ON YOUR MARK...  GET SET...  GO!

About an hour before sunset I decided to take the ZD camera to one of the usual testing grounds. Today was windy with 20 MPH gusts, so not the best condition for landscapes - especially with an ISO 50 camera. Light was fading quickly, so most of the pictures were around F2.8, ISO 50 or 100 and shutter speeds between 1/80 to 1/200. Everything was shot handheld - because that’s how we roll at PebblePlace! The files from the ZD are plenty sharp, so I do not feel compelled to test for sharpness (ie - no need for a tripod, MLU, etc). Today’s outing was to see how the camera handled in a walk-around setting - much like if you were on vacation and taking pictures of whatever caught your eye.

THE MAMIYA ZD CAMERA BODY

The ZD camera is a large, beefy camera. There is nothing petite about it. The grip is only slightly wider / deeper than the Canon 1Ds Mark III’s, but the ZD feels considerably fatter than its actual size. The ZD is thicker than a Canon 1-series, but not quite as tall. The total volume is probably similar - just pushed out and squeezed in a different shape. The ZD body is all metal and as solid as a Canon 1-series body.

Having owned the Mamiya 645AFD II, I find the ZD’s viewfinder very interesting. With 645AFD II’s viewfinder I had trouble seeing the status bar unless my eye was perfectly lined up. The 645AFD II viewfinder needs a focus screen with crop lines, and sometimes that led to poor framing on my part because I failed to pay close enough attention to the crop lines. The ZD’s viewfinder has 98% coverage and there are no crop lines to worry about. The picture below is a reproduction of the ZD’s viewfinder -

The rubber grip is the same type as the 645AFD II’s. The ZD uses slightly larger plastic buttons which are an improvement over the 645AFD II’s small rubber buttons. The front and rear control dials the same and so are the power switch and focus mode selector. The on / off switch could be better. The focus mode selector is poorly located (on both the 645AFD II and ZD) and poorly designed. The switch is difficult to move and it does not stop cleanly at each mode. It is difficult to change from auto-focus to manual focus (confidently) unless looking directly at the switch. Overall using the Mamiya 645AFD II and Mamiya ZD is quite similar. The ZD seems to have a better build quality, but the differences are slight.

The door for the compact flash and SD cards is difficult to open, requires two hands - and even with both hands it is stubborn. Another poor choice is the jack for the remote shutter release. It has rubber cover to protect it when not in use. The rubber cover simply pops off - there is nothing keeping it tethered to the camera, so it will probably go MIA within a week or so.

THE MAMIYA ZD CAMERA IN USE

In the upcoming entries I will go into great detail about metering, focus, LCDs, speed, etc. For now I will say that the ZD handles well. The shutter is responsive, but not as quick as a Canon 1-series. The shutter lag is probably double that of the Canon 1Ds Mark III. Metering is quite good (and so was the 645AFD II’s). Today I shot about 90 frames within 45 minutes and the ZD did fine. The camera was always ready to go and did not need to pause. The buffer did not get in the way of shooting. Battery life looks okay - I am guessing somewhere between 200-400 clicks per charge.

Aside from the 1.8” LCD (which I’ll address in a later entry), the camera was not much different than using a Canon dSLR. The mirror is quite large, so each shot has a very mechanical feel and sound. I was trying to keep shutter speeds at 1/100, preferably 1/200. At those shutter speeds, shutter vibration and mirror slap are not a concern. The ZD’s first outing went exceptionally well. To the right are some sample images, and the original MEF’s can be downloaded by clicking here. Have fun! You will need C1 v4.1, Lightroom or Mamiya’s PhotoStudio software to open the MEF’s.