Mamiya RB67 Professional1970

History

Mamiya introduced the RB67 in 1970 to capture the commercial studio and professional portrait market from 4×5 view cameras and twin-lens reflex cameras. The rotating back was a genuine engineering distinction — no other modular medium-format system offered it at the time. The original Pro was succeeded in 1974 by the RB67 Pro-S, which added a more reliable multi-exposure interlock and a brighter screen. The RB67 Pro is therefore the least common of the three RB67 generations (Pro, Pro-S, Pro-SD) in the used market; the Pro-S is far more numerous. Production of the original Pro is estimated to have ended by the mid-1970s as Pro-S output ramped up.

The full RB67 line ran from 1970 to 2005 — 35 years — making it one of the longest-lived camera designs in professional photography history.

Why It Matters

The RB67 Pro is the origin point of a design that effectively defined Japanese commercial photography in the 1970s and 1980s. Its contribution was systemic rather than optical — the rotating back, the interchangeable film magazines (120, 220, Polaroid, 6×4.5), and the Seiko leaf shutters in each lens enabling any-speed flash sync together created a studio workflow that photographers were reluctant to abandon even when electronic-shutter alternatives (Mamiya RZ67, Hasselblad 500-series) appeared.

For contemporary collectors and users, the original Pro is the first chapter in that story. It is mechanically simpler than the Pro-S (lacking the multi-exposure interlock improvements) and is typically cheaper for that reason. The 90/3.8 Sekor C lens that shipped with most Pro kits is the same optically excellent formula that was carried through the Pro-S era.

Lenses & Accessories

Mamiya RB mount. Original lenses were designated Mamiya-Sekor C. Common focal lengths: 50/4.5 C, 65/4.5 C, 90/3.8 C (kit standard), 127/3.8 C (portrait), 180/4.5 C, 250/4.5 C. Film backs: 120 (10 frames), 220 (20 frames), 6×4.5, Polaroid pack film. Finders: waist-level folding hood (standard), plain prism, AE prism. The original Pro body also accepts K/L lenses .

Sample Photographers / Notable Use

• The RB67 Pro was the dominant US and Japanese studio SLR from its introduction in 1970 through the mid-1970s.
• Annie Leibovitz used early RB67 equipment for Rolling Stone covers in the 1970s.
• Wedding and portrait photographers in the US market through the 1970s and 1980s; the rotating back made it preferable to the Pentax 67 for vertical portrait formats.
• Robert Mapplethorpe used Mamiya equipment (including medium-format Mamiya bodies) for formal portraiture.

References

• Camera-Wiki: Mamiya RB67
• Wikipedia: Mamiya RB67