C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →rangefinder-35mm
The Mamiya 35 II (1958) is a 35mm coupled-rangefinder camera featuring a fixed Mamiya-Sekor 48mm f/2.8 lens and a Seikosha-MXL leaf shutter. It is a second-generation refinement of Mamiya's original 35mm rangefinder line, offering a bright viewfinder with a coupled rangefinder patch and a built-in selenium exposure meter. Exposure is fully manual; the selenium cell provides a reading that the photographer transfers to shutter speed and aperture dials. The camera requires no battery - both the meter and the shutter operate without one.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
Develop 35mm film
Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
Before you buy used
About this camera
A compact Japanese selenium-metered rangefinder from 1958 with a fast 48mm Sekor lens.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Lens | Mamiya-Sekor 48mm f/2.8, fixed |
| Shutter | 1s - 1/500s + B, Seikosha-MXL leaf |
| Flash sync | X: ~1/30s, M: full range |
| Meter | Selenium, uncoupled |
| Modes | Manual |
| Focus | Coupled rangefinder |
| Battery | None |
| Weight | ~600 g |
Mamiya entered the 35mm consumer and enthusiast market in the mid-1950s with its original Mamiya-35 body. The 35 II followed in 1958 as a revised version, incorporating detail improvements to the viewfinder, the rangefinder coupling mechanism, and the meter readout. The choice of a 48mm lens rather than the more common 45mm or 50mm was characteristic of several Japanese makers of the period who sought to differentiate their standard focal length slightly. The Seikosha-MXL shutter was a reliable and common unit in Japanese cameras of this era, capable of 1/500s and standard MX flash synchronization.
By the early 1960s the Mamiya 35 line was superseded within Mamiya's own lineup by more capable models and eventually by the company's growing emphasis on medium-format professional cameras. The 35 II sits at the transition point between early 1950s Japanese rangefinder designs and the more refined models of the early 1960s.
The Mamiya 35 II is a representative example of the competitive mid-range Japanese 35mm rangefinder market of the late 1950s, when makers such as Mamiya, Yashica, Ricoh, Konica, and Aires were producing well-built cameras at prices below the Leica and Contax tier. The selenium meter with no battery dependency is considered a practical advantage by some collectors and users today - the meter either works or it does not, without corrosion or dead-cell complications. The Mamiya-Sekor 48/2.8 is a well-corrected lens for its era, capable of sharp results in good light.
As a collectible, the 35 II occupies the lower-cost end of vintage Japanese rangefinder collecting. Functionality varies widely by example given age.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
View profile →Mamiya 35 II
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