered that a CPL had been used. So there are some questions here - are colors wrong (very subjective)? Did the polarizer overly skew the coloring? Was this a ZD thing or a lens thing? There are many variables here. The Mamiya 200mm APO was also used at the same time, and its pictures have somewhat similar coloring, so overall I think this is a Mamiya ZD “thing” that may have been accentuated due to the polarizer.

In terms of landscape pictures and such, I do not have much to present. For the last 4-5 months I have been pretty smitten with the Leica M8 & 50mm Summilux-M ASPH combo. With the M8’s crop factor, the 50mm Summilux-M and Mamiya 80mm F2.8 AF D (on the Mamiya ZD) have essentially the same field of view. The Leica M8 is too easy to just bring along for the happy go lucky snap shots, so it has been doing most of the work lately. When it comes studio shooting, the Mamiya 80mm F2.8 AF D has been a workhorse. The Mamiya 80mm F2.8 AF D with the Mamiya NA-401 12mm extension tube is a brilliant macro lens and I have used that combination for ~1500 product pictures. There are plenty of samples through out this website with 80mm F2.8 AD D & 12mm extension tube combination.

CONCLUSION

The new 80mm F2.8 AF D is without a doubt a big step forward in the ergonomics department compared to the original 80mm F2.8 AF. If handling and ergonomics are important considerations, then upgrading to the Mamiya 80mm F2.8 AF D will be worthwhile. For those happy with the original 80mm F2.8 AF, the upgrade is not as clear cut. Some stores are trying to charge $1100+ and that is too much for the lens (in my opinion). Some sellers on Ebay have the 80mm D for ~$750 - and that is a fair price.

For anybody buying a Mamiya 645AFD III or Phase One P645, the new 80mm D is the ONLY way to go because the lens has been updated with a 16-bit CPU for faster focus plus some electronic goodies for automated lens corrections in Phase One’s C1 software.

Judging the Mamiya 80mm F2.8 AF D on its own merits, it earns a solid “A”. As a upgrade for current 80mm F2.8 AF owners, the new “D” earns a “B”. Had Mamiya made the new 80mm F2.8 AF D an F2 lens instead of F2.8, then I probably could say enough good things about the lens. There is not an AF 80mm F2 currently in production (the Contax 645AF 80mm kit lens was F2), so I think Mamiya could have pulled-off a real coup had they made the 80mm F2.8 AF D a F2 lens.

The three images on this page were taken with the Mamiya 80mm F2.8 AF D.

UPDATE REGARDING 645AFD BODIES

June 10, 2009

A reader sent an email saying they spoke with Mamiya service and the original Mamiya 645AFD does not focus reliably with the new “D” lenses and there is not a firmware update available to resolve the issue. I have not confirmed this, so if you have a Mamiya 645AFD and you are considering a new “D” lens purchase, contact your local Mamiya service center and make sure your 645AFD will work correctly with the new “D” lens. The first page of this review has the Mamiya service contact info for the US and Canada.