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/Sekor 528TL (introduced ~1969) is a fixed-lens 35mm coupled-rangefinder camera that replaced the selenium-metered 528AL with a CdS through-the-lens metering system. The "TL" designation explicitly marks the transition to TTL measurement - light is read through the taking lens rather than via an external selenium cell, improving accuracy across varying lighting conditions and enabling more reliable automatic exposure in low light. The camera retains the fixed Mamiya-Sekor lens and leaf shutter of its predecessor while adding battery dependency for the meter circuit.
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.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
CdS TTL-metered fixed-lens rangefinder from ~1969 - the 528AL's successor with through-the-lens metering.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Lens | Mamiya-Sekor fixed, ~40-45mm f/2.8 |
| Shutter | 1s - 1/500s, leaf |
| Flash sync | 1/500s (all speeds) |
| Meter | CdS, TTL |
| Modes | Auto, manual override |
| Focus | Coupled rangefinder |
| Battery | 1x PX625 (meter) |
| Mechanical fallback | Yes (shutter works without battery) |
| Weight | ~640 g |
The transition from the 528AL to the 528TL reflects the industry-wide shift that occurred between approximately 1967 and 1971, when CdS TTL metering became the expected standard in mid-tier Japanese cameras. Competitors including Konica (Hi-Matic series), Minolta (Hi-Matic), and Yashica (Electro 35 series) had all moved to battery-dependent metering by this period, and Mamiya's fixed-lens rangefinder line followed. The 528TL's production run was brief - likely only two years - before being refined into the 535TL around 1971, which is believed to have introduced a faster lens (f/1.7) alongside further detail improvements.
The 528 line as a whole was a secondary product within Mamiya's portfolio; the company's commercial emphasis was increasingly on its professional medium-format systems (the RB67 was introduced in 1970), and the 35mm fixed-lens rangefinder range was aimed at the consumer export market.
The 528TL represents Mamiya's updated answer to the question of how to produce a competitive fixed-lens rangefinder in 1969. The TTL CdS metering is a substantive improvement over the 528AL's selenium approach - faster to respond, more accurate in shade and artificial light, and not subject to the cell degradation that affects selenium meters over decades. The leaf shutter with full flash sync at all speeds remains practically useful. For collectors, the 528TL is a step up in metering quality from the 528AL while being comparably priced on the used market.
The camera is not well-documented in English-language photographic literature and has no particular association with prominent photographers or published projects. Its interest is primarily to Mamiya completists and users seeking a functional, inexpensive TTL-metered rangefinder.
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 528TL
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