The Curious Case of my Mamiya 35mm Rangefinder

My Mamiya 35mm Film Camera

Which Mamiya is This? (And Can You Help Me Identify It?)

Every now and then, a camera finds its way into your hands that doesn’t quite fit the usual mould. This one's a Mamiya — that's clear enough. It’s got the name proudly engraved on the top plate, no flashy branding, just “MAMIYA” and a serial number. Simple. Confident.

But that’s where the certainty ends.

I picked this one up at a flea market in Tokyo back in 2016. I was over there on a business trip with Fujifilm — a trip full of meetings, factory visits, and the kind of behind-the-scenes conversations I still think about now and then. But in the quieter moments, I wandered. Found myself in a little corner of the city where vintage camera stalls existed.

This Mamiya caught my eye. No idea why — just something about the way it sat there. Honest. Understated. I bought it, wrapped it in a shirt, and brought it home.

At first glance, it looks like a Mamiya 35S — or perhaps one of the earlier Model II or Model III rangefinders from the late 1950s. The design fits. Top-mounted shutter speed dial, wind lever on the right, rangefinder windows in the expected places. It’s got that boxy elegance that Japanese cameras of that era seem to get just right.

But then there's the lens.

With the help of Instagram, notably Drago Raše I found some examples online - show a 4.5cm or 4.5cm f/2.8 lens. Mine, however, is fitted with a Mamiya-Sekor F.C. 1:1.9 4.8cm lens. Not 4.5. Not 2.8. And not particularly common, from what I can tell.

That 4.8cm (48mm) focal length seems to suggest this is a slightly earlier or possibly transitional model — one of those that came before Mamiya standardised the 45mm branding we’re more used to seeing. The fast f/1.9 aperture, meanwhile, points to it being a higher-end variant. Some sites refer to it as a “Deluxe” model, though I’ve not seen that printed anywhere on mine.

From what I gather, this might be a late-run Mamiya 35 III, or maybe even a Super-S or export-only variant. The truth is, Mamiya weren’t always that consistent with naming. Sometimes they'd release multiple versions of essentially the same camera with subtle tweaks — a faster lens here, a different shutter there — and barely whisper about it in the marketing.

Which brings me to the reason for this post.

I’d love to know more. If you’re reading this and you’ve come across this particular variant — or you happen to have some obscure Japanese catalogue from 1959 sitting on your shelf — please get in touch. I’d really like to pin down the exact model, or at least narrow it down a little more accurately.

And of course, if you’ve owned or used one of these before, I’d love to hear what you thought of it. How it handled. Whether the f/1.9 lens lived up to its promises. Mine’s in good shape, but I’ve yet to run a roll through it. I probably should. There's something lovely about the idea of breathing life back into it — letting it do what it was built to do.

So yes — a bit of a mystery, and perhaps not one with a neat, final answer. But that’s fine. I quite like it that way.

Let me know if this rings any bells.