I have the 43mm lense for the Mamiya 7II. It's a great lens except for a persistent problem I have had for several years. It is pretty consistent so I know it's not a one-time fluke. I think maybe the auxiliary viewfinder that slides into the hotshoe is slightly off (for those who don't know, the 43mm on the Mamiya 7 is so wide that the internal viewfinder in the camera cannot accomodate it so you have to use this additional viewfinder which is a pain) By "off" I mean I suspect it is slightly off-axis, so that when you line up the shot thru it, it causes you to skew or swing the camera slightly. I am NOT talking about the parallax error. I shoot some architecture with this lense. I need the extremely wide angle, but because it is so wide it is extremely sensitive to the film plane not being perfectly parallel with the front of the building or structure. The viewfinder has a tiny bubble level in it (and I double check that with a larger level I put on the camera) so I am not talking about tilt, I know the camera is level front to back and it is level side to side. (Ok, technically I know the camera can't do tilts or swings or shifts because it isn't a view camera but you know what I mean)
It wouldn't matter if I was shooting landscapes or something, but in architecture the front of the building/structure has to be square on the film. I know, I know, you're saying, shoot with a view camera! Yes, I also use a 4x5, but for this project I cannot use a 4x5. What I see on the film is tilted/wonky horizons, and often the film looks as though the camera was slightly "swung" (film plane not parallel with front of building in the horizontal axis) Wish I could make a drawing. My question? Anyone else out there with the same lens/camera who has experienced the same problem? I have run 100's of rolls of film thru the camera and the problem shows up no matter how careful I am line to up the shot. I don't have the same problem with my 4x5 or my Pentax 67 or my Canon 5D, so I don't think there's something wrong with my brain!
Help!!
Thanks,
Scott